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Men’s track, women’s softball and tennis are season’s top stories Five athletes earn Academic All-District honors J. CALLAHAN PHOTO
By Bobby Lee Albion College is a member of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) and NCAA Division III.
Men’s track and field: Under veteran coach Dave Egnatuk, Albion’s tradition of excellence on the track continued this past spring. At the NCAA Division III national championships May 23-25, two Britons claimed All-America honors. Senior Jared Owens placed fifth in the long jump with a mark of 22 feet, nine inches, and sophomore Nick Morgan finished eighth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.05 seconds. At the close of regular-season competition in early May, the Britons wrapped up a second-place finish in the league behind Calvin, boosted by five individual titles and a winning relay at the MIAA championship meet run at the Elkin Isaac Track. Senior John Bennink, sophomore Dominic Reid and Morgan earned league titles in running events. In field events, junior Chris Stefanes and Owens emerged as champions. Owens electrified the crowd with a league and school record leap of 23 feet, 8-3/4 inches in the long jump. Bennink won his second MIAA title in the 400-meter hurdles. He crossed the finish line in 54 seconds flat, leading three other Britons to top five finishes in the race. Bennink also ran the second leg of Albion’s winning 1,600meter relay team. Junior Brad Stish was the lead-off runner, and junior Eric D’Andrea and sophomore Taurean Wilson ran the final two legs. Reid and Owens were the top two finishers in the 100-meter dash, and the pair tied for third in the 200-meter dash. For his accomplishments, Bennink was also named to the Verizon Academic AllDistrict team through the College Sports Information Directors of America. He had previously earned recognition on the Verizon Academic All-America second team in football. Women’s track and field: First-year head coach Hayden Smith fielded a young squad with 11 freshmen and six sophomores on the 25-woman roster. The Britons finished fourth in the MIAA dual and championship standings. Albion did not claim an individual title at the league championship meet held at the Elkin Isaac Track in early May, but the team secured a second, a third and a number of fourth-place performances. Sophomore Amy Corrigan was Albion’s best all-around athlete. She crossed the finish line in 2:20.53 to earn second place in the 800-meter run. Corrigan added to the Britons’ team score with a fifth-place performance in the discus and by running on two fourth-place relay teams. Not to be outdone, Maria Proestopoulos, a junior from Thessaloniki, Greece, improved on her school record in the pole vault. Proestopoulos cleared the bar at eight feet, six inches to claim third place. Recording fourth-place finishes were senior Jenn Grinage in the javelin (113 feet,
Senior Jared Owens earned All-America status in the long jump at the NCAA Division III national championships in May. Owens finished fifth with a jump of 22 feet, nine inches. 1 inch), and freshman Kaitlin Van Patten in the 400-meter hurdles (1:09.86), and the 400and 1,600-meter relay teams.
Softball: In a successful 26-10 season (which included an 11-3 record against MIAA opponents during the regular season), it was the freshmen on the women’s softball squad who led the way. The Britons, under coach Karen Baird, tied with Hope for second place in the league during the regular season and third after league championship play. Alma was MIAA champion. Freshman shortstop Sarah Caskey achieved first-team All-MIAA and AllCentral Region status. She earned secondteam all-league honors in basketball earlier in the year and was the league’s batting champion with a .467 average against MIAA competition. Also in league play, Caskey smacked eight doubles and drove in 11 runs. Two of Caskey’s classmates—pitcher Michaela Adams and center fielder Abby Wilhelmi—were first-team All-MIAA and second-team all-region selections. Adams ranked second in the league in victories (seven) and strikeouts (45). Wilhelmi was tied for second in the league in doubles (six), was fourth in slugging percentage (.571), and finished seventh in batting with a .400 average. Junior Justinn Steffe and senior Michelle Wallace were listed on the All-MIAA second team. Senior Laura Jagusch was awarded honorable mention status by the league coaches. The team’s statistics on the field were matched with success in the classroom. Five Britons—all with grade point averages of 3.5 or better—were nominated for Verizon Academic All-America consideration through the College Sports Information Directors of America. The nominees were senior Kary Couchman, Jagusch, Wallace and sophomores Megan Russell and Beth Striffler. Wallace and Russell were first-team Academic AllDistrict selections.
Baseball: Albion finished its spring campaign with 16 victories, but the win total could have easily been much higher. The Britons were frustrated in close games, losing by just a run five times and by two runs in three other contests. The Britons were 16-21 overall, 5-13 in the MIAA. Jim Conway is coach. Sophomore second baseman Mark Flancbaum was tabbed for the All-MIAA first team and Verizon Academic All-District second-team awards. In 34 games, he hit a team-high .350 with three doubles, a triple and five runs batted in. Flancbaum was also steady with the glove, finishing league play with a .978 fielding percentage. Majoring in computer science and economics and management, Flancbaum boasts a 3.82 grade point average. Flancbaum was not the only Briton honored by the MIAA, as sophomore pitcher Steve Gordon and junior outfielder Joel Gurley were made honorable mention selections by the league coaches. Gordon led Albion’s pitching staff in innings pitched (65-2/3) and earned run average (3.02). He made 11 starts with three complete games. Gurley, a participant in 35 games, finished the season with a .267 batting average and 10 runs batted in. He had six doubles and two triples.
Women’s tennis: Boosted by runner-up finishes at third, fourth and fifth singles and second doubles, Albion finished third at the MIAA tennis championships and tied with Kalamazoo for second in the final seasonal standings behind St. Mary’s College. The Britons posted a 13-6 record in dual matches, including a 6-1 record against MIAA opponents. Finishing second in singles were senior Emily Arend, freshman Emily Dumas and sophomore Emily Radner. Arend and Dumas joined talents for the second-place finish in doubles. Junior Amiee Greene finished third in first flight singles and achieved first-team allleague status for the second time in her career. Arend and sophomore Karen Dumas, who finished fourth at second flight singles, received second-team All-MIAA recognition.
Arend, a mathematics major who boasted a 4.0 grade point average, received Verizon Academic All-America (College Division) honors through the College Sports Information Directors of America. She competed against women in 12 sports to make the national at-large team. Scott Frew completed his first season as coach.
Men’s tennis: Senior Matt Brady and freshman Jason Ryan finished third in their respective singles flights to help Albion finish fourth at the MIAA championships in early May under coach Scott Frew. Brady, playing at third flight singles, gained a measure of revenge when he defeated Jon Meyer of Calvin by scores of 6-4 and 6-3 in the third-place match. Meyer defeated Brady in a first-round match. In fourth flight singles, Ryan lost only three games in defeating Denis Busque of Alma in the third-place match. Ryan led Albion with 13 singles victories. At the conclusion of the tournament, Ryan and sophomore David Swan of Okemos were named to the All-MIAA second team. D. TRUMPIE PHOTO
Emily Arend earned Verizon Academic AllAmerica (College Division) honors this spring. The mathematics major graduated summa cum laude in May and finished runner-up at third flight singles and second flight doubles at the MIAA championships.
Are you ready for some (Briton) football? Tune in to announcer Robin Hartman as the Albion College football team seeks its 33rd MIAA title this fall. Games can be heard on: WCAR Radio, 1090 AM—serving Oakland County and parts of Wayne County (5 p.m. broadcast each week) WMKT Radio, 1270 AM—serving Bay View, Charlevoix, Harbor Springs, Petoskey and Traverse City (live!) Teamline—call 800/846-4700, ext. 1001 Internet—log on to http://mediaone.albion.edu/sports for live streaming broadcasts Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium—bring your radio into the stadium to hear the play-by-play on 93.3 FM 2002 Albion Football Schedule September 7 Wittenberg (Ohio) University, 1 p.m. September 14 Tri-State (Ind.) University, 1:30 p.m. September 21 BUFFALO STATE COLLEGE, 1 p.m. September 28 OHIO WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY, 1 p.m. October 5 OLIVET COLLEGE, 1 p.m. October 12 Wisconsin Lutheran College, 2 p.m. October 19 ALMA COLLEGE, 1 p.m. October 26 Kalamazoo College, 1 p.m. November 2 ADRIAN COLLEGE, 1 p.m. November 16 Hope College, 1 p.m. CAPS denote home games at Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium. All times listed are Eastern times.