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Calvin Announces Recipients of 2013 Bere’/Tiemersma Awards
GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan—Calvin College has announced the 2013 recipients of its highest honors for men’s and women’s athletics: the Beré Memorial Award and the Kay Tiemersma Athletic Award. Dan Kerr of Petoskey, Michigan, is this year’s Beré Memorial Award winner while the women’s side features co-recipients in Lizzie Kamp of Orland Park, Illinois, and Carissa Verkaik of Holland, Michigan. The Beré Memorial Award has been presented annually by Calvin since 1951. The Beré honors the top senior male student-athlete, based on athletic ability, scholastic rank, character and leadership, and is selected by the school’s varsity coaches, its athletics administrators and its faculty athletic representatives.
It is given in memory of Joe Beré, a Calvin student who was killed in a 1949 auto accident on his way to watch a Calvin basketball game. This is the 39th year that Calvin has given the Tiemersma award—presented annually to the top senior female student-athlete. The award honors Kay Tiemersma, the first woman physical education 
teacher in the member schools of the Christian Schools International organization, and a pioneer in women’s sports. Its presentation is based on athletic ability, scholastic standing, and character and leadership. The winner is also selected by the school’s varsity coaches, its athletics administrators and its faculty athletic representatives. This year marks just the fourth time in school history that the Tiemersma Award has featured co-recipients. Other years with co-recipients include 1990 (Amber Blankespoor & Stephanie Rhind), 1993 (Becky Konyndyk and Betsy Wilgenburg) and 2007 (Lisa Winkle and Becky Weima).
Carissa Verkaik Audio Interview
First Calvin C Club Awards Knight Takes Place at Calvin Wednesday Night
The first-ever Calvin C Club Awards ceremony was held on Wednesday night inside Van Noord Arena. The following is a list of the award recipients:
BREAKTHROUGH TEAM OF THE YEAR - Men’s Tennis
RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE - Nicole Michmerhuizen - women’s track and field, 10,000 meters
ROLE PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Bryan Powell, men’s basketball
PLAY OF THE YEAR - Danielle Carter, women’s soccer - game winning OT goal vs Hope in MIAA Tournament
MALE NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR - Taylor Pruis, men’s soccer
FEMALE NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR - Michaela Rookus, women’s swimming & diving
MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR - Nick Holtrop, men’s soccer
FEMALE ATHLETE(S) OF THE YEAR - Lizzie Kamp, volleyball & Carissa Verkaik, basketball & track & field
EXCEPTIONAL PERFORMANCE IN AN INDIVIDUAL EVENT - Elisabeth Counsell, women’s swimming & diving
GAME OF THE YEAR - Calvin men’s basketball MIAA Tournament final win over Hope
KAY TIEMERSMA AWARD WINNER(S) - Lizzie Kamp & Carissa Verkaik
BERE’ MEMORIAL AWARD WINNER - Dan Kerr, men’s cross country & track & field
The MIAA Commissioner’s Cup trophy was also unveiled at the ceremony.
Calvin College Wins MIAA Commissioner’s Cup!!!
For the first time since the 1999-2000 academic year, Calvin College has won the outright MIAA Commissioner’s Cup. Calvin finished the year with 216 points, finishing ahead of rival Hope which earned 205 points. At the conclusion of the 2007-08 year, Calvin and Hope shared the Commissioner’s Cup as the two schools tied for first place. Hope had since won the last four outright titles. The MIAA Commissioner’s Cup award is based on the cumulative performance of each member school in the league’s 20 sports for men and women. The final Commissioner’s Cup standings is determined on the basis of each college’s standings in eight of 10 sports for men and eight of 10 sports for women. The Commissioner’s Cup (All-Sports Award) has been presented since 1934-35. Hope has won the award 34 times, followed by Kalamazoo 15, Albion 14, Calvin 9 and Alma 5. In addition, Calvin took first place in the MIAA Men’s All-Sports standings with 102 points, finishing ahead of Hope which tallied 93. Calvin also took first place in the MIAA Women’s All-Sports standings with 114 points, edging Hope by two points. The 2012-13 academic year was an historic one for the Calvin athletics program as it captured an MIAA record 12 conference titles including 10 that were outright league crowns. Calvin competes in 19 of the 20 MIAA-sponsored sports. The Knights do not compete in football.
