The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) has announced Hope College senior Nick Hoffman as the 2022 Albert L. Deal Scholar Athlete of the Year in a Men’s Sport.

The Albert L. Deal Male Scholar-Athlete Award recognizes a senior student-athlete in a men's sport from an MIAA member college who has excelled in academics and athletics while displaying outstanding leadership qualities.  The award is named in honor of Albert L. Deal, who served as MIAA commissioner from 1971 to 1991.

This year, a total of six outstanding student-athletes were nominated for the prestigious league honor.

Holland native Nick Hoffman is a graduate of Holland High School.

Hoffman served the Flying Dutchmen as team captain all four years of his career.  This year, he assisted Hope to its highest MIAA finish (second place) since 2015.  In 2021, the Flying Dutchmen tied-for-2nd at the MIAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.  Additionally, Hope had its highest finishes since 2016 at the MIAA Outdoor Championships in both 2021 and 2022 with a second-place finish each year.

Individually, Hoffman has accumulated numerous conference awards over his career including 2021 MIAA Most Valuable Track Athlete in both indoor and outdoor.

Hoffman is a two-time All-MIAA honoree in cross country for top-18 finishes:  14th place in 2019 (Second Team) and second place in 2021 (First Team).  He was a National Championship qualifier during his senior year with the Flying Dutchmen

At the MIAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, Hoffman competed in the winning 2019 distance medley relay, notched two record-breaking individual events in 2021 (mile and 3000m run), and won the 2022 mile run to amass four First Team All-MIAA accolades.  In 2022, Hoffman competed in the fourth-place distance medley relay at the NCAA Championships to receive USTFCCCA All-America honors.  He is also an All-Great Lakes Region athlete for multiple events including the 800m run (2022), the DMR (2022), the one-mile run (2020, 2021), and the 3000m run (2021).

Hoffman accumulated three First Team All-MIAA honors for outdoor track and field after first-place finishes in the following events: 1500m run (2021 and 2022), 800m run (2021).  A third-place finish at the 2021 NCAA Championships earned Hoffman USTFCCCA All-America honors.

Boasting a grade-point average of 3.77, Hoffman graduated in May with a degree in Public Accounting.  This year he will become a four-time honoree on the MIAA Academic Honor Roll.  Hoffman is also a three-time USTFCCCA Scholar Athlete in cross country and a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District® honoree.

Outside of the classroom and athletics, Hoffman was a Student Consulting Lead for two years at CFL Student Consulting, a tutor, and a member of the Arcadian Fraternity.

Also nominated for this award were:

Nick Bowman, Trine University

Jake Fales, Kalamazoo College

Jayce Kuehnlein, Alma College

Derek Plitt, Adrian College

Reese Wallis, Olivet College