Purple Knights Ward, Warech earn first NE-10 Academic All-Conference laurels

COLCHESTER, Vt. - Saint Michael's College men's basketball senior Tom Ward (Brighton, East Sussex, England/Saint Francis [N.Y.]) and junior Travis Warech (Pine Brook, N.J./Montville) were two of 72 student-athletes across seven sports selected for a Northeast-10 Conference Academic All-Conference honor for the winter athletic season.

Ward and Warech each earned the accolade for the first time, and were among five men's basketball players around the NE-10 to be lauded. The duo added the laurels to their previous academic accomplishments, as Ward has qualified for the NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll five times, and Warech on three occasions.

Warech averaged 7.8 points while starting 25 of 26 games, turning in career highs in rebounding (4.9), steals (28) and free throw shooting (78.4%) and matching his best in assists (43). On Feb. 21, he became the 41st Purple Knight, and just the 13th junior, to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Warech enters his senior year with 1,002 points. Ward started 19 contests, shooting 39.0 percent from three-point range while collecting 22 assists and 13 steals. In his final two seasons at Saint Michael's, he appeared in all 54 games, knocking down 90 three-pointers.

The NE-10 Academic All-Conference teams are chosen by a vote of a committee of athletic administrators and Faculty Athletic Representatives (FAR). To be eligible for selection to the academic all-conference teams, a student-athlete must have met and/or exceeded the following minimum requirements: 1) participated in at least half of the team's competitions and be either a starter or significant contributor; 2) achieved a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average; and 3) completed at least one academic year at their current institution.