Athletes on the six Hope College spring sportsteams have been recognized for outstanding performances by the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) coaches. Hope teams had an outstanding spring season, winning an MIAAchampionship in women's tennis and co-championship in baseball. The softball, men's tennis and women's track teams all finishedsecond in their respective races while the men's track team endedin a tie for third place. Hope swept the year-end honors of theMIAA capturing both the men's and women's all-sports awards andthe new Commissioner's Cup for the best cumulative finishes inall sports for men and women. Senior outfielder Ryan Tanis of Holland (Holland ChristianHS) was voted the most valuable MIAA baseball player marking thefourth time this decade that the honor has been presented to aHope player. He played on three MIAA championship teams. Thisseason he batted a career-best .361 in all games and had a team-high .598 slugging percentage behind 11 extra base hits,including six home runs. He batted .333 in MIAA games and wasamong the league leaders in total bases (44), runs scored (22),RBIs (19) and home runs (6). Two of three individual honors awarded in men's tennis wentto Hope athletes. Junior Erik Berg of Lansing (Lansing HS) waspresented the Stowe Sportsmanship Award while senior RobertBrandt of Holland (Grand Rapids Christian HS) received theLawrence Green Scholarship. It is the third time in four yearsthat a Hope player has been presented the sportsmanship award. It is the second consecutive year that a Hope player has receivedthe academic award which honors the memory of the late Lawrence"Doc" Green, longtime athletic trainer and coach at Hope. The championship baseball team had six players receive All-MIAA honors. Senior shortstop Dean Esteves of Hudsonville(Hudsonville HS) was voted to the first team for the thirdconsecutive year. He was joined on the first team by Tanis andsophomore shortstop Sean Bateman of Saline (Saline HS). Voted tothe All-MIAA second team were senior second baseman Matt Klein ofDeWitt (DeWitt HS), junior outfielder Ben Fellows of Lansing(Lansing Eastern HS), and senior pitcher Adam Labbe of Cadillac(Cadillac HS). The Flying Dutch softball team also had six players earnAll-MIAA honors. Voted to the first team were sophomore pitcherKim Grotenhuis of Hamilton (Hamilton HS), senior outfielderChrista Murphy of Midland (Midland HS) and sophomore catcherCarrie Scott of Centreville (Centreville HS). Voted to the All-MIAA second team were junior outfielder Angie Ciesielski ofLinden (Linden HS) and senior pitcher Lisa Larzelere of Omaha,Neb. (Westside HS). In men's tennis, junior Paul Lillie of Roseville, Minn.(Roseville HS) was voted to the All-MIAA first team for the second year in-a-row while teammates Chad Bollinger, a juniorfrom Petoskey (Petoskey HS), and Kai Bouchard, a sophomore fromHinsdale, Ill. (Hinsdale Township HS) were voted to the secondteam. In women's tennis, junior Jennifer Smith of Holland (HollandHS) was voted to the All-MIAA first team for the second year in-a-row. She was joined on the first team by sophomore teammateJulie Murray of Spring Lake (Spring Lake HS). Sophomore KrissyKooyer of Holland (Holland Christian HS) was voted to the secondteam. Seven athletes were voted to the All-MIAA track and fieldteams. Junior Paul Berke of Park Ridge, Ill. (Maine South HS),the league champion in the 10,000-meter run, is the only Hopehonoree on the All-MIAA men's team. Voted to the All-MIAA women's team were freshman SarahBurgess of Niles (Buchanan HS), junior Jennifer Ernst ofWesterville, Ohio (Westerville South HS), senior Becky Timmer ofPella, Iowa (Pella HS), freshman Elizabeth Chapman of Marquette(Marquette HS), junior Kim Richardson of Sanford (Meridian HS),and sophomore Emily Sowers of Grand Rapids (GR Christian HS). Ernst was the conference champion in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters,Burgess captured the gold in the shot put, Sowers repeated asleague champion in the discus and Kim Richardson took first in the high jump.
