Sports
Once, Twice, Three
Times a Winner!
Siena Heights has captured its third
consecutive Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic
Conference “All-Sports” Trophy. The
Saints posted a 3.96 average score in
the annual league competition to edge
runner-up Aquinas College (3.93).
This year’s final result was the closest
in the five-year history of the WHAC
All-Sports competition. Spring Arbor
and Tri-State University tied for third
place, Cornerstone College placed
fifth and Concordia College was sixth.
Siena won WHAC titles in half of the
14 league sports it competed in during
1996-97. As in the past two years, the
SHC running programs dominated the
league winning all six conference titles.
The Saints also won a conference championship in men’s basketball. Siena
Heights placed second the first two years
of the All-Sports competition (1993
and 1994), and has won the trophy ever
since.
Spiegel, Malley Earn
Roundball Recognition
Junior guard Jessica Spiegel of Deerfield and freshman center Bevin Malley
of Sylvania, Ohio, won high honors in
women’s hoops this year: Spiegel was
named to the NAIA women’s basketball
AllAmerican Scholar-Athlete Team and
Malley was named WHAC “Freshman
of the Year” by the WHAC women’s
basketball coaches--the first Siena player
to win the honor. Spiegel, a history
major with a 3.72 grade point average,
was second on this year’s team in scoring (7.7) and set a single season Siena
Heights record for three-point field goals
with 66. She also owns the SHC career
record for three-pointers after her third
season with 147. Malley led the Saints
in scoring (14.2) and rebounding (9.4)
and was Siena’s lone selection to this
year’s WHAC All-Conference Team.
Malley’s rebounding numbers ranked
#1 among all WHAC players and she
ranked #4 in scoring in the conference.
Spring Sports Boast
Four Scholar-Athletes
Siena Heights had four NAIA AllAmerican Scholar-Athletes this spring
led by senior pitcher Justin Black of
Garden City who had a 3.97 grade point
average as an accounting major. The
baseball player was named an outstanding student in the management division
at this spring’s Honors Convocation.
In softball, junior pitcher Mariann
Bauman of Ottawa Lake earned AllAmerican Scholar-Athlete honors with
a 3.66 grade point average as a child
development major. In men’s outdoor
track and field, juniors John Liparoto of
Petersburg and Brian Smith of Pittsford
were two of only 40 NAIA men’s track
athletes named to the All-American
Scholar Athlete team. Liparoto has a
3.61 grade point average as an English
major and Smith has a 3.50 GPA majoring in biology.
Smith continued from previous page
the University of California -- is the
exception rather than the rule for NAIA
coaches and is pleased to be coaching in
his hometown of Adrian.
“This has been a wonderful place
to work and we have a great tradition
here,” said Smith, whose Saints (30-7)
advanced to the national finals for the
first time in school history. “There have
been some opportunities, but it would
have to be a great one for me to move.
I’m also the A.D. here and proud of
what we’ve accomplished.”
Smith was guiding the Saints in the
NAIA Division I tournament three years
ago when he noticed a lump on his neck.
Doctors gave him a variety of tests and
they informed him that he either had
Hodgkin’s Disease or lymphoma. He
later received news that it was Hodgkin’s, which is more treatable with a
high cure rate if detected early.
“I’m a very lucky individual,”
Smith said. “Hodgkin’s is very curable.
Things have been going well for me.
I’ve always been a big Michigan fan,