Hockey Claims Player, Newcomer, and Coach of the Year WHAC Honors
(Howell, MI)-- The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) has announced its 2025-26 season awards for hockey, and Cleary has swept the major awards.
Bennett Sheppard would highlight this season's awards, as he was named First-Team All-WHAC and WHAC Player of the Year. Sheppard, a junior from Pinckney, led the conference in points scored with 44, with 27 of those points against WHAC opponents. He finished tied for first in total goals scored with 20 goals, tying his teammates Blair Krawhcyk and Bailey Ewonus, and he finished tied for first in assists with 24 assists. He became the fourth Cougar to eclipse the 100-point threshold earlier season, and now currently sits on 119 career points. His efforts also garnered him three WHAC Player of the Week awards this season. Sheppard is the third Cougar all-time to be recognized as First-Team All-Conference.
In addition to Sheppard's first-team honors, three Cougars were named Second-Team All-WHAC. Joining his teammate with some hardware was Blair Krawchyk, a freshman from Cambridge, Ontario, who was named Second-Team All-WHAC and WHAC Newcomer of the Year. Krawchyk was named WHAC Player of the Week on two occasions this season, and scored 41 total points, which was second on the team. He would finish with 20 goals, which was tied for the most on the team, and 21 assists, which was third most on the team. In league play, Krawchyk would score 24 points with 12 goals and 12 assists.
Bailey Ewonus, a freshman from Coquitlam, British Columbia, scored 39 points, which was good enough to be third on the team. He would tie for first with 20 goals, and finished in fourth on the team with 19 assists. Ewonus would tie Sheppard for first place on the team with 27 points against WHAC opponents. Billy Simms would also be named Second-Team All-WHAC. The defenseman from Plymouth, Michigan, was a force on the blue line, and did his part to help keep the puck out of the net. He would score 7 points, with 2 goals and 5 assists, while having 18 penalty minutes on the season.
For the second time in his tenure, head coach Scott Gardiner was named the WHAC Coach of the Year. Gardiner guided the Cougars to their best season in program history, with an 18-8-4 record overall, and 12-6-2 record in the WHAC. The 40 points earned in the WHAC gave the Cougars a second place finish, their highest finish ever, and giving them a bye in this weekend's WHAC Tournament.
Tommy Madden was named as Cleary's representative to the Champion of Character team, for best representing the five core character values of the NAIA.
Also recognized were student-athletes who were named to the All-Academic Team. To be honored, student-athletes must have had at least a 3.25 cumulative GPA and have attended Cleary for at least one full year. They were (in alphabetical order):
Braeden Bzovey
JC Garbacik
Peter Houston
Luke Jenkins
Collin Kerchoff
Nick Meyering
Steven Miller
Vincent Parent
Zane Rydel
Nick Schittenhelm
Bennett Sheppard
Luke St. Ledger
Dylan Tammadge
Brett Woolcott
All-Time Cleary First-Team, Second-Team, Newcomer Award Recipients:
Bennett Sheppard - WHAC Player of the Year (2025-26)
Blair Krawchyk - WHAC Newcomer of the Year (2025-26)
Scott Gardiner - WHAC Coach of the Year (2025-26)
Bennett Sheppard - First-Team All-Conference (2025-26)
Bailey Ewonus - Second-Team All-Conference (2025-26)
Blair Krawchyk - Second-Team All-Conference (2025-26)
Billy Simms - Second-Team All-Conference (2025-26)
Dylan Tammadge - WHAC Newcomer of the Year (2024-25)
Wes Smith - First-Team All-Conference (2024-25)
Dylan Tammadge - First-Team All-WHAC (2024-25)
Scott Gardiner - WHAC Coach of the Year (2023-24)
Wes Smith - First-Team All-Conference (2023-24)