Trio of Buckeyes Named Senior CLASS Award Candidates
12/9/2021 5:31:48 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
Senior CLASS Award bios: Preston | Riedell | Westlund
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Three members of the Ohio State men’s hockey team – Quinn Preston, Will Riedell and Gustaf Westlund – have been named candidates for the Senior CLASS Award. The Buckeye trio is among 20 selected, with Ohio State the only school with three.
Preston, from Trenton, Mich., is a senior forward for the Buckeyes. An alternate captain for the second year in a row, he has played in 108 games in the Scarlet and Gray, with 58 points on 27 goals and 31 assists. He is a sport industry major on pace to graduate this spring and has earned ACHA Scholar All-American, Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and Academic All-Big Ten accolades. Preston traveled to Costa Rica on an athletics department service learning trip in 2019.
A defenseman from Greensboro, N.C., Riedell is in his first year at Ohio State after earning his degree in business administration from Lake Superior State in the spring, where he earned WCHA All-Academic Team accolades. He is a captain for the Buckeyes this year while working toward a graduate degree in public management. Riedell has skated in 150 collegiate games and has posted 55 points on 18 goals and 36 assists, with 126 blocked shots.
Westlund, who hails from Stockholm, Sweden, is a senior forward and captain for Ohio State. An alternate captain as a junior, he has appeared in 96 games at Ohio State and has totaled 27 goals, 34 assists and 61 points. In the classroom, the Academic All-Big Ten selection and Ohio State Scholar-Athlete is on pace to graduate this spring with his degree in economics.
To be eligible for the Senior CLASS Award, a student-athlete must be classified as a NCAA Division I senior or graduate student and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The 20 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the season. Those 10 names will then be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character, and competition.
The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2022 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four® in April.
