Reflections Magazine Issue #70 - Fall 2009 | Page 10

Athletics Feature

continued from page 9
A welcome home ceremony took place at
the Light Guard Armory in Detroit. A crowd
of approximately 500, including Chris
Boertje’s parents, grandparents and Hubbard, watched as each platoon made its
entrance.
Chris Boertje’s unit marched in first. Tears
flowed. His family could finally exhale.
After introductions of each platoon and a
guest speaker, the soldiers were released.
Some, as Michael Boertje pointed out, had
new surprises.
“I saw other men there and their wives were
holding 9-month-old babies,” he said. “When
they left their wives were pregnant. And
when they came back they had another
child in their hands.”
Chris Boertje greeted his family and friend
with a big smile, and he spent a stress-free
first day back.
After all, he earned it.
“I’m very proud of him,” Michael Boertje said.
“He’s got something over me that I never
did in 20 years. He was in combat. I can’t say
nothing to him now. I’m a bit too old to go
out there and play in the sand.”
Boertje has made a seamless transition back
to his normal routine, and he said baseball
is a key reason. Last spring he reentered
the Saints’ rotation and led the team in
innings pitched and strikeouts, finishing
with a 3-6 record.
College baseball also gave him a 50-person
support group. That’s where Kolasinski
noticed, aside from enlarged upper-body
muscle mass, Boertje’s increased awareness.
“You can see a concentration level that he
didn’t have before,” Kolasinski said. “And
one of the other things I’ve noticed is
he’s much more aware of what’s going on
around him. College players in their first or
second year, their minds can drift. He’s very,
very focused. He’s very aware of what’s
going on around him.”
More importantly, though, he made Siena
Heights more aware of the world around it.
“It makes us see that our problems that
we deal with everyday in our office aren’t
anything compared to what’s going on out
there,” SHU Athletic Director Fred Smith said.
“What’s starting a volleyball team or whatever compared to what they’re doing?
“It puts things in perspective for everybody,
and we’re glad he made it back OK.” u

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Reflections Fall ’09

90 90th
for the

Many people have shaped Siena Heights since
its beginnings in 1919. In celebration of the
institution’s 90th anniversary, meet a crosssection (in no particular order) of some of
those who have helped make Siena Heights
University what it is today.