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Austin, Texas – Senior citizens Gabriel Chicoine (St. Dominique, Quebec) and Samantha Benoit (Arch, NH) both recently received all-district academic awards from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Chicoine was named to the All-District At-Large roster for the second year in a row, while Benoit received the honor for the first time in her career.
The CoSIDA Academic All-American Program recognizes the best student-athletes in the country for their combined achievements in sport and in the classroom.
The men’s category includes competitive athletes from the fields of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis, volleyball, water polo and wrestling.
The Women at Large category includes beach volleyball, bowling, crew / rowing, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis and water polo.
Chicoine is an off-ice engineering major of 3.96, and on the ice he was one of the top defenders in NCAA Division III during his three-year career. He received his bachelor’s degree in three years and will pursue a master’s degree while continuing his college hockey career at Division I Bowling Green University in Ohio for the next year.
Chicoine was also named Norwich Male Scholar Athlete of the Year for having the highest GPA of any senior student athlete.
Chicoine has had limited activity this season due to the pandemic, providing two assists in eight games played while helping to lead the Cadets to a 7-1 record.
In 2019-20, Chicoine was named AHCA First Team All-American after finishing fourth in the country with five goals and 26 assists for 31 points.
He helped anchor a defensive unit that scored the lowest average goals in NCAA Division III history, giving up just 24 goals for 0.86 goals in 28 games.
Chicoine were also an All-USCHO Second Team pick in 2019-20 after helping Norwich hit a 24-2-2 record.
Chicoine is a two-time NEHC All-Tournament Team selection and three-time NEHC All-Conference Award winner, receiving the first team award in 2020 and the all-rookie and third team award in 2019.
Benoit received a GPA of 3.79 for a major in Health Sciences and graduated as one of the most decorated defenders in the history of the women’s hockey program. She became only the second Blue Liner to score 100 career points and only the twelfth overall player in the program’s rich history to receive the honor.
Benoit helped lead Norwich to the 2018 NCAA Division III National Championship as a freshman and was two-time AHCA First Team All-American selection in 2019 and 2020. She is also a two-time New England Hockey Writers All-New England selection and a two-time NEHC First Team All-Conference Award winner.
Benoit was named Most Valuable Player of the 2019 NEHC Tournament after scoring four assists in the championship game to beat Castleton 6-0.
Benoit was well on its way to breaking the program’s all-time assists record, if not for their shortened senior season. She ended her career with 84 assists, finishing third all-time in program history and just seven fewer than Sophie Leclerc’s 10-time record of 91 helpers. She also scored 16 goals in the maroon and gold in her career.
Chicoine and Benoit will be added to the selection pool for the CoSIDA At-Large Academic All-American Awards, which will be released on Wednesday, August 4th.
Chicoine received the CoSIDA Third Team Academic All-American Awards last season and will seek to become just the third recurring Academic All-American in school history.
Norwich has had at least one Academic All-American each in the past five years, with Derek Lotito (soccer) and Braeden Ostepchuk (men’s hockey) earning the honor in 2016. Ostepchuk then repeated in 2017, becoming Norwich’s first Academic All-American of the year in 2018, while also becoming the first three-time Academic All-American. Emily Oliver (softball) and Mary-Kait Mace (women’s football) were also honored as Academic All-American in 2019, while Chicoine and Tom Auburn (men’s hockey) received the honor in 2020.
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