Awards by the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) to outstanding senior athletes from its member schools during the 2005-06 school year have been announced by Commissioner David Neilson.
Christine Hendricks of Calvin College has been presented the Sheila Wallace Kovalchik Women Scholar Award while Travis Sleight of Olivet College has received the Albert H. Deal Male Scholar-Athlete Award.
The awards recognize senior class athletes who have excelled in academics and athletics and displayed outstanding leadership qualities. The awards honor two former MIAA commissioners, Albert Deal (1971-91) and Sheila Wallace Kovalchik (1991-2002).
Travis Sleight was a four-year football letterwinner. A running back, he was an All-MIAA first team honoree as a junior and senior and received ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors in both 2004 and 2005. As a senior, he was the recipient of the MIAA’s Pete Schmidt Scholar-Athlete Award for excellence on the football field and in the classroom and received the Morley Fraser Scholar-Athlete Award from the Michigan Chapter of the National Football Foundation and the College Football Hall of Fame. He holds the Olivet career scoring record with 51 touchdowns. He majored in health, physical education, recreation and sport. He is the son of John Sleight of Delton, Mich.
Christine Hendricks was an All-MIAA honoree in volleyball and track & field. She lettered four years in both sports. This spring she was crowned the NCAA Division III champion in the heptathlon with a national record performance. She was the conference field MVP as both a junior and senior, won the league javelin crown her sophomore, junior and senior years, and was an NCAA All-American in the heptathlon for three consecutive years. She majored in mathematics. She is the daughter of Carla and Steve Hendricks of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Other nominees for the Kovalchik award were Jamie Fornetti, Albion; Erin Fralick, Alma; Anneliese Fox, Hope; Christie Zakar, Kalamazoo; Jill Lingbeek, Olivet; and Kayla Cheesman, Tri-State. Other nominees for the Deal award were Tony Vennekotter, Adrian; Eric Johnson, Albion; Calvin Hilson, Alma; Nate Meckes, Calvin; Greg Immink, Hope; Kyle Konwinski, Kalamazoo.
