The CCHA announced Friday that Northern Michigan senior defenseman Ben Newhouse has been voted the CCHA’s student-athlete of the year.
The award is voted on by the league’s eight institution’s faculty athletic representatives and is awarded to one CCHA player that performed consistently as a regular member of their CCHA team, displayed outstanding sportsmanship, made satisfactory progress towards a degree, displayed leadership and was active in community service off the ice, encompassing a positive culture of the institution and league.
“Ben is an exceptional student and has been a central part of our community from the moment he stepped on campus,” said NMU director of athletics Forrest Karr in a statement. “He is a fan favorite known for his competitiveness on the ice and for being thoughtful and good-natured off the ice. Ben has made it a priority to immerse himself in Upper Peninsula culture by choosing to spend summers in Marquette and connecting with community members on a personal level.”
Newhouse was a two-time alternate captain during his time at NMU. Newhouse played in all situations for the Wildcats and led all players in time on ice, averaging almost 26 minutes a game. This past year, he played in all 37 games for NMU while amassing a career-high 27 points from the blue line, which tied him for third in CCHA defensemen scoring. He also led all of college hockey in blocked shots. Newhouse was named the 2021-22 MVP for the Wildcats.
On the academic side, Ben received his bachelor’s and master’s of science and mathematics degrees with a concentration in actuarial science plus a minor in entrepreneurship. He obtained a 3.96 GPA in his master’s program. In the fall and spring semesters, he took and passed Exam P and Exam FM, the first in the series of actuarial exams. In addition to passing his actuarial exams, he presented the Borsuk-Ulam Theorem in his topology course in the winter semester of 2021. He then presented the equation of geodesic deviation, in his geometry class in the fall of 2021. He earned a spot on both the 2021-22 CCHA Scholar-Athlete Team and the CCHA All-Academic Team.
Most recently, Newhouse earned AHCA All-American Scholar. To qualify, a student-athlete must have attained a 3.75 GPA for each semester and had to appear in 40 percent of the team’s games.
Newhouse is an active member of the Marquette Golf Club. Before COVID, he spent numerous hours over at Lakeview Arena helping out with various levels of Marquette Junior Hockey. He was also a lead instructor for the NMU Wildcat Summer Hockey Clinic. He regularly volunteers for community or campus-led events associated with athletics or NMU hockey. A few of these events included attending and often speaking at 4th Period Gatherings at various businesses after Saturday games sponsored by NMU Athletics, the Cativities Halloween Bash – trick or treating with kids from the community, and volunteering at an aid station for the Marquette Marathon.
After Newhouse’s tenure in NCAA Hockey, he signed to play professional hockey in Italy for HC Pusteral.
