CKSR (Melissa Oosterhouse Named Recipient of Sheila Wallace Kovalchik Award)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR JUNE 7, 2011
 
Melissa Oosterhouse Named Recipient of Sheila Wallace Kovalchik Award
(release prepared by MIAA publicist Greg Chandler)
 
MIAA NEWS/WOMEN'S TENNIS

Awards by the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association to the outstanding
senior athletes from its member schools during the 2010-11 academic year have
been announced by Commissioner David Neilson. Eric Watt (football) of Trine
University has received the Albert L. Deal Scholar-Athlete Award, while Melissa
Oosterhouse (tennis) of Calvin College has been presented the Sheila Wallace
Kovalchik Scholar-Athlete Award.
“Eric and Melissa have had marvelous careers these last four years in the
classroom, on the field, and as role models in our conference. They will be
missed, but their selection for these awards from such an exceptional group of
nominees is an achievement for which they should take great pride,”
Commissioner Neilson said.
The awards recognize senior class athletes who have excelled in academics and
athletics, as well as displayed outstanding leadership qualities. The awards
honor two former MIAA commissioners, Albert Deal (1971-91) and Sheila Wallace
Kovalchik (1991-2002). Oosterhouse is the fifth individual in Calvin history to
receive the Sheila Wallace Kovalchik Award. Prior recipients from Calvin
include: Annie VanderLaan (2003), Christine Hendricks (2006), Lisa Winkle (2007
and Sarah Wittingen (2008).
Melissa Oosterhouse
A resident of Grand Rapids, Mich., and graduate of Grand Rapids Christian High
School, Oosterhouse was a four-year letter winner in women’s tennis for Calvin,
earning All-MIAA First Team honors all four years. She was the MIAA’s Most
Valuable Player in her junior and senior years and this spring became the first
Calvin player in school history to earn Division III All-American honors. She
was also named the recipient of the MIAA’s Karen Caine Scholar-Athlete Award
each of the past two years and won the MIAA’s Sue Little Sportsmanship Award in
2009.
Oosterhouse set several Calvin school records during her career. This spring,
she posted a 19-2 record at No. 1 singles for the Knights and earned her second
consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III women’s singles championship,
advancing to the second round. She finished her career with a record of 78-14
at singles, the most victories ever by a Calvin women’s tennis player.
A biology pre-med major and dean’s list student at Calvin all four years,
Oosterhouse graduated in May with a 3.955 grade point average, earning
recognition to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll all four years of her career. She
was a first-team selection to the College Division ESPN The Magazine Academic
All-America team in women’s tennis, as selected by the College Sports
Information Directors of America, in 2010 and is under consideration for the
same honor this year. She was also named the recipient of the NCAA’s Elite 88
Award, given to the student-athlete with the highest grade point average among
those competing in NCAA championship events, in Division III women’s tennis
last year.
Oosterhouse volunteered for numerous school and community service projects
during her collegiate career. She was a member of Calvin’s Student Athlete
Advisory Committee each of the past two years and took part in Calvin’s Gainey
Leadership Retreat. She also volunteered for two years at the Grandville
Institute for the Arts, worked with special needs children at her church for
four years, provided tennis lessons to third-grade students through a program
called Quick Start, and did an internship at the Van Andel Institute in Grand
Rapids, Mich., last summer where she conducted research on breast cancer.
Melissa Oosterhouse is the daughter of Carl and Joy Oosterhouse. She has been
admitted to the Wayne State University School of Medicine, where she plans to
attend in the fall.
Other nominees for the Kovalchik Award were Kristin Toney of Adrian, Ashley
Collins of Albion, Kelly Koenigsknecht of Alma, Kara VandeGuchte of Hope,
Chelsea Smith of Kalamazoo, Amber Conrad of Olivet, Mary Kate Boyce of Saint
Mary’s and Tori Bluhm of Trine.

  
 
 
Received on Tue Jun 7 14:18:03 2011