By: Justin Lafleur

HANOVER, N.H. — Wyatt Allen, the Betsy and Mark Gates 1959 Head Coach of Men’s Heavyweight Rowing, has been named the Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association (IRCA) National Coach of the Year, as announced on Friday. Allen helped lead the Big Green to tremendous success in 2025, highlighted by the varsity eight finishing second at Eastern Sprints and third at the IRA National Championship.
 
Allen was a finalist for the award along with the head coaches of Washington (Michael Callahan), Cal (Scott Frandsen) and Syracuse (Dave Reischman).
 
“I’m really happy to see Wyatt win this award,” said Billy Bender, who stroked the varsity eight. “He has been instrumental to my development as an athlete and has helped so many guys on our team make the jump from good to elite. It has been really fun to see the program grow into one of the best teams in the nation under his leadership.”
 
The varsity eight went from 11th in the country in 2024 to third in 2025. The crew finished unbeaten in their spring dual season, going on to finish second at Eastern Sprints and third at the IRA National Championship, only trailing Washington and Harvard at IRAs. Dartmouth’s grand final time of 5:30.900 was only 0.15 seconds behind the Crimson in second and just 1.12 seconds behind the national champion Huskies.
 
The Big Green also saw their second and fourth varsity eights earn bronze medals at Eastern Sprints.
 
“Coach Wyatt is Dartmouth Rowing,” said Sammy Houdaigui, coxswain of the varsity eight. “He inspires and expects everyone to achieve their potential, not just on the water but also in all facets of life. His strength of character is evident in every interaction you have with him. His leadership, integrity and commitment to his athletes have made every member of the team a better person.
 
“I came to Dartmouth for the chance to be coached by Wyatt, and it has been the most formative experience of my life,” Houdaigui continued.
 
For the varsity eight, the spring began with a win at Yale, giving Dartmouth the Olympic Axe for the first time in the Axe’s 21-year history. The crew went on to pick up dual victories over Boston University, Syracuse, Wisconsin, Columbia and Northeastern.
 
“Coach getting this award is not a surprise for any of us on the team,” said Houdaigui. “We all know we have the best coach out there. What makes me most grateful for the last four years is that I had the chance to be coached by someone whose strength of character is every bit as remarkable as his coaching ability.”
 

University of Minnesota Duluth men’s hockey player Joey Pierce earned a spot on the 2024-25 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® Men’s At-Large Teams selected by College Sports Communicators, that recognize the nation’s top student athletes for their combined performances in competition and in the classroom.

Pierce, a junior from Hermantown, Minn., was also named to the 2024-2025 NCHC Academic All-Conference Team, as well as a NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete.

Academic All-District® honorees were considered for advancement to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot. Student-athletes selected as CSC Academic All-America® finalists advance to the national ballot to be voted on by CSC members. NCAA and NAIA Women’s At-Large Academic All-America® First-, second- and third-team honorees will be announced on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (The Men’s At-Large Teams will be announced on Wednesday, July 9.) 

To be nominated, student athletes must fit the following criteria —
Academic standing:

• Student-athletes must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically.
• Nominee must be enrolled at their institution at the time of nomination as either an undergraduate or graduate student. Only the school at which an athlete competed in the current academic year can nominate that player.
• Student-athletes who have graduated from their own institution during the current academic year and are not competing in athletics at another institution at the time of nomination are eligible.
• Transfer student-athletes are immediately eligible. If your transfer student-athletes (undergraduates or graduates) are in their first semester at your institution, you must use their cumulative undergraduate GPA and cumulative graduate GPA (if grad GPA is applicable) from their former institution — which meets the 3.50 cumulative GPA — to be considered for Academic All-District/Academic All-America status. This would be the GPA or GPAs they used when gaining admittance to your institution. If your transfer student-athlete has a GPA at your institution, then you take the COMBINED cumulative GPA (from all institutions) and use that in your nomination process. (You cannot just select their GPA at your institution to date.)

Academic eligibility:

• An undergraduate student-athlete must have at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale).
• A graduate student-athlete must have at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) as both an undergraduate and a grad student unless they are in their first semester as a graduate student and don’t have an established graduate GPA.
• The cumulative grade point average may not be rounded up to 3.50.
• First-semester transfers: See the information, above, for how to submit their GPA.

MEN’S & WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY 
Eligible nominees must compete in 90 percent of the institution’s games played OR must start in at least 66 percent of the institution’s games. For goalies, a student-athlete must have started at least 50 percent of an institutions games. 

The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that the team has signed forwards Matthew Stienburg and Jason Polin to a one-year contracts through the 2025-26 season.

Stienburg, 24, missed the majority of the 2024-25 season due to an upper-body injury he suffered on Nov. 1. Prior to the injury, he skated in three regular season contests with the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League and finished the regular season with three points (1g/2a) over five total games. The centerman also made his NHL debut with the Avalanche on Oct. 16 vs. Boston and finished his NHL stint with eight games played. He appeared in three Calder Cup playoff matchups after returning from injury.

The Halifax, Nova Scotia, native joined the Eagles following the conclusion of his senior season at Cornell University and from 2022-25 has totaled 17 points (6g/11a) in 63 career AHL contests. During the 2023-24 campaign, Stienburg posted career highs in goals (5), assists (8) and games played (54). He has added one point (1a) in seven career Calder Cup playoff games.

Selected by the Avalanche in the third round (63rd overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft, Stienburg recorded 46 points (20g/26a) in 73 career NCAA games at Cornell. He appeared in 18 games as a senior in 2022-23 (2g/5a), missing 16 contests due to an injury sustained in late December. As a junior in 2021-22, Stienburg was named to the All-ECAC Hockey Second Team after leading Cornell with 29 points (13g/16a) in 28 games. During his freshman season in 2019-20, Stienburg registered 10 points (5g/5a) in 27 games and ranked first among all ECAC rookie forwards with a +12 rating. He did not play during the 2020-21 campaign due to the cancellation of the Ivy League season.

Prior to joining Cornell, Stienburg played for St. Andrew’s College in Ontario from 2017-19, collecting 128 points (60g/68a) in 93 CAHS league games and producing 32 points (11g/21a) in 20 CISAA (Conference of Independent Schools Athletic Association) outings. He also recorded 10 points (5g/5a) in eight total postseason contests to help St. Andrew’s win the league championship two years in a row. Stienburg served as team captain his second season in 2018-19. The 6-foot-1, 182-pound center joined the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL following the conclusion of that campaign and registered one point (0g/1a) in three games.

Matthew’s father, Trevor, played nine years of professional hockey, including 71 games with the NHL’s Québec Nordiques.

Polin, 26, also missed time due to injury in 2024-25 but tallied 19 points (11g/8a) in 39 regular-season outings for the Eagles. Despite being limited to 39 games, he tied for ninth on the team in goals. The forward suited up in seven Calder Cup playoff games and chipped in a goal, his first career postseason tally as a professional.

Polin made his NHL debut on Jan. 8, 2024 and has skated in nine games for the Avalanche over the last two seasons. He scored his first goal on Jan. 16, 2024 at Ottawa.

The Holt, Mich., native has appeared in 88 regular-season AHL contests from 2022-25, collecting 30 points (15g/15a). He has also appeared in 13 postseason games with the Eagles across the three seasons. Polin originally signed with Colorado as a college free agent on March 29, 2023.

Prior to turning pro, Polin attended Western Michigan University from 2019-23, where he recorded 96 points (60g/36a) in 132 games. During his senior year while serving as team captain, Polin led all NCAA skaters with 30 goals, setting a National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) record. He totaled 47 points (30g/17), ranking second on the team in points, tied for first in power-play goals (6) and recorded five hat tricks. Polin was named the NCHC’s Player of the Year and was a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as a top player in college hockey.

The 6-foot, 198-pound forward skated in 157 career USHL games with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders from 2016-19, producing 84 points (50g/34a). He served as an alternate captain during his final season in 2018-19 and notched 50 points (30g/20a) while finishing tied for seventh in the league in goals. Polin appeared in six USHL postseason games in 2018-19 and tallied nine points (5g/4a), ranking first on the team in both goals and points.