The NCAA Honors committee announced Mark Johnson, Wisconsin women's hockey head coach, as a recipient of the 2005 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award. Each year the NCAA recognizes former student-athletes who have distinguished themselves since completing their college athletics careers 25 years ago.
Johnson, along with five other recipients will be honored Sunday, January 9, 2005, at the Honors Dinner during the NCAA Convention in Dallas. Rece Davis, ESPN and ESPN2 college basketball and college football studio host and SportsCenter anchor/reporter, will serve as emcee of the event.
Joining Johnson are Gary Lawrence (Yale, men's ice hockey and men's golf), Paul McDonald (Southern California, football), Greg Meredith (Notre Dame, men's ice hockey), Joan Benoit Samuelson (Bowdoin College, track and field and field hockey) and Dave Stoldt (Illinois, men's gymnastics).
Named the 2004 recipient of the Vince Lombardi Award of Excellence, presented by the Vince Lombardi Charitable Fund, Johnson has served as a spokesman for numerous civic and charitable organizations including Athletes in Action, Boy Scouts of America and the Children's Cancer Fund.
In his playing days, Johnson, a two-time All-American, helped Wisconsin capture the 1977 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship. That same season, he became the first Wisconsin student-athlete to earn Western Collegiate Hockey Association rookie of the year honors. Johnson, who led Wisconsin in goals scored all three years of his career, is the only Badger in school history to score five goals in a game and average more than 2.00 points per game in his career.
In international play, Johnson was the leading scorer for the gold-medal-winning 1980 U.S. Olympic men's hockey team. He recorded five goals and six assists for 11 points as an Olympian. He was twice inducted in the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, first as part of the 1980 Olympic team and again for individual achievements including an 11-year National Hockey League career. Johnson coached at the high-school level and was an assistant men's hockey coach for Wisconsin from 1996 to 2002. He is currently in his third season as head women's hockey coach for the Badgers.
The Badgers, ranked fifth nationally, stand third in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with a 5-3-0 conference record and 7-3-0 overall.
After being swept by WCHA foe Minnesota Duluth two weeks ago, Wisconsin hits the road to meet WCHA newcomer North Dakota. The series, Nov. 20-21, is the first ever meeting for the teams and the puck drops at 2:05 p.m.
