Throughout its nearly 125-year existence, the MIAA has stood for athletic excellence. This page will feature stories highlight examples of outstanding achievement, ranging from individual student-athletes to teams who have demonstrated excellence at the conference and national level.
In April, Calvin junior Carissa Verkaik was named the 2012
NCAA Division III women's basketball Player of the Year by DIII
News. The publication has named a Player of the Year every season
since 1994.
It's the latest in a series of honors for Verkaik, who has been the MIAA's Most Valuable Player three consecutive years. She was also one of two finalists for the Division III Player of the Year award, presented by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and State Farm.
But Verkaik is particularly proud of one honor she received last month. She was sitting in the Spoelhof Fieldhouse Complex, working on her homework, when her coach, John Ross, found her and handed her a slip of paper. "I guess when I first read it, I didn’t know how big of an honor it was," Verkaik said.
Verkaik had been named a Capital One Division III Academic All-American in women’s basketball. She is the second person in Calvin women’s basketball history to earn that distinction, which recognizes an athlete’s achievements both on the court and in the classroom.
"You have to work very hard, both athletically and academically, to get that honor," said Calvin women’s coach John Ross. He praised her contribution to the success of the Calvin women’s team, which this season has gone 23–1 overall. Verkaik is averaging 18.5 points and 8.5 rebounds a game and connecting on 56.5 percent of her field goal attempts. She averages four blocks per game—100 overall—and is ranked nationally in both field goal percentage and blocked shots-per-game average.
"She’s a really great offensive and defensive threat on the floor. She’s a team leader," Ross said. "She’s a real role model, and she cares about everyone on the team."
Grateful for the individual honor, Verkaik loves being a member of the team: "I think it’s a huge blessing to be able to play with 15 girls who love basketball as much as you do," she said.
Click here to read more about Carissa Verkaik
March 2012
The Kalamazoo College men’s swimming and diving team recently captured the MIAA championship for the second year in a row.
Chris Manning was named the league's most valuable swimmer and was instrumental to his team’s victory. He was the fourth Hornet in a row to achieve Most Valuable Swimmer honors.
Manning, a senior from York, Pa. and a graduate of York Suburban High School, won three individual events and one relay at the championship meet to help the Hornets attain the league title.
Manning won the 200 breaststroke with a school record time of 2:02.71, the 100 breaststroke (:56.67), and the 200 individual medley (1:52.23). This is the third year in a row that the senior has won each of these events, and each of this year’s times were NCAA “B” qualifiers.
“I've been able to attain these goals because I take pride in the sport," said Manning. "I work hard at every practice and I am very dedicated to the team."
Manning was also selected to the All-MIAA team for the fourth year in a row. In addition to his individual events, Manning was a member of the championship 800 free relay team (6:53.58). He was also on the team for the second-place 200 medley (1:32.77) and 200 free (1:23.77) relay teams as well as the 400 medley relay (3:24.92) which finished third.
“Winning the MIAA championship was great, but our focus is on nationals,” Manning said. "We aim to improve throughout the season at every meet, win the MIAA championship, and place high at nationals.”
For Manning, excellence not only includes what he does in the pool, but also what he does outside it. He is involved in a service learning project at Kalamazoo College called Swim for Success.
“I teach local children how to swim and get the most out of a sport that I love so much,” he said.
Click here to read more about Chris Manning
February 2012
More than a decade before Saint Mary's joined the MIAA, the Belles' tennis team had already established themselves as a formidable force for any opponent. In the Belles' first four meetings against neighboring University of Notre Dame in the mid-1970s, Saint Mary's walked away with four wins. In the 1980s, the team won several NAIA District titles and represented the district at the national championship tournament while being nationally ranked in the NAIA on several occasions.
In 1997, Saint Mary's joined America's oldest collegiate conference. The Belles finished fifth in the MIAA in that first year of membership. The team moved up to third in the league standings at the end of 1999 and shared second place with Calvin just a year after that.
In the spring of 2001, the tennis program made history by claiming the college's first MIAA title as they went undefeated in regular season play against conference competition and won six of nine flights at the end-of-season MIAA Tournament. During that first championship run, the team's members combined to go 57-6 against their conference counterparts during the regular season.
"It was a whirlwind of excitement as we realized our potential for winning the first school conference championship," recalled Kris Spriggle Werth '04, who won her singles flight of the MIAA Tournament each of her four years of her career.
"It obviously felt great to be successful in your position and to contribute points to team matches," added classmate and four-time All-MIAA honoree Kaitlin Cutler Silliven '04. "It really does take a team effort to win conference titles since there are so many matches. You often don't realize how big of an accomplishment it is until you experience it."
In 2002, the Belles ran the table again, winning all seven conference matches and the tournament for back-to-back titles. Saint Mary’s joined the ranks of Kalamazoo, Hope, and Calvin as the only schools to repeat as MIAA champions to that point in the sport’s conference history. During that same season, another piece of Saint Mary’s Athletics history was made when the team earned the school's first NCAA Division III Tournament berth.
Click here to read more about the Saint Mary's tennis tradition
October 2011
MIAA member colleges are very proud of their players and coaches for achievements in both athletic competition and in the classroom.
Hope College in 2010-11 proudly raised the MIAA Commissioner's Cup, emblematic of cumulative success across all 18 league-sponsored sports, for an 11th consecutive year.
And the success went far beyond the victories recorded on the field of play. A total of 10 Hope teams and 192 student-athletes were honored by the MIAA in 2010-11 for their academic performance during the school year while on a national level coaches associations recognized eight teams for outstanding cumulative grade point averages and 21 students were named National Scholar Athletes.
The athletic attributes of leadership, teamwork, fair play, work ethic and self control all contribute to academic achievement on each of our MIAA campuses.
At right, Hope athletic directors Eva Dean Folkert and Tim Schoonveld receive the Commissioner's Cup from Commissioner David Neilson.
May 2011
A chance to be in contention for a championship - that is what head coach Mark Hamilton has brought to the Saint Mary's golf team since beginning his tenure with the program in the fall of 2002.
Prior to Hamilton's arrival, the young Saint Mary's golf program was competitive but continually found themselves looking up at the rest of the pack in the conference. The Belles finished first at an MIAA round just one time while no individual golfer claimed medalist honors at a league event prior to the 2002 season. Moreover, the Belles shot just one round below 350 before the fall of 2002 - a 349 in 1999.
All of that drastically changed in September 2002. The Belles finished in a tie for second place at the first of three conference jamborees with a 346, their new lowest score in an MIAA round. Two weeks later, Hamilton and company turned in a 338 for their first top finish at a league event and Stefanie Simmerman finished in a three-way tie for medalist honors. Another week later, the Belles had an even lower score by tying a course record with a 323 at Winding Creek Golf Club and their second consecutive first place finish at an MIAA jamboree.
The Belles were hardly finished then. The golf team captured its first MIAA title during the first weekend in October, defeating defending champion Hope by 14 strokes. Three of the scoring five players for Saint Mary’s finished in the top ten of the championship event, led by a 161 from championship tournament medalist Julia Adams.
Click here to read more about the Saint Mary's women's golf program
April 2011
This spring, the Kalamazoo College men’s tennis team won its 73rd Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship, the longest-known conference championship streak of any team, in any sport, at any level.
The Hornets have won or shared every MIAA men’s tennis championship since 1936. There were no tournaments held in 1944, 1945, or 1946. In 1962 and 2003, the Hornets tied Hope College for the top spot in the league.
"Winning never gets old," says current head coach and former Hornet tennis player Mark Riley ’82. "Ever since the streak began every team afterward has been held to a higher standard and has had something to aspire to."
Riley played under Coach George Acker, who took over from Dr. Allen B. Stowe. Riley has taken the lessons he learned from Acker and applied them to his own team the past four seasons.
"Our goals are to get better, play our best and win championships," said Riley.
Click here to read more about Kalamazoo's men's tennis streak
March 2011
The Adrian College baseball team has seen its program ascend to new heights over the past six seasons under the guidance of head coach Craig Rainey. The line “If you build it, they will come” from Field of Dreams can also be used in the translation of “If you build a firm foundation, the wins will come.”
The Bulldogs have won or shared four of the last six MIAA championships and finished a close second in the other two seasons. They have compiled an overall record of 176-86 (.672) since the beginning of the 2005 season and have been dominant in the MIAA with a league record of 127-34 (.789). The team has compiled three straight 30-win seasons for the first time in school history, and has won 20 or more conference games for the past five seasons.
Adrian has also tasted success in the postseason as they have made five trips to the NCAA Mideast Regional in the past six years and also won the 2008 Mideast Regional title in Terre Haute, Indiana. That year the Bulldogs traveled to Appleton, Wisconsin and finished fourth at nationals picking up wins over Linfield and Kean. The fourth place finish is the best showing by a MIAA team to date. Adrian has won nine regional games during their current run and have won at least one game in each regional appearance.
Click here to read more about the Adrian baseball program
January 2011
Before their national championship match in November, Calvin
volleyball coach Amber Warners told her team: "Trust me when I tell
you, you don’t want to have any regrets."
She didn’t say have to say any more.
"That gave us a glimpse into her mind. She had never mentioned it before," said junior All-American Rebecca Kamp.
The understood "it" between Warners (pictured at left) and her team goes back to the 1986 Knights, who recorded what was previously the best of any Calvin volleyball team.
Similar to this year’s team, the Knights offense utilized a freshman setter. This season, it was Megan Rietema. In 1986, it was Amber Warners.
That year, on November 22nd, the Calvin volleyball team squared off against the University of California at San Diego for the NCAA Division III national championship. Calvin hosted that match, and 3,800 fans showed up in the old Calvin Fieldhouse. After taking an early 2-1 lead, Calvin fell in five sets, leaving the Knights with an outstanding second place finish, but forcing them to wonder what might have been.
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December 2010
The 2010 fall sports season in the MIAA produced outstanding performances, including a first-time national championship in volleyball, along with dramatic comebacks, competitive races that remained unsettled until the season ended and in two sports, first-time conference champions.
Here are some of the highlights:
Volleyball: After an exciting MIAA season that saw Calvin and Hope go toe-to-toe all season long, each handing the other their only conference regular season loss, Hope defeated Calvin to win the MIAA tournament and the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. Calvin, which earned an at-large bid tournament bid, put together six consecutive victories, including a stirring comeback from a 2-sets-to-none deficit in the national semifinal against Juniata, Pa., to become the first MIAA team to win the national championship. Calvin coach Amber Warners is named the national Division III coach of the year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Men’s Golf: Calvin overcame a 19-stroke deficit entering the final tournament of the season to nip Trine by two strokes, matching the previous record for the closest finish in conference history. For the Knights, it was their first MIAA men’s golf championship in school history. As a sportsmanship postscript on this remarkable comeback, after the sixth league jamboree, Calvin brought to the attention of the MIAA office a clerical error in the posting of the league standings, which incorrectly showed Calvin’s third match score as a 294, instead of the correct score of 295. At the time, Calvin was sitting in fourth place, 21 shots off the lead, and the corrected score moved them back to 22 shots off the pace. Individually, Adrian’s Jordan Kelly tied the record for the lowest 18-hole score in conference history with a 65 in the jamboree hosted by Trine.
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November 2010
The mentors Dave Egnatuk had when he was a student at Albion
College established the standard for the environment he wanted to
create as he left military service in November 1974 to begin a
career in teaching and coaching at the College.
Egnatuk, who grew up in a Clinton Street house just a mile from campus, never expected an opportunity to open up at his alma mater and bring him back to his hometown. But the College came calling, and he has served as a mentor for generations of Britons.
Egnatuk (pictured left, with MIAA Commissioner David Neilson) crafted a nurturing environment through creating teaching moments in everyday situations. Students recall how Egnatuk would search the headlines for stories about Billie Jean King and Jack Johnson for the Gender and Sport course or how a trip with the Albion track & field team to Atlanta would include a visit to the Martin Luther King Center and the Andersonville, Ga., National Historic Site where 45,000 Union soldiers were confined during the Civil War.
In track & field, Egnatuk guided Tracy Garner ’83, Dan Pekrul ’87, Steve Gilbert ’93, Tom Reason ’94, and Nick Morgan ’04, to individual NCAA Division III national championships. His athletes achieved All-America status 31 times, and he led eight of his teams to Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association titles. During his 23 seasons as an assistant football coach, he worked with the defensive linemen and was on the staff for the 1994 national championship season.
October 2010
Winning two national championships in one day is a feat that is believed to have never before been accomplished in NCAA track and field history. Next to impossible might be the words needed to describe doing it in one hour.
Calvin College junior and women's track and field team member Rachel Boerner had just one hour of rest between her national title run in the 400-meter dash (:54.50) and matching performance in the 400-meter hurdles (:55.95) at the NCAA Division III national championships in May in Berea, Ohio. According to Boerner, she had plenty of gas left in the tank heading into her second event.
"I was still running on adrenaline from the first race when I went into the blocks for the hurdles,” said Boerner. “I took a little time in between to work the lactic acid out, but I did not need a warmup for the hurdles. I was ready to go.”
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September 2010
The MIAA had a historic season in 2009-10. The conference had two of its student-athletes earn individual national championships, while five of its teams finished in the top four nationally in NCAA Division III. The fall was a particularly special season, as at least one MIAA team in each sport advanced past the opening round of NCAA competition. Here are some of the season’s highlights:
Track and Field: Calvin’s Rachel Boerner won three national championships, starting in the winter when she took first place in the women’s 400 meters at the NCAA Division III indoor track and field championships. In the spring, Boerner won both the women’s 400 meters and women’s 400 meter hurdles at the Division III outdoor track and field championships, becoming the first MIAA track athlete – male or female – to win two national titles on the same day.
Men’s Swimming: Kalamazoo’s Paul Ellis won the Division III national championship in the men’s 100-meter backstroke in March, helping lead the Hornets to a fourth-place showing at the national meet. Ellis’ coach, Kathy Milliken, became the first female coach in Division III history to be named national Coach of the Year in men’s swimming.
Men’s Soccer: Calvin became the first MIAA team ever to reach the Division III national championship game. The Knights won three one-goal games and two others in penalty kick shootouts to reach the championship game.
Women’s Basketball: Hope reached the Division III national title game for the third time in school history, falling to Washington, Mo., in the championship game. Flying Dutch center Carrie Snikkers earns national Player of the Year honors from the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.
Volleyball: Hope became the first MIAA team in 23 years to reach the Final Four of the NCAA Division III volleyball tournament. The Flying Dutch won the Great Lakes Regional by taking three matches, then won their quarterfinal match before falling in a five-set semifinal battle to eventual national champion Washington, Mo.
Women’s Cross Country: Calvin won its third consecutive Great Lakes Regional title, then went on to finish third at the NCAA national meet, the fourth consecutive year the Knights finished in the top five nationally.
Football: Trine defeated Case Western Reserve, Ohio, 51-38, in an NCAA first-round playoff game, the first playoff win for an MIAA team in 16 years.
Examples of excellence abounded throughout the league. Kalamazoo’s Brandon Luczak, an outstanding performer in football and baseball for the Hornets during his four years at the school, earned the Albert L. Deal Scholar-Athlete Award. Saint Mary’s Ashley Peterson, who broke the MIAA single-season softball record for home runs and runs batted in last spring and graduated as the career leader in numerous offensive categories, received the Sheila Wallace-Kovalchik Scholar-Athlete Award.
Olivet swimmer Kellen Beckwith and Calvin tennis player Melissa Oosterhouse were named recipients of the NCAA’s “Elite 88” Award, given to student-athletes at NCAA tournaments and meets with the highest grade-point average. Calvin sports information director Jeff Febus received the Robin Hartman Award for outstanding writing by a sports information director or assistant, while Alma’s Brent Willis received the Tom Renner Award for outstanding work by a student assistant.
Truly, the 2009-10 season in the MIAA was an outstanding season.