The tradition-rich Hope College women's golfprogram takes on a new dimension this fall beginning with a non-league meet Tuesday (Sept. 8) against Aquinas and Grand ValleyState at the Winding Creek golf course. For the first time since the program started in 1991 theFlying Dutch will be under a new coach. Donna Eaton, a longtimemember of the Hope athletic department, takes over coaching dutiessucceeding Jane Holman who is retiring from the college staff. The Flying Dutch finished second in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) standings last fall. The Flying Dutch have been conference champions four times in sevenyears and have never finished below second place. The 1998 Flying Dutch will be built around a seasoned group ofveterans. Junior Ellen Colenbrander of Holland, Mich. (Holland HS)achieved NCAA All-America designation last spring as she finishedseventh at the Division III national championships. She is a two-time All-MIAA first team honoree. Senior Gina Pellerito of Ada, Mich. (Forest Hills Central HS)returns after missing the 1997 season while participating in anoff-campus study program. She achieved All-MIAA first teamdesignation as a freshman and sophomore. Seniors Elizabeth Yared of Grand Rapids, Mich. (East GrandRapids HS) and Melody Oonk of Holland, Mich. (Holland HS) achievedAll-MIAA second team designation last fall by finishing among theMIAA's top ten golfers. Other returning letterwinners include junior Jessica Carpenterof Grand Rapids, Mich. (Comstock Park HS), sophomore Melissa Lucarof Grandville, Mich. (Calvin Christian HS) and sophomore AmandaPeters of Spring Lake, Mich. (Spring Lake HS). The league schedule has been expanded to nine tournaments asSaint Mary's College begins its first year of intercollegiate golf. Hope will host the league tournament at Winding Creek on Wednesday,Sept. 30.

Hope College has the distinction of being one ofonly two colleges among all NCAA Division III institutions tohave both its men's and women's track team honored foroutstanding academic performance by the United States TrackCoaches Association. Out of more than 225 Division III institutions that sponsormen's and women's track and field, only Hope and Emory Universityof Atlanta, Ga. achieved this distinction for the 1997-98academic year. The Hope women's team, coached by Donna Eaton, maintained acumulative 3.254 cumulative grade point average while the men'steam, coached by Mark Northuis, had a cumulative GPA of 3.113. No other college from the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) were among the 14 teams (4 for men and 10 forwomen) to be honored nationally. Honored for individual academic accomplishment were EllenSchultz of Maple City (Glen Lake HS) and Emily Sowers of GrandRapids (GR Christian HS). Schultz is a senior this fall whileSowers is a sophomore. Schultz has been a standout in cross country and track,earning conference honors and competing on a national level. Last spring she was voted a GTE Academic All-American. Sowerswas the MIAA champion in the discus as a freshman and qualifiedfor the NCAA championships with the seventh best throw in thenation. The 1997-98 school year was a banner year for Hope student-athletes on both the field of competition and in the classroom. Hope won the MIAA All-Sports award a league record 21st time. Teams and individual athletes competed in a record 11 NCAAchampionship events. Seven teams (men's and women's crosscountry, men's and women's swimming, men's tennis and men's andwomen's track) were honored nationally for academic performance.