Western Michigan, St. Cloud join NCHC
After receiving invitations from the National Collegiate Hockey Conference on Wednesday, Western Michigan University and St. Cloud State University each announced Thursday that they will be accepting the offer, bringing the conference total to eight teams.
The Division I conference’s founding members include the University of Denver, Colorado College, the University of North Dakota, the University of Nebraska-Omaha, Miami University and the 2011 NCAA champion University of Minnesota-Duluth.
With the new additions, the NCHC has now taken six of its eight schools from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
Western Michigan will be leaving the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, while St. Cloud is the most recent team to exit from the WCHA.
Hockey ranked No. 4 in preseason polls
The USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine NCAA Division I polls both ranked the Pioneer hockey program No. 4 on Monday.
Notre Dame, Miami and North Dakota occupied the top three spots in both polls.
Former Pioneer point guard wins Mr. Olympia
Phil Heath, who played 65 games for Denver’s basketball team from 1998-2002, won the 2011 Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition in Las Vegas earlier this month.
“I feel awesome. Words cannot describe how I feel right now,” Heath, 5-foot-9, told flexonline.com immediately following the competition. “I’m so happy that I was able to do it and able to have fun while doing it.”
At 31, Heath has competed four times in Mr. Olympia, placing in the top five each year and finishing as runner-up in the 2010 competition. To claim this year’s title, Heath beat out four-time winner Jay Cutler.
After playing at DU on a full scholarship, Heath began his body-building career by drastically increasing his physical training and eating six to seven meals per day. Since graduating from Denver, Heath has gained 45 pounds of muscle mass.
Heath won his first title at the 2003 NPC Northern Colorado competition, following it with a victory at the ‘03 Colorado State show. Since then, Heath has placed in the top five in at least one competition each year.
Heath, also known as “The Gift,” has now joined the elite ranks of Mr. Olympia winners, including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lee Haney. Heath is only the 13th man to win this title in its 47 years of existence.
Heath will continue his body building career as he competes in the Sheru Asian Grand Prix this month. This competition takes place in Mumbai, India.
