Headlines

NCAA Hall of Champions Highlights MIAA Anniversary
The NCAA Hall of Champions in Indianapolis, Ind. is celebrating the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association’s (MIAA) 125th anniversary with a special exhibit. The exhibit, which includes awards, memorabilia and historical information, will be on display in the Hall’s Membership Showcase area through September.

Hope College has been a member since 1926. MIAA members were invited to submit stories of historical significance. Hope's submissions include the story of the amazing 1990 accomplishment of winning an NCAA championship by the women's basketball team, a story that talks about sportsmanship featuring the men's tennis program and a profile about Hope College President Dr. Jim Bultman who has a lifelong connection with Division III, beginning as a Hope student-athlete, then as a professor, coach and administrator and most recently in a leadership role with the NCAA. Hope also provided on loan a pair of hand-carved wooden shoes used as the travelling trophy for the "Wooden Shoes" rivalry football game with Kalamazoo College and the 1937-38 MIAA All-Sports trophy, the first of 34 won by Hope over the years. continue

Cory Schmidt Receives MIAA Outstanding Senior Award
Hope senior Cory Schmidt is being honored by the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) as one of its outstanding senior athletes during the 2012-13 academic year. Schmidt has received the Albert L. Deal Scholar-Athlete Award, while Carissa Verkaik of Calvin College has been presented the Sheila Wallace Kovalchik Scholar-Athlete Award. The awards recognize senior class athletes who have excelled in academics and athletics, as well as displayed outstanding leadership in their respective communities. The awards honor two former MIAA commissioners, Albert Deal (1971-91) and Sheila Wallace Kovalchik (1991-2002).continue

MIAA Honors Hope Grad for Service to Sports Information Program
Forest Tarsa, a 2013 Hope graduate, has been honored by the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) for his service to the college's sports information program. Tarsa is the co-recipient of the Tom Renner Associate SID award. He shares the honor with recent Calvin graduate Mitch Blankespoor. The award is named in honor of Tom Renner who served as MIAA Publicist for more than 40 years.

A native of Cedar, Mich., and graduate of St. Mary High School in Lake Leelenau, Forrest Tarsa worked in Hope’s public and community relations office as a sports information assistant for nearly all four of his undergraduate years. He graduated with a degree in economics. He was an active member of the student body. As a senior he received the college’s Dean of Students Greek Leadership Award. He will begin a job as a sales associate for the Chicago office of Good Harbor Financial in August. He is the son of Stephen and Diana Tarsa of Cedar, Mich.

MIAA Distinguished Service Award Honors Professor
Read "Dedicated to the Best for Students"
The first recipient of a new Distinguished Service Award established by the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Assoociation (MIAA) honors a Hope College professor. The award honoring an athletic administrator, faculty representative or other individual who has served the conference with distinction for a significant period of time, has been presented to Dr. Lynne Hendrix, a faculty representative from Hope for the past 24 years. It was recently presented during the MIAA’s Board of Control meeting.

Hendrix, a professor of accountancy at Hope who is retiring this summer after 29 years of teaching of the college, has been a leader among MIAA faculty representatives for many years, and has served on numerous conference and NCAA committees, Commissioner David Neilson said.

“She has always been a strong supporter of student-athletes and their opportunities to participate in athletics, while at the same time being cognizant of the importance of academics as our primary purpose,” Neilson said. continue