Alex Hilliker has made an impact in academics, athletics and community service.

For his efforts, the 2006 Moon graduate has been recognized by the Pittsburgh Penguins Alumni Association with a $2,000 scholarship.

Alex received phone calls from former Penguins Bryan Trottier and Warren Young congratulating him on the scholarship.

“I was extremely surprised,” Alex said.

“I am honored to receive this scholarship. It was cool to hear from Bryan Trottier.”

Alex’s scholarship honor will be recognized between periods at a Penguins game at Mellon Arena at either Thanksgiving or Christmas.

The alumni scholarship program, co-sponsored by the NHL Alumni Association, is in its second year and is presented annually to a Western Pennsylvania high school senior for academic excellence and for providing leadership, sportsmanship and a positive attitude as a member of their school’s ice hockey program.

Students eligible for the scholarship must have a minimum grade point average of 3.2.

Alex, the son of David and Lisa Hilliker of Moon Township, will attend the University of Michigan this fall and plans to major in pre-law or political science.

He hopes to try out for a club hockey team at Michigan in September.

As a captain for the Moon Area varsity ice hockey team this past season, Alex scored 18 goals and totalled 46 points.

Moon qualified for the Penguin Cup Class AA playoffs, winning the play-in game against Greensburg-Salem before falling to Kittanning.

Alex tallied 16 goals and 30 points as captain of the Pittsburgh Aviators AAU Under-18 amateur hockey team.

He stayed close to the ice as a part-time employee at the Airport Ice Arena and an assistant coach for the Aviators Pee Wee B Team.

The Pee Wee Aviators went on to win the league championship.

“It was great to work with the kids,” Alex said.

“It was rewarding to see the kids doing well what we taught them. It also gave me a chance to see things from the side of those that coached me when I was growing up.”

In school, Alex was a member of the National Honor Society and was named to the Distinguished Honor Roll and High Honor Roll. He also ran for the Tigers cross country team.

In addition to school activities, Alex serves as a church camp counselor, sponsors a child in Africa, participated in a fast for famine relief and took part in a mission trip to Haiti.

© 2006 by Gateway Newspapers

This entry was posted on Friday, June 30th, 2006 at 10:04 pm and is filed under Scholarship. Tags: Scholarship, Student. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.