Spring into Success
Athletic excellence bloomed during the spring season as Hope recorded its third-highest finish in the NCAA Division III Learfield Directors’ Cup by placing 20th in the national all-sports standings and winning the MIAA’s Commissioner’s Cup all-sports award for a league-record 40th time.
Three Hope College track and field athletes claimed All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. In the women’s meet, sophomore Sara Schermerhorn placed fifth in the 400 meters at nationals and 14th in the 200 meters, while senior Rebecca Markham took seventh in the 10,000 meters and 15th in the 5,000 meters. In the men’s meet, junior Connor Vachon finished 13th in the 1,500 meters.
Three Hope teams swept MIAA regular-season and tournament championships and competed in the NCAA Championships: men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse and women’s tennis. It was the second MIAA title sweep in a row for women’s lacrosse.
Women’s outdoor track and field captured a sixth consecutive MIAA championship and the Flying Dutch’s third sweep of indoor and outdoor titles in four seasons. Men’s golf repeated as MIAA champion after the final 36 holes of play this spring, then placed 24th at the NCAA Championships.
Four Hope student-athletes claimed MIAA Most Valuable Athlete accolades: senior attacker Michael Mann in men’s lacrosse (offensive), sophomore Julia Brown in women’s lacrosse, sophomore Liam Casey in men’s golf and sophomore Amanda Lopykinski in women’s tennis.
Four Hope coaches were selected MIAA Coaches of the Year by their peers: Kevin Cole ’88 in women’s outdoor track and field, Scott Lokers ’81 in men’s golf, Keagan Pontious in women’s lacrosse and Michael Schanhals ’91 in men’s lacrosse.
Leigh Sears stepped down as women’s soccer head coach after 23 seasons and 270 victories with the Flying Dutch to become a full-time professor in the college’s kinesiology department. Assistant coach Holly Van Noord was appointed as the seventh women’s soccer head coach in June.
Also in June, assistant coach Ryan Dorow was introduced as baseball’s 10th head coach. Stu Fritz retired after the 2024 season.
