Calvin Records School-Record 174 on MIAA Academic Honor Roll;
Calvin Places 14 Teams on MIAA Team GPA Award List;
Men's Basketball/Women's Volleyball Receives Coaches Association Academic Honors;
Women's Soccer Assistant Coach Helps Lead GRFC Women's Team To National Title
MIAA ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association announced Thursday the list of 1,248 student-athletes from the conference's nine member institutions recognized as 2016-17 Academic Honor Roll selections. Calvin had a record 174 scholar-athletes named to the list, surpassing the previous school record of 169 set last year.
"What our athletes accomplished this past year is outstanding," said Calvin Director of Athletics Dr. Jim Timmer. "To have 174 athletes achieve a 3.5 GPA or better is a testament to the quality of our student athletes and how hard they work to balance academics, athletics, and often a part-time job. The icing on the cake is that we also won the MIAA All-Sports trophy again this year. Our coaches also deserve a lot of credit for continuing to stress the vital importance of academic success."
The honor roll recognizes scholar-athletes who achieve a minimum 3.5 grade-point average (on a 4.0 scale) for the entire 2016-17 academic year. A student needed to have won a varsity letter in a sport to be eligible. The MIAA Academic Honor Roll program was initiated in 1990 to recognize students at MIAA member colleges who excel both in athletics and in the classroom.
"Once again, the student-athletes of the MIAA continue to demonstrate the importance of a well-rounded collegiate experience, and the volume of student-athletes that have achieved high academic standards remains an impressive accomplishment," said MIAA Commissioner Penny Allen-Cook. "I am proud of the efforts our student-athletes put towards their success in all aspects of their collegiate experience."
This year's Honor Roll has 13 student-athletes from Calvin who achieved the distinction four consecutive years.
Calvin also has 12 student-athletes posted a perfect 4.0 grade-point average last year.
Four-Year Honorees
Taylor Asfour: men's tennis
Brett Stoughton: men's swimming & diving
Lauren Strohbehn: women's cross country, women's indoor and outdoor track and field
Kailey Jo: women's soccer
Jared Doezema: men's tennis
Dirk Tanis: men's swimming and diving
Anna Timmer: women's basketball
MacKenzie Shelton: women's basketball
2016-17 - 4.0 Grade-Point Average
Taylor Asfour: men's tennis
Madeline Baas: women's lacrosse
McKenzie Diemer: women's cross country
Ally Fea: women's volleyball
Kali Mouw: women's basketball
Kendall Murphy: women's swimming and diving
Alyssa Oezer: women's swimming and diving, women's lacrosse
Nathan Olberding: men's swimming and diving
Alyssa Scholten: women's volleyball
Brett Stoughton: men's swimming & diving
Jacob Stout: men's indoor and outdoor track & field
Jeremiah Stout: men's indoor and outdoor track & field
MIAA TEAM GPA AWARD
An MIAA-leading 14 Calvin College teams have received the MIAA Team GPA Award.
The Faculty Athletic Representatives of the MIAA member colleges present the MIAA Team GPA Award every year. This award recognizes conference athletic teams for performance in the classroom of a 3.3 cumulative GPA or better (on a 4.0 scale).
Calvin's total matches the school record set during the 2015-16 academic year.
Nine of Calvin's women's teams received the MIAA Team GPA Award while five of the men's teams also achieved the feat. Calvin teams receiving the honor are as follows: women's cross country, women's outdoor track and field, women's indoor track and field, men's cross country, women's swimming and diving, men's tennis, women's tennis, women's basketball, women's soccer, women's volleyball, men's outdoor track and field, men's indoor track and field, men's swimming and diving and women's lacrosse.
Led by Brian Diemer, the women's cross country team continued a remarkable streak, earning a cumulative grade point average of 3.778. The Calvin women's cross country team is one of only two teams joining the Hope women's cross country team as the only teams to receive the award all 19 years it has been presented. The Calvin women's cross country team also finished third amongst all MIAA teams in team grade point average.
The men's cross country team was also under the leadership of Brian Diemer and earned the award for the 11th time with a team GPA of 3.560.
Dr. Amber Warners saw her national championship women's volleyball team honored for the 11th consecutive year and for the 15th time overall with a grade point average of 3.414.
The women's tennis team led by fourth-year head coach Kevin VanHaitsma received the award with a team GPA of 3.517. The women's tennis program has now received the honor 11 times.
Led by Dan Gelderloos, the women's swimming and diving team was on the list for a third straight year and for the 10th time overall with a team GPA of 3.531. Also led by Gelderloos, the men's swimming and diving team picked up the honor for the second straight year with an average of 3.362.
Led by first-year head coach Chuck Winkelman, the Calvin women's basketball team picked up the award for the 12th time in program history, recording a team GPA of 3.487.
Led by fifth-year head coach Blake Boehm, the Calvin women's lacrosse team is an MIAA Team GPA recipient for the second straight year, recording an average of 3.360.
Under the direction of Mark Recker, the Calvin women's soccer team is receiving the honor for the fourth straight year and for the 10th time overall, recording a team GPA of 3.416.
Bret Otte had his women's outdoor track and field team receive the award for the 12th straight year and for the 16th time in program history. Otte's women's outdoor track and field team posted an average of 3.586. His women's indoor track and field team picked up the award for the second straight year, compiling a 3.571 team grade point average.
Otte's men's outdoor track and field team was a team GPA recipient for the second straight year with an average of 3.391. His men's indoor track and field also repeated, accumulating an average of 3.338.
John Ross saw his men's tennis team receive the award for the 10th time, recording a 3.512 GPA.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Kansas City, Mo. -- Five members of the 2016-17 Calvin men's basketball team have been named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors Court. Named to the NABC Honors Court from Calvin are Michael Wilks, Carlos Amoros, Michael Welch, Nate Drews and Nate Meppelink.
In order to be named to the Honors Court, a student-athlete must meet a high standard of academic criteria. The qualifications are as follows:
1. Academically a junior or senior and a varsity player.
2. Cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.2 or higher at the conclusion of the 2016-17 academic year.
3. Students must have matriculated at least one year at their current institution.
4. Member of an NCAA Division I, II, III, or NAIA Division I or II institution with a NABC member coach.
Welch (Stevensville/Stevensville-Lakeshore HS) and Drews (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Hills Lutheran HS) were graduated from Calvin this past May. Wilks (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) and Meppelink (Lynden, Wash./Lyden Christian HS) just completed their junior campaigns while Amoros (Wyoming, Mich./Wyoming HS) recently finished his sophomore season but has junior year academic status.
The NABC Honors Court recognizes the talents and gifts that these men possess off the court and the hard work they exhibit in the classroom.
VOLLEYBALL
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - For the sixth consecutive year, the Calvin volleyball team has received the AVCA Team Academic Award.
Calvin is one of 150 in NCAA Division III to achieve a Team Academic Award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association. Calvin joined six other MIAA schools on the list.
The award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale.
Under the direction of head coach Dr. Amber Warners, the Calvin women's volleyball team compiled a 3.414 grade point average as a team during the 2016-17 academic year. Emily Blankespoor, Kelly Bos, Sarah DeVries, Ally Fea, Abby Gorter, Rachel Herrera, Anna Kamp, Jenna Lodewyk, Alyssa Scholten and Tessa Van Laare were all named to the MIAA Honor Roll.
It was another superlative year for the Calvin women's volleyball team as the Knights captured their third national title in seven years, and claimed their seventh-straight MIAA regular season title. The Knights finished the 2016 season with an overall record of 33-1.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
GRANDVILLE, Mich. - Calvin women's soccer assistant coach Tara Wegner helped guide the Grand Rapids FC women to a national championship on Saturday night at Grandville High School. Wegner was a starting defender for Grand Rapids FC on Saturday night in a thrilling 3-1 overtime victory over the Santa Clarita Blue Heat. Grand Rapids FC captured its first United Women's Soccer title in front of a packed house on Saturday, hours after advancing to the finals with a shootout victory over Long Island on Friday evening.
"It feels unreal to win this," said Wegner. "This is the first time that I ever won anything at the national level and I am 40. We had a very committed group, that said in the beginning that we wanted to set high expectations and win the league, that was our first goal. Then after that, we knew we had four games and play one at a time and when we found out we were going to host everything, that was just unbelievable."
The Blue Heat struck first on Saturday with a goal in the 14th minute to take a 1-0 lead and try to win back-to-back-UWS titles. Grand Rapids FC immediately tied the game back up at one, off the foot of Mari Corby. Extra time was needed to determine the champion and Grand Rapids FC received goals from Riko Sagara and Bethany Balcer to claim the crown.
In its inaugural season, Grand Rapids FC finished the year at 12-1-1. Wegner talked about what it was like to play on such a diverse team.
"They were so accepting of me being the mature leader," said Wegner. "You don't feel that age difference at all. We were so cohesive as a team, it was crazy. We came together and flowed well together and it was magic."
During her four years at Calvin, Wegner helped the Calvin women's soccer program produce a record of 67-12-3. During the four-year run the Knights captured the program's first three conference titles and its first two trips to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Wegner scored 110 goals along with 43 assists and 263 points. She is the Calvin career record holder in goals and points and holds the Calvin single-season record for goals (35) and points (80). As a junior and senior, she was named a NCAA Division III All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. She last played professionally, eight years ago with the West Michigan Firewomen of the former USL W-League.
"So, because those Calvin ladies are responsible for me being out here," said Wegner. "Because they said that I had to try out and I said that I was done playing and they kept bugging me and then I decided that I had to lead by example and not shy away from a challenge and put yourself into an uncomfortable position. You never know what can happen. So that is my lesson to them, by leading by example. Now I cannot wait for them to start setting the standard and for us to hopefully win a national title someday soon."
Wegner and the Knights open the season on Friday, Sept. 1 against Lake Forest.
Received on Mon Jul 24 20:05:47 2017
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