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BAY CITY, Mich. — The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) announces the recipients of the Spring 2012 Meijer Commissioner’s Awards. The awards, sponsored by Meijer, Incorporated, are presented after the Fall, Winter, and Spring athletic seasons to six female and six male student-athletes that excel both in the classroom and on the fields of play. All grade point averages are based on a 4.0 scale.
The six female student-athletes to receive the Spring 2012 Meijer Commissioner’s Awards are: Emlyn Knerem and Erin Misheff of Ashland University; Bryce Hetchler of Ferris State University; Sarah Hoffman of Grand Valley State University; Kristen Cameron of Northwood University, and Alison Allen of Wayne State University.
The six male student-athletes to receive the Spring 2012 Meijer Commissioner’s Awards are: Garrett Grey of Ashland University; Jared Cowan of Grand Valley State University; Nathan Saliga of Michigan Technological University; Marcus Oliveira of Northwood University; and Andrew Ciennik and Thomas Ducret of Wayne State University.
“It is with great honor and pride that the GLIAC celebrates the accomplishments of our 12 award winners,” stated GLIAC Commissioner Dell Robinson. “The student athletes serve as a testament to the talented student-athlete population we have in the GLIAC. These individuals will continue to be a shining light to their universities and communities. I would like thank Meijer for their continued support that allows the GLIAC to honor our top student-athletes.”
The following are biographies of the Winter 2012 GLIAC Commissioner’s Awards recipients:
Ashland University Senior softball player Emlyn Knerem (Brunswick, Ohio / Brunswick) was the 2012 pitcher of the year. She was a four-time first team All-GLIAC selection and the 2009 GLIAC “Freshman of the Year”. As a senior, Knerem went 29-7 with a 1.60 ERA, was a third team NFCA All-American and a third team Capital One Academic All-American. Knerem leaves Ashland as the program’s career leader in wins (95) and she is second in career strikeouts (1,106). She owns a career winning percentage of 76.6 and led the Eagles to four consecutive NCAA Division II postseason appearances. Knerem is a sport management major with a 3.83 grade point average. She was AU’s 2012 Sport Management “Major of the Year” and Sport Sciences “Senior of the Year.”
Ashland University senior golfer Erin Misheff (Silver Lake, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit), was a second team All-American in 2011-12. She finished 10th at the NCAA Championships in Louisville, Ky. This season marked her second consecutive appearance at the NCAA Division-II Championships, finishing tenth in 2012 and sixth in 2011. Misheff won seven tournaments in her career, including two this past year. Misheff was the medalist at the 2011 NCAA regional championship and was a four-time first team All-GLIAC selection. In 2011 she led the Eagles to the only NCAA Championship appearance in school history. Misheff is an accounting/management information systems major with a 3.50 grade point average.
Ferris State senior golfer Bryce Hetchler (Clinton Township, Mich. /Fraser) claimed All-GLIAC Second Team honors for the third time in her collegiate career during the 2011-12 campaign. The Capital One Academic All-District IV First Team recipient helped the Bulldogs advance to the NCAA Division II Super Regional Championships for the fourth consecutive campaign and led FSU to a share of sixth place at the 2012 NCAA Division II East Super Regional. She placed among the top 20 finishers in seven tournaments this season, which included six top-20 finishes in the spring. She concluded her career placing among the top 20 finishers in 22 tournaments over her four seasons and won the Findlay Invitational this spring (April 4) as the Bulldogs claimed the team title. Overall, Hetchler finished among the top 40 individual players in 11 of 12 tournaments during the 2011-12 campaign. She’s a three-time National Golf Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete Team honoree and a four-time GLIAC All-Academic pick.
Grand Valley State senior golfer Sarah Hoffman (Saline, Mich.) capped off an historic career for the Lakers this past year. Hoffman ended her career with 11 tournament victories to tie a GVSU record, including five tournament wins in the 2011-12 year which also tied a GVSU record. Hoffman was named the 2012 GLIAC Women’s Golf “Athlete of the Year” and was the 2012 GLIAC Tournament Medalist. Hoffman finished the season second in NCAA Division II scoring average (74.76) and recorded nine rounds of par or better, including three rounds of 69 to tie for the lowest single-round score in school history. Hoffman went to the NCAA Division II National Championship and finished in a tie for fifth, earning her first National Golf Coaches Association First Team All-American honor and third All-American honor of her career. Hoffman has a 3.83 grade point average as a nursing major and has been named to the GVSU Dean’s List six times.
Kristin Cameron (Algonac, Mich.) senior track and field thrower recently completed her distinguished career at Northwood by earning All-American honors for the fifth time by placing sixth in the hammer throw at the NCAA Division-II Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Cameron was a three-time All-American in the hammer throw and a two-time honoree in the weight throw during the indoor season. She finished her career by earning All-GLIAC honors in all eight conference championships she competed in Cameron also holds a total of four Northwood school records. In addition, Cameron was also recently named to the Second Team Academic All-America team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). She is currently enrolled in the DeVos Graduate School of Management and maintains a 3.55 G.P.A.
Wayne State University senior
softball player Alison Allen (Redford, Mich. /Farmington
Hills Mercy) has earned a GLIAC Commissioner’s Award
for the second straight year. A three-time All-GLIAC performer (1st
team in both 2010 and 2011, 2nd team in 2012), Allen was a CoSIDA
First Team Academic All-American in 2012 after earning both NFCA
and Daktronics All-America recognition in both 2010 and 2011. The
2010 GLIAC “Player of the Year,” she finished her
career ranked first in doubles, runs scored, home runs, slugging
percentage, RBI, total bases, at bats, and intentional walks;
tied-for-first in games played; second in both hits and walks;
third in batting average and fourth in on-base
percentage. In 2012, Allen started all 56 games helping
WSU to a third-place regular-season finish, along with the first
GLIAC Tournament title since 1995. She led the GLIAC with 46
RBI in league play
Junior Garrett Grey (Grahamsville, N.Y./Tri-Valley Central) finished eighth in the hammer throw at the NCAA Divison-II Championships. He helped the Eagles to a seventh place finish at nationals. Grey was the runner-up in the hammer throw at the 2012 GLIAC Championships. At the 2011 NCAA Championships, Grey captured the bronze medal in the hammer throw. He is a sport management major and owns a 3.54 grade point average.
Grand Valley State senior catcher Jared Cowan (Davison, Mich.) was an American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings Third Team All-American this season after hitting .363 with 58 hits, 17 doubles, 29 RBI and a .488 slugging percentage in 2012, helping the Lakers to their 11th straight NCAA Division II postseason appearance. Cowan was also stellar defensively, recording a .996 fielding percentage and throwing out 58.8-percent of potential base stealers from behind the plate. Cowan was an All-GLIAC First Team selection and earned a sweep of the Midwest Region First Team honors, getting named to the position by each of the ABCA, NCBWA and Daktronics. Cowan carries a 3.91 grade point average as a public administration major and has been named to the GVSU Dean’s List seven times.
Junior Nathan Saliga (Leonard, Mich.) won the GLIAC Championship in the decathlon with a Michigan Technological University record of 5,999 points. He also set the school record in the 400-meter hurdles (54.27). Saliga holds the top-three performances in school history in both the decathlon and the 400-meter hurdles. The Leonard, Mich., native also earned Capital One Academic All-American Second Team honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America. Saliga holds a 3.9 cumulative grade point average in mechanical engineering.
Marcus Oliveira (San Paulo, Brazil) was a key part of the Northwood men’s tennis team that recently earned its 18th straight GLIAC Championship. He was named Second Team All-GLIAC, playing from the No. 1 doubles and No. 3 singles position. Oliveira posted an impressive overall record of 30-4 this year – 14-3 in singles and 16-1 in doubles. A two-year member of the GLIAC All-Academic teams, Oliveira has posted a career record of 65-28 overall (29-15 singles, 36-13 doubles). He is an Entrepreneurship/Management major with a 3.75 GPA.
Andrew Ciennik (Waterford, Mich./Mott), one of two Warriors to start all 55 games last season, was voted to the All-GLIAC Second Team after batting a career-best .350 (14th in the GLIAC) with 62 hits, 32 runs scored and 26 RBI. He ranked eighth in the conference with a .446 on-base percentage, and tied the WSU single-season record with 146 fielding assists at second base and shortstop. Ciennik hit a team-best .406 with seven runs scored during the postseason, including a .478 clip in the GLIAC Tournament. Ciennik was named to the CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-America Division II First Team, becoming the first WSU baseball student-athlete to receive Academic All-America accolades since 1995. Ciennik was a four-year starter for Wayne State and helped the Warriors reach the NCAA Midwest Regional each of the last three seasons. Ciennik also ranks second in career games played (204) and sixth in hits (199). Ciennik is a biological science major with a 3.75 GPA.
Wayne State University junior men’s tennis player Thomas Ducret (Paris, France) was a First Team All-GLIAC selection for the second straight season and an all-league performer for the third time after earning Second Team All-conference accolades as a freshman. He won all four of his matches (three doubles and one singles) at the 2012 GLIAC tournament and tied for the team lead with 16 singles victories. He a compiled a 16-12 singles record including a 10-8 mark at No. 1 singles and had a 17-10 doubles record primarily at third doubles (13-6). As member of the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence, Ducret helped the Warriors to a third-place GLIAC finish with a 7-2 conference record and he was rated as the 10th best singles player in the region by the ITA.
