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BAY CITY, Mich. -- The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) announces the recipients of the Spring 2011 Meijer Commissioner’s Awards. The awards, sponsored by Meijer, Incorporated, are presented after the Fall, Winter, and Spring athletic seasons to six male and six female student-athletes that excel both in the classroom and on the fields of play.
The six female student-athletes to receive the Spring 2011 Meijer Commissioner’s Awards are: Logan Hursey of Ashland University; Chelsea Morris of Ferris State University; Calli Coppus of the University of Findlay; Megan Eddy of Northwood University; Jade Fulton of Saginaw Valley State University; and Alison Allen of Wayne State University.
The six male student-athletes to receive the Spring 2011 Meijer Commissioner’s Awards are: Kyle Wittenbach of Ferris State; Philipp Claus and Cody Grice of Grand Valley State; Nate Kelly of Saginaw Valley State University; Jeremy Lee of Tiffin University and Michael Wiseman of Wayne State University.
“We are truly proud of the 12 student-athletes representing the conference for the Commissioner’s Award,” stated GLIAC Commissioner Dell Robinson. “They are a fine example of excellence in the classroom and on the field. The GLIAC greatly appreciates the support of Meijer for their sponsorship of the 2010 Commissioner’s Award. The award and continued support by Meijer is evidence of our pursuit of academic excellence.”
The following are biographies of the Spring 2011 GLIAC Commissioner’s Awards recipients:
Ashland senior Logan Hursey (Zanesville, Ohio/John Glenn) hit .366 with 10 homers and 39 runs batted in (RBI) in 2011. In the GLIAC, she was third in doubles, sixth in home runs and slugging percentage, seventh in total bases and 10th in on-base percentage. A four-year starter, Hursey is second in career homers and third in career RBI at Ashland. She is sixth in career victories and is considered the best two-way player in school history. Hursey was a mainstay on three teams that advanced to the NCAA playoffs. An accounting and finance major with a minor in business management, she owns a 3.54 grade point average. As a senior, she was named a second team all-district Academic All-America.
Chelsea Morris (Jenison, Mich.), a Ferris State junior, was tabbed the 2011 GLIAC Softball “Player of the Year” along with receiving all-conference first-team laurels. Morris hit for a career single-season best .331 average while producing a team-high tying 51 base hits. The first baseman paced the Bulldogs this season in RBI (46) and doubles (13) while her nine home runs tied for top team honors. A 2011 Daktronics, Inc., All-Midwest Region First-Team selection, Morris generated 17 multiple-hit games and had 12 multi-RBI outings for the 2011 season which both marked both career and single-season highs. The two-time (2009-10 and 2010-11) FSU President’s Academic Award honoree claimed both GLIAC All-Academic and D2 Athletics Directors Association Achievement Award recognition for the 2009-10 season. Morris currently ranks tied for 10th on the program’s all-time leaders list in home runs (nine), 18th in batting average (.297), 25th in RBI (62), and tied for 27th in doubles (18).
Calli Coppus (Tiffin, Ohio/Mohawk) recently completed her senior year with the Findlay softball team and graduated with a degree in education. Coppus was named GLIAC all-academic excellence during her final season as well as being named honorable mention all-conference for her performance on the diamond. Coppus finished sixth in the GLIAC during the 2011 campaign with a .410 batting average, a year after hitting .351 which earned her honorable mention all-conference status as well.
Senior Megan Eddy (Merrill, Mich.) was the leader of the Northwood pitching staff, ranking in the top-five in the GLIAC in every pitching category. She was third in the GLIAC in victories, registering 19 of NU’s 26 victories on the season. A two-time All-GLIAC honoree and a three-time Academic All-GLIAC performer, Eddy maintains a 3.96 GPA in Marketing. She was also named to the Capital One Academic All-District® Softball First Team. This is the second time in her career Eddy has claimed a GLIAC Commissioner’s Award.
Saginaw Valley State senior Jade Fulton (Byron, Mich.) was once again spectacular in the circle for the Cardinals in 2011. For the season, she pitched 282 innings, picking-up 31 wins compared to just 11 losses and five saves. She recorded a GLIAC single-season record 426 strikeouts, which ranked her second in the nation overall, and had a 1.19 ERA. She was named the 2011 GLIAC “Pitcher of the Year”, National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and Daktronics, Inc. First Team All-Midwest Region and also garnered Honorable Mention All-America Daktronics, Inc. accolades. Fulton finished her SVSU career with a 71 and 21 overall record and 19 saves, ranking her third all-time in wins and first all-time in saves. Her 907 career strikeouts also ranks her first all-time in SVSU history, 391 K’s ahead of the next closet player.
Wayne State University junior outfielder, Alison Allen (Redford, Mich. Farmington), was voted to the All-America Second Team by both the NFCA and Daktronics after being named to the First Team All-Midwest Region by both the NFCA and Daktronics. She was selected to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District First Team as well as the All-GLIAC First Team. Allen led the GLIAC in runs scored, was second in hits and total bases, third in slugging percentage and in average with runners on base, fourth in batting average and on-base percentage, tied-for-fourth in RBI and home runs, and tied-for-fifth in doubles. The pre-med major will be named to the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence team for 2010-11. She has started all 175 games played in her three seasons in the Green and Gold, and will enter her senior year first in career home runs (33) and slugging percentage (.633) at WSU, second in total bases (377), third in batting average (.384) and on-base percentage (.435), tied-for-fourth in doubles (43), fifth in runs scored (134), sixth in hits (229) and RBI (106), and eighth in walks (46). She has been on WSU’s Academic Honor Roll five times.
Ferris State senior Kyle Wittenbach (Lowell, Mich.) claimed All-GLIAC First-Team recognition as a result of earning medalist honors at the 2010 GLIAC Men’s Golf Championships with a first-place 215 three-round stroke total as the Bulldogs captured the conference tournament title. Wittenbach, a 2010-11 team co-Most Valuable Player Award recipient, averaged a team second-best 76.00 stroke average (1,976 total strokes) in 26 rounds this campaign. He registered five top-20 place performances, which included finishing among the top five individuals twice. The GLIAC Men’s Golf “Athlete of the Week” (Oct. 5) concluded his two-year Ferris State career with a 75.84 strokes per round average in 31 rounds of competition. A standout performer academically, Wittenbach was a member of the 2010-11 Capital One Academic All-District IV College Division Men’s At-Large Team and a 2009-10 D2 Athletics Directors Association Achievement Award recipient. His play this season not only lead Ferris State to a GLIAC Championship crown for the 19th time but also its ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
Grand Valley State senior tennis player Philipp Claus (Cloppenburg, Germany/Grand Ledge) was named First Team All-GLIAC and had the best singles record on the GVSU team, going 24-9 overall including a 9-0 mark in GLIAC play at the #2 flight. He ended his season on a 14-match winning streak and finished his career with a 92-26 singles record. In doubles, he went 17-14 this season with a 6-3 mark in the GLIAC and finished his career with a career 54-33 doubles record. Claus was named Second Team All-GLIAC in 2009 and 2010 and was named GLIAC All-Academic both seasons as well. He was an Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic selection in 2010 and was the recipient of the ITA Scholar Athlete Award in 2009. Claus carried a 3.93 GPA in International Relations/Management.
Cody Grice (DeWitt, Mich.), a junior outfielder for the Grand Valley State baseball team, was named a Second Team All-American this year by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and a Third Team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) after hitting .381 with a team-leading 59 runs, five triples, 31 walks and 23 stolen bases. He was named the Midwest Regional “Player of the Year” by the ABCA, NCBWA and Daktronics, Inc. and was also the GLIAC “Player of the Year”. He broke the GVSU career record for runs scored (170) in only three years of competition and went 5-for-5 in the Midwest Regional championship game to help lead the Lakers to a College World Series appearance. He was also a 12th round draft pick by the New York Yankees in this year’s Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft. Grice had a 3.53 GPA in exercise science.
Saginaw Valley State senior Nate Kelly (Suttons Bay, Mich.) posted a 72.25 stroke average and four top-five finishes. Included in those top-five finishes are individual medalist honors at the Lake Superior State University Invitational and the Kyle Ryman Invitational. Kelly, an All-GLIAC Second Team selection in 2010 with a 73.60 average, had a runner-up finish at the Lake Erie Invitational and a third-place showing at the Arendsen Invitational. He finished in a tie for 56th place at the NCAA Division II Midwest/South Central Super Regional, which was held at the Cherry Blossom Golf Course in Georgetown, Ky. Kelly has been named to the dean’s list six times and currently holds a 3.61 grade point average.
Jeremy Lee (Wauseon, Ohio/Pike-Delta-York), a senior from Tiffin, earned his second career Commissioner’s award with a strong academic and athletic season in 2011. Lee, who previously earned the honor in spring 2009, was the GLIAC Champion in the 1500 meters, finishing with a ranking of 21st in Division II. He was a U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) 2011 Outdoor All-Region selection while also provisionally qualifying for NCAA Nationals. He was selected by the Tiffin faculty as TU’s “Scholar Athlete of the Year.” Overall Lee is a three-time NCAA National Qualifier and three-time GLIAC champion who has earned 14 All-Academic selections since 2008.
Wayne State senior catcher Michael Wiseman (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland) was a three-time All-American in 2011, and was voted Division II Defensive Player of the Year by the ABCA, as he posted a 1.000 fielding percentage and caught 18 runners stealing. Wiseman led Wayne State with a .368 batting average (ninth in GLIAC) and a career-best 71 hits to lead the conference. The only Warrior to start all 56 games in 2011, Wiseman was instrumental in Wayne State winning a program-record 35 games and reaching the championship game of the NCAA Midwest Regional. He received All-GLIAC First Team honors for the third time in his career. Wiseman was a team co-captain for the second straight year in 2011, served as president of the student-athlete advisory committee, and helped lead the baseball team to contribute over 1,500 hours of community service during the 2010-11 academic year. Wiseman also graduated from the WSU Business School this spring.