athletics

Hornets Join Broncos in Hurricane Cleanup

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K cross country runner Brock Crystal ’15 (l) and WMU football player Nick Norton (r) helped New Jersey homeowners Vicki Laudien and Joe Danski clean up after Hurricane Sandy
K cross country runner Brock Crystal ’15 (l) and WMU football player Nick Norton (r) helped New Jersey homeowners Vicki Laudien and Joe Danski clean up after Hurricane Sandy.

Brock Crystal’s ’15 decision to attend the weekly athlete bible study at Kalamazoo College led him on an adventure in giving and gratitude he says he’ll never forget. Crystal, a member of the K Men’s Cross Country team, heard about a planned mission trip during Thanksgiving weekend to the East Coast where Hornets would collaborate with Broncos—Western Michigan University’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes—to help people affected by Hurricane Sandy.
      Though he had never tried anything like this before, Crystal decided to tag along with fellow K students. Sophie Roberts ’16, Quinn McCormick ’14, Jacob Lenning ’15, Liz Lenning ’16, Guiherme (Will) Guedes ’15, and Crystal carpooled east where they met up with the WMU volunteers. The group of 14 student athletes worked for five days tearing out damage from flooded homes and helping residents take photographs for insurance claims.
      This trip marked Crystal’s first time volunteering at a disaster site. He said many homes still lacked power and water, and many people were stranded or living with friends. One day, Crystal and others travelled to the Jersey Shore where they met homeowners Vicki Laudien and Joe Danski whose house had been flooded with four feet of water.
      “They basically said, ‘everything in this house from four feet below has to leave,’” said Crystal. As the K crew worked clearing out the house, they discovered a board in the back of a first-floor closet. The board held pencil markings of Laudien’s and Danski’s grandchildren’s changing heights over the years. Crystal and his crewmates pried the board from the closet, and presented it as a gift to the family.
      “It was really powerful to connect so deeply to someone in the span of half a day,” said Crystal. Now that he’s back home, Crystal says he caught the volunteer bug. “I really now see it’s not about us and not about getting gratitude for what we’ve done; it’s about helping other people,” he said. “It was a very rewarding experience I’d go on 100 times over.”
Story by Elaine Ezekiel ’13

Hornet’s Olympics

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Chris Manning ’12 finished 88th out of 139 swimmers with a time of 1:04.73 in the 100m Breaststroke at the Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb. on Monday, June 25. Manning moved up nine spots, but did not qualify for the the evening’s finals.

“Chris had an absolutely amazing season this year and to end his career with a top 100 finish at the Olympic Trials is really icing on the cake,” said Kathy Milliken, Kalamazoo College’s head swimming and diving coach.

“The amount of determination that he showed to get to the meet by training by himself for the last three months and the composure that he showed stepping up on the blocks with the best swimmers — pro and all college divisions — made me feel extremely honored to be his coach. He made all those associated with Kalamazoo College swimming very proud today and over the last four years.”

Basketball Coach Will Move to Oregon

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Rob Passage
Rob Passage, Men’s Basketball Coach

Rob Passage ’93, Kalamazoo College’s head men’s basketball coach since 2002-03, announced this week that he is leaving to become the athletic facilities and operations manager at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.

“We are extremely grateful to Rob for his hard work, dedication, and commitment to Kalamazoo College,” said Kristen Smith, Director of Athletics, “He was a mentor to student-athletes and coaches, not just in basketball, but in many of our programs. He will be missed, but we wish him all the best in his new position.”

In addition to his head coaching duties, Passage served as the assistant athletic director for operations and facilities and assistant professor of physical education.

“My years at Kalamazoo have been filled with great friends, colleagues, and student-athletes,” Passage said, “K has provided me with so many great experiences since I first stepped onto campus as a student in the fall of 1989. I can only hope that I have been able to positively impact the K community even just a portion of how much it impacted my life. Kalamazoo College will always be a special place to me, but it is time for me to move on to other challenges and opportunities.”

A search for his replacement will begin immediately.

College Rezoning Approved

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By Suzanne Curtiss ’14

Erran Briggs ’14 speaks about the stadium lighting improvements.

After three-and-half hours and 48 college and neighborhood speakers, the Kalamazoo City Commission approved an amended version of Kalamazoo College’s Institutional Campus (IC) rezoning application at its Monday, June 18, meeting in the City Commission chambers.

With the approved IC zone, the College can now move forward with its 10-year campus plan, including the construction of the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership and the installation of stadium lighting at the Angell Field athletic complex. The latter had been a particular point of controversy.  As proposed by Commissioner Bob Cinabro, the stadium lights on the football field will be limited to 20 nights per year and must be turned off no later than 8:30 p.m., instead of 10:30 p.m.

Commissioner Don Cooney deemed the amendment a “reasonable compromise” and commended the College for its efforts in the last month to work closely and considerately with neighbors.

During the 14-month master plan process, K held a total of 21 meetings with neighbors, and on June 14 ceded to neighborhood concerns by excluding the closing of Thompson Street from the plan. Commissioner Barbara Miller, too, acknowledged the compromises of the College. “I think they [Kalamazoo College] have been good neighbors and Kalamazoo is a better place because of them,” said Miller.

Junior football player Erran Briggs ’14 (see photo) spoke of the impact the stadium lights will have on the lives of student athletes.

“We are more than just students,” he said, “Athletics can have as much of an impact on us as academics.”

Kalamazoo College President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran said she is “very happy about what the decision means for our student athletes” and pledged that she and College staff will work hard to keep lines of communication open with neighbors.

Professor Baker Named to Athletic Hall of Fame

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Ed Baker, former Kalamazoo College football coach and physical education professor, has been named to the Athletic Hall of Fame at Haverford High School in Havertown, Pennsylvania, west of Philadelphia.

He was athletic director at Haverford from 1959 to 1967 and head football coach from 1958 to 1966. He won three league titles as football coach, leading the 1961 and 1965 teams to undefeated Inter-Ac Championship seasons and an 18-game win streak from 1964 to 1966.

Ed was named Philadelphia Coach of the Year in 1961. During his coaching tenure, 21 players made First Team All Inter-Ac; four achieved All-City status. He is credited with starting the lacrosse program at Haverford School, and coached the team to an overall record of 39-21-1. During his tenure as athletic director, the “Fords” had 28 Inter-Ac championship teams.

Coach Baker was appointed head football coach and head track coach at Kalamazoo College in 1967. In his final football game in 1989, he led the Hornets to its first victory over Hope College in 20 years!

Coach Acker Named to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame

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George Acker, longtime Kalamazoo College coach and physical education professor who died in July 2011, has been named to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. Coach Acker served at K for 35 years (1958-93), coaching men’s tennis teams to seven NCAA Division III championships while winning 35 consecutive MIAA championships. His tennis teams were 537-231 overall and an incredible 209-1 in the MIAA conference. He was inducted into the Kalamazoo College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998.

Student Researches American Volley Ball Coaches Association

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Colleen Leonard class of 2012
Colleen Leonard ’12

Colleen Leonard ’12 examines results from the first-ever salary survey conducted by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) in the February/March 2012 issue of Coaching Volleyball, an AVCA publication.

She drew valuable conclusions from coaches at all levels of NCAA competition for “Money Talks: AVCA Salary Survey Analysis,” an article she researched and wrote as part of her Senior Individualized Project at K.

Colleen is an economics major with minors in math and art from Mason, Mich. who studied abroad in Strasbourg, France and interned with AFLAC in East Lansing. She was an outside hitter on the Hornet volleyball team for four years, earning All-MIAA First Team honors as a junior and senior, Second Team as a sophomore. She also traveled to China with her Hornet team in 2009. Well done, Colleen!

Professor Jeanne Hess on her Book, “Sportuality: Finding Joy in the Games”

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Jeanne Hess, professor of physical education and head coach of volleyball, has written Sportuality: Finding Joy in the Games, a book that examines how people can attain peace, understanding, and joy through sports.

Hess has coached volleyball and taught at “K” for 28 years. She said Sportuality can help readers redefine words traditionally associated with sports—competition, victory, sacrifice, education community, spirit, humor, holiness, and more.

“I have a deep belief in the power of athletics to shape and sustain us toward a more positive and peaceful ideal,” she said, “Whether you are an athlete, coach, parent, official, or fan, I believe seeking the larger purpose of play is critical to transforming sport within our culture.”

Using a journal and questions for self-reflection—called a “box score” and “time-out”—readers can reflect upon and create their own spiritual sports, or “sportual,” stories. These stories, according to Hess, ultimately can lead readers to joy, increased awareness, and a renewed commitment to engage in positive competition.

Hess said part of her inspiration for writing the book came out of a self-study curriculum called “A Course in Miracles” that aims to assist its readers in achieving spiritual transformation, and by the words of author, lecturer, and spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson.

“But I’ve also been inspired by more than 30 years worth of teams, colleagues in teaching and coaching, my students, and my family,” which includes two sons who have both played for Division I university baseball programs and in the Detroit Tigers minor league organization.

Jeanne Hess ranks in the top 30 NCAA Division III coaches with the most wins. She earned her 500th career volleyball victory at Kalamazoo in 2011. Published by Balboa Press, a division of Hay House, Sportuality is available from the Kalamazoo College Bookstore, Balboa Press (www.balboapress.com), Barnes and Noble (www.barnesandnoble.com) and on Amazon (www.amazon.com).

Jeanne Hess with her book
Professor Jeanne Hess, pictured with her book “Sportuality: Finding Joy in the Games”

“K” Alum Plays International Tennis Championship

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Lew Miller ’93 will represent the United States at the 32nd International Tennis Federation Seniors World Team Championships. The nation’s top tennis players in age groups 35+ and 55+ will compete against teams from 35 counties February 6 through 11 in San Diego. More than 1,000 athletes are expected to participate.

This will be the fourth ITF Cup Team for Miller. He played on the Men’s 35+ Cup Teams in Mallorca (2009), Mexico City (2010), and Christchurch (2011). He is the 2011 Men’s 40+ National Clay Court Doubles Champion. Miller was a member of the NCAA Division III National Championship teams from Kalamazoo College in 1991, 1992, 1993 and was NCAA Division III National Singles Champion in 1991 and 1992. He was a four-time All-American in singles and two-time All-American in doubles.

Miller earned a law degree from the University of Michigan in 1998 and is now the Director of U.S. Operations for Affiliated Computer Services in Denver.  He and his wife, Michelle, have two children.

Living Sport: Kalamazoo College Event Gathers Nationally-Renowned Sports Entrepreneurs

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CONTACT: Jim Van Sweden, 269.337.7291

April 6, 2010

[KALAMAZOO, Mich.] A Kalamazoo College liberal arts student is likely to know Sun Tzu and the CEOs and coaches who cite The Art of War in business management and sports. Whether such broad liberal arts learning is an advantage when it comes to making a living in the business of sports will be among the subjects of a panel discussion titled “Careers in Sports Business.” The event features six prominent panelists (some available for media interviews) and occurs Monday, April 19, at 7 PM in Dewing Hall Room 103.

A quarter of “K” students participate in intercollegiate athletics, and the school’s economics and business major is among its three most popular. Panelists will share their pathways to their current positions; discuss present and future business opportunities in sports management; explore the importance of mentorship and networking for gaining a foothold in the business of athletics; speculate on counterfactual “what-ifs” in their careers; and provide key advice for soon-to-be graduates seeking careers that connect their interests in sports and business.

Panelists, half of whom are Kalamazoo College alumni, include Charles Tucker (Class of 1956), president and CEO of The Sports Network; Storm T. Kirschenbaum, president of Metis Sports Management; Kathy DeBoer, executive director of the American Volleyball Coaches Association; Timon Corwin (Class of 1986), United States Tennis Association senior director of junior and collegiate competition; Kurt David, bestselling sports author and transition consultant for professional and Olympic athletes; and Jeff Pellegrom (Class of 1988), executive vice president and chief financial officer of Minnesota Sports and Entertainment.

Timon Corwin is an eight-time All-American in singles and doubles with the Kalamazoo College men’s team (1983-86). He led the 1986 squad to a NCAA Division III team championship title. He completed a post-graduate fellowship in Bonn, Germany, in 1987 and earned his law degree (Marquette University School of Law) in 1992. He was head coach for the Kalamazoo College men’s tennis team from 1993 to 2007, and his teams finished third or higher in the nation six times. He was named Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year (1997) and Midwest Regional Coach of the Year (1999). Today he is senior director for the junior and collegiate competition for United States Tennis Association Player Development. This year he also will direct the U.S. Open Junior Championships and the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships.

Kurt A. David is the bestselling author of From Glory Days, a book that chronicles the transition of 20 professional athletes from their playing days to life after sports. David graduated (B.A., Elementary Education) from Saginaw Valley State University and earned a M.A. (counseling) from Central Michigan University. He played professional basketball in Europe. He has appeared on radio and television and in a number of articles. He is a nationally certified sports counselor who works with professional and Olympic athletes as they transition to life outside of sports. He is the host and producer of From Glory Days television program.

Kathy DeBoer has been executive director of the American Volleyball Coaches Association since 2006, and during her tenure AVCA membership has grown by 36 percent and annual convention attendance has increased by nearly 30 percent. Prior to AVCA she spent 23 years in intercollegiate athletics, 18 of them at University of Kentucky as head volleyball coach and senior associate athletic director. She holds a B.A. (Humanities, Michigan State University) and M.B.A. (University of Kentucky). She’s a nationally known public speaker on the impact of gender in competitive behavior in business and sports settings and the author of Gender and Competition: How Men and Women Approach Work and Play Differently.

Sports attorney Storm Kirschenbaum formed Metis Sports Management, LLC, in 2007. The firm represents and markets professional football and baseball players (Kirschenbaum himself has represented nearly 100 professional athletes). Kirschenbaum won a scholarship from then number-one-ranked University of Florida, where he played with David Eckstein (San Diego Padres), Brad Wilkerson (Boston Red Sox), Mark Ellis (Oakland Athletics), and Josh Fogg (Colorado Rockies). He played his final two collegiate seasons at Division I Long Island University-C.W. Post. He holds a B.A. (political science, magna cum laude) and a J.D. (University of Detroit Mercy School of Law). At Mercy he was president of the Entertainment and Sports Law Society. He served three years as vice president of Integrity Sports Player Representation, Inc., and co-founded the Michigan Boxing Hall of Fame. He is a board member of the Inner City Exposure Foundation.

Jeff Pellegrom serves as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Minnesota Sports and Entertainment (MSE), which owns and controls the Minnesota Wild Hockey Club and the Houston Aeros Hockey Club.  MSE also manages all events at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.  Pellegrom oversees the finance, human resources, information technology and legal departments for the company.  He graduated from Kalamazoo College (magna cum laude) with degrees in economics and mathematics.  He worked for the Brookings Institution, 3M, Holderbank, and SC Johnson, before taking a position 2 years ago with MSE.  He is married to fellow Kalamazoo College graduate Mary Kruger Pellegrom (Class of 1988), and they have four children.

The Bronx born and reared Charles Tucker, a.k.a. Mickey Charles, is the founder of The Sports Network, the world’s largest independently owned supplier of sports scores and information, with more than 2,000 outlets in the world. He launched that business 27 years ago from his kitchen, and like all great athletes, has never rested on his laurels. Today TSN is expanding geographically (into China, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Algeria, among others) and technologically (complementing its saturation of websites by expanding to the mobile phone). He developed his competitive fire on the “city game’s” New York asphalt courts (where “no autopsy, no foul” was the rule). He transferred to Kalamazoo College from Columbia University and played for two seasons on the Hornet basketball team. He was named team captain his senior season, and led that squad to a 14-9 record and a second place finish in the MIAA conference. He earned his law degree (Brooklyn Law School) and began a career as a sports columnist for several newspapers and magazines (including the Philadelphia Inquirer), as a television sports talk-show host (for CBS and later ESPN), as a college English Professor (St. Joseph College in Philadelphia) and then, in 1983, as the founder of a sports scores telephone service that evolved into TSN. He is a popular public speaker who was once offered a contract as an opening-act stand-up comedian.

Founded in Kalamazoo in 1833, Kalamazoo College (www.kzoo.edu) is a nationally recognized liberal arts college and the creator of the “K-Plan” that emphasizes rigorous scholarship, learning by practice, and both international and intercultural engagement.

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