By @MichaelCaples –
The Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League has announced that Kyle Sitkins of Traverse City West is the 2016 recepient of the David Mannino College Scholarship.
The $1,000 scholarship, associated with the MIHL Prep Hockey Showcase, is awarded to a student-athlete who skated in the showcase and best meets the selection criteria – both in academics and community service.
“I’m honored to be the recipient of the David Mannino Scholarship Award for 2016 and I want to thank both the Mannino Family and the MIHL for the award,” Sitkins said via the MIHL. “To be associated with a scholarship that honors the memory of such an accomplished individual is truly humbling. I am very thankful that my coach nominated me for this scholarship. I also want to thank him for his commitment to the hockey team and his efforts in getting our team into the Showcase.”
Sitkins maintains a 3.80 grade-point average at Traverse City West High School. His new scholarship will help him through his first year at Michigan Tech in the fall as he begins his pursuit of a degree in mechanical engineering.
Sitkins also volunteers at the Father Fred Food Pantry and the Inland Seas Education Association.
“I was very proud to hear that Kyle was the winner of the Mannino Scholarship,” said TC West coach Jeremy Rintala. “He is a very hard working student athlete in the classroom and on the ice. He is a very grateful young man and will put the money to good use at MTU. We would like to thank the Mannino family for this generous scholarship. I think Kyle is a very deserving recipient.”
The scholarship, presented annually by the MIHL, was renamed the David Mannino scholarship to honor the life of David Mannino, a former U of D Jesuit player who passed away in 2011 at the age of 18.
“David’s life exemplified the goals and objectives of the scholarship – he was a student athlete and a young man with great moral character,” said MIHL President Andy Weidenbach.