Falcon Rob Novak (Sr., Hayward, Wis.) has been named to the 2004 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Spring College Division Men's At-Large second team.

Fifteen players were named to each of the first, second and third teams. Three players from District V were named to the first team and two were named to the second team. Novak is one of just two hockey players named to any of the three teams.

In May Novak was named to the first All-District V team along with nine others. All 10 student-athletes were eligible for the national team. District V includes the states of: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba.

Earlier this year Novak was named the 2004 WIAC Max Sparger hockey Co-Scholar-Athlete.

Novak is majoring in elementary education with a minor in health and coaching and carries a 3.918 grade point average. He is a three-time member of the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll as well as a three-time selection on the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) All-Academic team. Novak has been named to the UW-River Falls Dean's List six semesters and has received his institution's Oostendorp Student-Athlete Award, which goes to the men's hockey player with the highest GPA, the past three years.

Novak helped the Falcons to a share of the WIAC championship this season and received honorable mention to the all-league squad in 2002. He was recognized on the All-NCHA honorable mention team in 2003. Novak participated in the NCAA Div. III playoffs in 2001, 2003 and 2004 and helped the Falcons reached the Frozen Four in 2001. He was one of the team's captains in 2004.

Novak has been a member of UW-River Falls' Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

This year he played in every game (31) and scored three goals and 15 assists for 18 points. He has played 125 career games and has scored 33 goals and 57 assists for 90 points. He has scored four power-play and three game-winning goals.

The Falcons finished 2004 with a 21-6-4 overall record. UWRF finished 4-2-2 in the WIAC and 8-3-3 in the NCHA. The Falcons finished second in the NCHA standings. UWRF finished second in the NCHA Peters Cup playoffs, losing in the championship game, 2-0, at St. Norbert. The Falcons advanced to the NCAA Div. III playoffs and secured a 3-2 overtime win over St. Thomas in an opening round contest at Hunt Arena. The Falcons then traveled back to St. Norbert and lost a 3-0 decision in the NCAA quarterfinals.

Created in 1952 by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), the Academic All-America Teams Program is the premier, nationwide college scholar-athlete awards program. It recognizes 816 outstanding student-athletes annually in Div. I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports. Six men's teams are named in football, soccer, basketball, baseball, at-large and track & field/cross country. Six women's teams are named in volleyball, soccer, basketball, softball, at-large and track & field/cross country. There are 12 sports that student-athletes can be nominated from for the at-large team. Being named an Acamemic All-America happens only one way - excellence on the playing field and in the classroom.

Novak was the fifth Falcon to win the WIAC Scholar-Athlete award. Previous UWRF winners include; Tom Griffith (1987 and 1988), Russ Johnson (1996), Jesse Sampair (1999) and Jared Anderson (2001).

He shared the 2004 WIAC award with UW-Stout's Lewis Kellin. The WIAC Scholar-Athlete Award is sponsored by Culver's. In order to be nominated for the scholar-athlete award, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.25 grade point average, be in their last year of competition, or on schedule to graduate this academic year, and have competed for a minimum of two years.

Go to the CoSIDA web site.

Go to the WIAC hockey web site.

Go to the NCHA web site.

Go to the Falcon Statistics web site.