The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association has announced the winners of two newly-established awards honoring outstanding publicity efforts by its member schools - the Hartman Writing Award and the Renner Associate SID Award.
The first recipients of the new awards both come from Calvin College. Bruce Van Baren, a student assistant in the Calvin sports information department, was named the winner of the Hartman Award, while Annalise VenHuizen, also a student assistant at Calvin, was named the recipient of the Renner Award.
Hartman Writing Award
Bruce VanBaren, who will be a senior at Calvin this fall, was honored for a story he wrote on the comeback of Michael Holwerda, a member of the Knights' men's soccer team who overcame a serious medical problem to earn All-MIAA honors last season. continue
A native of Crete, Ill., VanBaren has worked for two years as a student assistant in the Calvin sports information department. A graduate of Illiana Christian High School in Lansing, Ill., VanBaren produces game stories, feature stories and columns. A business communications major, he also serves as a broadcaster on Internet broadcasts of Calvin sports events.
A dean's list student at Calvin, VanBaren has also served as the co-sports editor of the school's student newspaper, Chimes, and has served internships at WMVP-AM in Chicago and WOOD Radio in Grand Rapids. This summer, he served as an intern for the nationally-syndicated Michael Reagan Talk Show, based in Washington D.C.
Renner Associate SID Award
A May graduate of Calvin with a degree in English, Annalise VenHuizen worked in the school's sports information office all four years she attended. She started as a writer and became involved in producing game day programs. Soon, she picked up photography and took photos of numerous Calvin athletic events and athletes, highlighted by her photography at this year's NCAA Division III track and field championships.
VenHuizen also worked as a game day statistician for men's and women's basketball and updated the Calvin sports Web page with game stories, statistics and photos. Earlier this year, she was selected to serve as a chaperone for visiting writers at Calvin's Festival of Faith and Writing.
A native of Lansing, Ill., and also a graduate of Illiana Christian High School, VenHuizen has accepted a teaching position at Grand River Preparatory Academy in Kentwood, Mich.
The new awards honor two sports information directors who have given many years of service to the MIAA - Robin Hartman of Albion College and Tom Renner of Hope College. The Hartman Award honors outstanding writing in a sports information capacity, either by a sports information director or assistant, while the Renner Award honors outstanding efforts by student assistants in sports information offices at MIAA schools.
