Hobart hockey forward Artem Buzoverya '24 was named the Chi Alpha Sigma Region III Men's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year by the Division III Commissioner's Association (D3CA).
Chi Alpha Sigma, a valued partner of the D3CA, is in its inaugural year as presenting sponsor of the regional awards.
D3CA names a men's and women's regional athlete of the year across each of the NCAA's 10 regions. Each winner advances to the national ballot for consideration for 2023-24 D3CA Men's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year and Women's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year.
Selection criteria for the awards included considerations based on academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership and a personal statement submitted by each nominee.
Voting was conducted by the commissioners within each of the ten regions, with the top male and female honoree recognized as finalists for the Awards Committee to select the Division III Commissioner's Association Men's Sport and Women's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year.
The two national winners will be announced next month.
A native of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Buzoverya earned a bachelor's degree in economics and international relations in May, graduating summa cum laude. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest and most prestigious academic honor society, and Omicron Delta Epsilon, the international economics honor society. Buzoverya's academic excellence earned him four consecutive AHCA All-American Scholar awards, three straight All-Academic Team honors from the New England Hockey Conference and two Academic All-District awards from College Sports Communicators.
On the ice, Buzoverya was a key player in Hobart's back-to-back national championship runs in 2023 and 2024. After his first season on campus was canceled due to COVID, he led the Statesmen to a 77-10-3 record, three straight NEHC regular season titles and back-to-back NEHC Tournament Championships. Buzoverya skated in the NCAA tournament in each of his three seasons, serving as an assistant captain on the 2023 National Championship team that posted a program record 29 wins against just two losses. As an encore, he captained the Statesmen to a 28-2-1 record and another NCAA title run.
The accolades poured in for Buzoverya this season. The second team All-American was the runner-up for the Sid Watson Award (Division III Player of the Year). He also earned a spot on the All-USCHO third team and the All-NEHC first team. Buzoverya also took home the MVP award following the NEHC Tournament. At the 2024 Block H Dinner, he was presented with the Francis L. "Babe" Kraus '24 Memorial Award as the most outstanding senior athlete, as well as the hockey team's Boswell and Holden awards.
In 90 career games at Hobart, Buzoverya scored 20 goals and added 50 assists, producing a career-high 31 points as a senior. The team's top center, he won 1,009 career faceoffs for a winning percentage of .614. In Hobart's epic four overtime win over Curry in the 2024 NCAA quarterfinals, Buzoverya was one of two Statesmen to win 40 faceoffs, the program's single game record.
Buzoverya was also active in the community, volunteering with the Geneva Community Lunch Program, participating in numerous youth hockey clinics for kids in the Geneva area and was part of a team-organized community service project that cleaned the graves of veterans in a Geneva cemetery. He received the Hobart Dean's Citizenship Award this year.
Buzoverya will use his final year of collegiate eligibility as a graduate student at Division I Bentley University.