Men's Hockey | 6/11/2018 12:00:00 PM

MONTREAL -- Nathan Chiarlitti, team captain of the McGill University men's hockey team, has earned Google Cloud Academic All-America honours. The award, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, recognizes the top student-athletes in the USA and Canada, for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.  

The 26-year-old native of Maple, Ont., becomes only the sixth athlete in McGill history to merit Academic All-America status, joining hockey player Cedric McNicoll (2015), football players Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (2013), J.P. Veri (1991) and Bruno Pietrobon (1987), as well as basketball star Willie Hinz (1983), who went on to become a Rhodes scholar.

Chiarlitti, who recently signed with the Sydney Ice Dogs of the Australian Ice Hockey League, is in the process of completing a master's degree in exercise physiology. He achieved a lofty grade-point average of 3.91 (out of 4), was a two-time Academic All-Canadian and twice made the Principal's Student-athlete Honour Roll.

The 5-foot-11, 195-pound defenceman joins swimmer Josh Zakala from the University of Victoria on the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America second-team and they were only two U SPORTS athletes selected on the men's side of the at-large category in the College Division, which recognizes student-athletes from Canadian institutions, the American-based NAIA conference and all two-year collegiate programs. The at-large category comprises the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis, water polo for both men and women; bowling, crew and field hockey for women; and volleyball and wrestling for men.

The women's at-large honorees featured three U SPORTS athletes, all from the Victoria Vikes. Rower Judith Beestermoeller and field hockey player Lindsay Cole were named to the first team, while golfer Quinn Fitzgerald was a second-team pick.

The men's at-large team produced an average GPA of 3.94 with the first team combining for an average of 3.97. The honorees include 11 student-athletes with 4.0 GPA and three graduate students. The women's side produced a 3.97 average with the first team combining for 3.99. That group includes 13 student-athletes with a GPA of 4.0 or higher.

In his fifth and final year of eligibility after transferring to McGill in 2016 from St.FX, Chiarlitti scored 16 points in 28 regular season games and had only eight penalty minutes.  A four-time all-star at the university level -- twice in the AUS, twice in the OUA -- he was named as the OUA conference nominee for the Randy Gregg Award, which recognizes a U SPORTS hockey player for combining academics with leadership and citizenship. He previously won the national award with Acadia in 2015-16.

Prior to joining the university ranks, Chiarlitti played junior in the OHL with Owen Sound and had an NHL tryout with Arizona. He began his university career with St. Francis Xavier, where he was a two-time AUS second-team all-star. After graduating a bachelor's degree, he transferred to McGill in 2016, earned second-team all-conference honours in his two campaigns with the Redmen.
 
Last December, Chiarlitti played for the U SPORTS all-stars in a two-game series against the Canadian junior hopefuls in preparation for the IIHF world junior championship. The previous year, he was picked to play for Canada at the World University Games in Kazakhstan, where he served as an alternate captain and helped lead the team to a bronze medal. In June of 2017, he won the Prix d'excellence Guy Lafleur as the Quebec university player who best combines hockey with academic excellence and citizenship. Five months later, he received the Jean Béliveau Award, which recognizes the most outstanding student-athletes at McGill for leadership in the community.
 

2017-18 Academic All-America® Men's At-Large Team,  College Division
 

FIRST TEAM
Sport	Name	School	Yr.	GPA	Major
Wrestling	Justin Brown	Campbellsville University	Gr.	4.00	Business Administration
Tennis	Hector Carrillo Perales	McPherson College	Sr.	3.97	Bus. Admin.: Management/Marketing/Finance
Swimming	Wyatt Engler	Keiser University	Sr.	4.00	Biomedical
Golf	Erik Jonasson	Keiser University	Sr.	3.95	Accounting
Tennis	Kevin Konfederak (1)	Georgia Gwinnett College	Sr.	4.00	Business Marketing
Swimming	Guilherme Magnoler	Olivet Nazarene University	Sr.	3.88	Engineering
Volleyball	Victor Neves (1)	Park University	Sr.	4.00	Business Marketing & Business Management
Golf	Nick Norton	Arizona Christian University	Sr.	4.00	Business Administration
Wrestling	Mitch Roadruck	Indiana Institute of Technology	Gr.	3.93	Criminal Justice
Wrestling	Riley Williams	Wayland Baptist University	Sr.	4.00	Religion
Golf	Andrew Williamson (1,$)	Wayland Baptist University	Sr.	3.97	Business Administration
SECOND TEAM
Sport	Name	School	Yr.	GPA	Major
Tennis	Stephen All	Taylor University	Sr.	3.98	Engineering
Volleyball	Jimmy Aschenbrenner	Morningside College	Jr.	4.00	Biology / Chemistry
Swimming	Joshua Bouma	Olivet Nazarene University	Sr.	3.55	Economics & Finance
Lacrosse	Steven Brill	Robert Morris University (Ill.)	So.	4.00	Exercise & Sports Studies
Ice Hockey	Nathan Chiarlitti	McGill University	Gr.	3.91	MSC (Exercise Physiology)
Tennis	Juan Jimenez	McPherson College	Jr.	4.00	Bus. Admin.: Management/Marketing/Finance
Golf	Ben Kendrick	University of the Cumberlands	Sr.	3.79	Biology / Chemistry
Golf	Chris Senna	Arizona Christian University	Sr.	4.00	Business Administration
Volleyball	Bobby Ying	Robert Morris University (Ill.)	Jr.	3.88	Accounting
Swimming	Josh Zakala	University of Victoria	So.	4.00	Engineering

Google Cloud Academic All-America of the Year: Kevin Konfederak, Georgia Gwinnett College
 
(1) – CoSIDA Academic All-America College Division first team selection in 2017
($) – CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year College Division in 2017


2017-18 Academic All-America® Women's At-Large Team,  College Division
 

FIRST TEAM
Sport	Name	School	Yr.	GPA	Major
Lacrosse	Jennifer Banks	Indiana Institute of Technology	Jr.	3.99	Biomedical Engineering
Rowing	Judith Beestermoeller	University of Victoria	Jr.	4.00	Sciences
Tennis	Zoë Bouwmeester	McPherson College	Jr.	3.96	Business Management / Marketing
Field Hockey	Lindsay Cole	University of Victoria	Sr.	4.00	Sciences
Tennis	Autria Compton	Arizona Christian University	Sr.	4.00	Biology
Tennis	Jessica Emoto	Tabor College	Sr.	3.99	Biology / Biochemistry / Social Work
Lacrosse	Becan Hennighan	University of the Cumberlands	Jr.	4.00	Psychology / Criminal Justice
Swimming	Christina Klouda	University of the Cumberlands	Jr.	4.00	Biology / Chemistry
Golf	Gina Kowalchuk	University of Providence	Sr.	3.94	Elementary Education
Golf	Breanna Nowak	Indiana University East	Jr.	4.00	Biochemistry
Lacrosse	Kristina Scott (1)	Indiana Institute of Technology	Sr.	3.96	Mechanical Engineering
SECOND TEAM
Sport	Name	School	Yr.	GPA	Major
Golf	Quinn Fitzgerald	University of Victoria	Jr.	4.00	Sciences
Tennis	Molly Fletchall	Taylor University	Jr.	3.94	Communications
Swimming	Deirdre Gerke	Olivet Nazarene University	Sr.	3.66	Engineering
Tennis	Katie Golka	College of Saint Mary	Jr.	4.00	Secondary Education
Swimming	Maddy Kelly	College of Idaho	Jr.	3.91	Accounting
Golf	Jaylin Kenney	Carroll College	Sr.	4.00	Accounting
Lacrosse	Karissa Proctor	University of Saint Mary	Jr.	4.00	Education
Tennis	Merle Schlaeger	University of St. Francis (IL)	Sr.	4.00	Management
Golf	Genevieve Stelmacovich	Park University	Sr.	4.12	Chemistry / Mathematics
Golf	Emily Whipple	Peru State College	Sr.	4.00	Middle Level Education

Google Cloud Academic All-America® of the Year: Christina Klouda, University of the Cumberlands
 
(1) – CoSIDA Academic All-America® College Division first team selection in 2017