Zeeland senior Madison Ensing, front, battles stroke for stroke with Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Kia Alert in the 50-yard freestyle at last Friday’s Division 1 state girls swimming finals at Oakland University. Ensing, who was the state champion last year in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle, finished second in both events Friday in helping lead Zeeland to a fourth-place finish, the team’s best performance since 2012.
By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
The Zeeland High School girls swimming team posted its best performance in a state championship meet in more than a decade last Friday, finishing fourth in the Division 1 state finals at Oakland University in Rochester, Zeeland finished the meet with a team score of 179 points, its best finish since placing fourth at the 2012 Division 1 championship meet at the Holland Aquatic Center. Zeeland had finished fifth in the state a year ago.
Ann Arbor Pioneer won the Division 1 state title for the sixth consecutive year with a team score of 404 points. Jenison finished second with 249, with Northville (193), Zeeland and Plymouth Canton (109) rounding out the top five teams.
It was the fourth consecutive year that Zeeland had improved its placing at the state championship from the prior year. The team finished 21st at the 2021 finals, then moved up to 14th in 2022 and 10th in 2023 before breaking into the top five last year.
Zeeland’s outstanding team effort came without a single first-place finish. However, the team placed in the top four in eight of the 12 events, including all three relays, to pile up enough points to claim a trophy to take back to the west side of the state.
Zeeland had four runnerup finishes, two of them by senior Madison Ensing, who won the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle at last year’s state meet.
In the 50 free, Ensing was nosed out by Pioneer’s Kia Alert at the wall by .01 second, even though her time of 22.92 seconds was faster than her winning time (22.94) at last year’s finals. In the 100 free, Ensing posted a time of 50.19 to finish second to Pioneer’s Katelyn Van Ryn.
Earlier last week, Ensing signed a national letter of intent to swim at the University of Arizona next year.
Sophomore Natalie Lauritzen finished second in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:51.39 and fourth in the 100-yard backstroke in 57.29. Lauritzen had finished ninth in the 100 back at last year’s finals.
Zeeland’s other runnerup finish came in the 200-yard freestyle relay, as Madison Ensing, junior Molly Meyering, senior Paige Davis and junior Ariyah Gettings swam a 1:36.47.
Gettings finished third in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:04.92), up one place from her finish at last year’s finals, and 16th in the 50 free (26.14).
Zeeland finished the meet with a third-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay, with Madison Ensing, Lauritzen, Meyering and Davis posting a time of 3:30.71.
Lauritzen, Gettings, sophomore Mallory Ensing and Davis finished fourth in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:47.86.
Zeeland Record
The Zeeland High School girls swimming team posted its best performance in a state championship meet in more than a decade last Friday, finishing fourth in the Division 1 state finals at Oakland University in Rochester, Zeeland finished the meet with a team score of 179 points, its best finish since placing fourth at the 2012 Division 1 championship meet at the Holland Aquatic Center. Zeeland had finished fifth in the state a year ago.
Ann Arbor Pioneer won the Division 1 state title for the sixth consecutive year with a team score of 404 points. Jenison finished second with 249, with Northville (193), Zeeland and Plymouth Canton (109) rounding out the top five teams.
It was the fourth consecutive year that Zeeland had improved its placing at the state championship from the prior year. The team finished 21st at the 2021 finals, then moved up to 14th in 2022 and 10th in 2023 before breaking into the top five last year.
Zeeland’s outstanding team effort came without a single first-place finish. However, the team placed in the top four in eight of the 12 events, including all three relays, to pile up enough points to claim a trophy to take back to the west side of the state.
Zeeland had four runnerup finishes, two of them by senior Madison Ensing, who won the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle at last year’s state meet.
In the 50 free, Ensing was nosed out by Pioneer’s Kia Alert at the wall by .01 second, even though her time of 22.92 seconds was faster than her winning time (22.94) at last year’s finals. In the 100 free, Ensing posted a time of 50.19 to finish second to Pioneer’s Katelyn Van Ryn.
Earlier last week, Ensing signed a national letter of intent to swim at the University of Arizona next year.
Sophomore Natalie Lauritzen finished second in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:51.39 and fourth in the 100-yard backstroke in 57.29. Lauritzen had finished ninth in the 100 back at last year’s finals.
Zeeland’s other runnerup finish came in the 200-yard freestyle relay, as Madison Ensing, junior Molly Meyering, senior Paige Davis and junior Ariyah Gettings swam a 1:36.47.
Gettings finished third in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:04.92), up one place from her finish at last year’s finals, and 16th in the 50 free (26.14).
Zeeland finished the meet with a third-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay, with Madison Ensing, Lauritzen, Meyering and Davis posting a time of 3:30.71.
Lauritzen, Gettings, sophomore Mallory Ensing and Davis finished fourth in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:47.86.
Hope Basketball Tournament Honors Late ZHS Grad
By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
The Hope College women’s basketball team honored the memory of a former player and assistant coach from Zeeland last weekend.
The Flying Dutch captured the championship of the first-ever Michele Schoon Classic with wins over Carthage (Wis.) College last Friday, 80-52, and Illinois Wesleyan University last Saturday, 76-73, in overtime, at DeVos Fieldhouse.
The tournament honored the memory of Michele Sterk Schoon, a 1987 Zeeland High School graduate and 1991 Hope graduate, who was a starting forward on Hope’s NCAA Division III national championship team in 1990. Schoon later served as an assistant coach for the Flying Dutch early in head coach Brian Morehouse’s tenure.
Schoon died May 4, 2023, at the age of 53 after battling breast cancer for several years. A couple of weeks before her death, she received the Hope H-Club’s “Hope For Humanity” award for her Christian commitment and service to others.
“She was just an impactful woman,” Morehouse said of Schoon, who was a classmate of his when they were students at Hope. “Everything she did, she did to glorify God and invest in other people. That was her whole life goal – to make other people better and to use whatever platform she had, whether it was as a nurse, as a coach, as a mom, to really elevate those around her and let them see Christ through her. She did that as well as any person I’ve met in my life.”
Donations were accepted throughout the weekend for the Michele R. Schoon Legacy Nursing Scholarship Fund that has been established at Hope in Schoon’s memory.
In last Friday’s game, Hope took a 14-9 lead after one quarter, then stretched it out to 34-22 at halftime and 61-37 through three quarters in defeating Carthage.
Sophomore guard Anna Richards let the Flying Dutch with 17 points and six rebounds, while senior forward Sydney Vis added 12 points and six boards.
Then on Saturday, Hope took on an Illinois Wesleyan team that was ranked 10th nationally in the preseason poll by d3hoops.com. The Titans jumped out to 15-3 lead eight minutes into the game before the Flying Dutch began to find their rhythm.
A 14-4 run in the second quarter gave Hope a 30-24 lead, but Illinois Wesleyan rallied to take a 36-34 lead at the half.
The Flying Dutch led most of the second half, and were up seven at 63-56 midway through the fourth quarter. But the Titans came back to take a 67-65 lead with 1:42 remaining in regulation.
Sophomore center Leah Richards tied the game for Hope on a layup with 44.3 seconds to play, and the game went to overtime.
A pair of free throws and a 3-point basket by Vis gave Hope a 76-71 lead with just over a minute to play in overtime. Illinois Wesleyan pulled back within three on a pair of free throws and had a chance to tie the game, but tight defense by the Flying Dutch on the final possession forced a missed 3-point shot at the buzzer to give Hope the tournament title.
“It’s a big win. We have to win our nonleague games to get into the national tournament,” Morehouse said after the game. “We dropped one (Nov. 15) that we shouldn’t have lost, in my opinion (to Ohio Wesleyan). We really needed this game.
“We were up, we were down, we came back, we got a lead. It was a rollercoaster of a game. We learned a lot from (the previous) weekend where we played really, really poorly … for most of the game. I think we learned from that. We were able to apply those lessons to this week, and I think that’s why we won this week.”
Anna Richards led four Hope players in double figures with 17 points,14 rebounds and five assists, earning tournament Most Valuable Player honors. Vis added 15 points and five steals, as she was named to the All-Tournament Team. Junior guard Terin Maynard had 13 points and Leah Richards chipped in 12 points and 11 rebounds despite battling foul trouble the entire game.
Hope, ranked 23rd in the nation by d3hoops.com, improved its record to 6-1. The Flying Dutch return to action Saturday, Dec. 6, for a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association game at Saint Mary’s (Ind.) College.
Zeeland Record
The Hope College women’s basketball team honored the memory of a former player and assistant coach from Zeeland last weekend.
The Flying Dutch captured the championship of the first-ever Michele Schoon Classic with wins over Carthage (Wis.) College last Friday, 80-52, and Illinois Wesleyan University last Saturday, 76-73, in overtime, at DeVos Fieldhouse.
The tournament honored the memory of Michele Sterk Schoon, a 1987 Zeeland High School graduate and 1991 Hope graduate, who was a starting forward on Hope’s NCAA Division III national championship team in 1990. Schoon later served as an assistant coach for the Flying Dutch early in head coach Brian Morehouse’s tenure.
Schoon died May 4, 2023, at the age of 53 after battling breast cancer for several years. A couple of weeks before her death, she received the Hope H-Club’s “Hope For Humanity” award for her Christian commitment and service to others.
“She was just an impactful woman,” Morehouse said of Schoon, who was a classmate of his when they were students at Hope. “Everything she did, she did to glorify God and invest in other people. That was her whole life goal – to make other people better and to use whatever platform she had, whether it was as a nurse, as a coach, as a mom, to really elevate those around her and let them see Christ through her. She did that as well as any person I’ve met in my life.”
Donations were accepted throughout the weekend for the Michele R. Schoon Legacy Nursing Scholarship Fund that has been established at Hope in Schoon’s memory.
In last Friday’s game, Hope took a 14-9 lead after one quarter, then stretched it out to 34-22 at halftime and 61-37 through three quarters in defeating Carthage.
Sophomore guard Anna Richards let the Flying Dutch with 17 points and six rebounds, while senior forward Sydney Vis added 12 points and six boards.
Then on Saturday, Hope took on an Illinois Wesleyan team that was ranked 10th nationally in the preseason poll by d3hoops.com. The Titans jumped out to 15-3 lead eight minutes into the game before the Flying Dutch began to find their rhythm.
A 14-4 run in the second quarter gave Hope a 30-24 lead, but Illinois Wesleyan rallied to take a 36-34 lead at the half.
The Flying Dutch led most of the second half, and were up seven at 63-56 midway through the fourth quarter. But the Titans came back to take a 67-65 lead with 1:42 remaining in regulation.
Sophomore center Leah Richards tied the game for Hope on a layup with 44.3 seconds to play, and the game went to overtime.
A pair of free throws and a 3-point basket by Vis gave Hope a 76-71 lead with just over a minute to play in overtime. Illinois Wesleyan pulled back within three on a pair of free throws and had a chance to tie the game, but tight defense by the Flying Dutch on the final possession forced a missed 3-point shot at the buzzer to give Hope the tournament title.
“It’s a big win. We have to win our nonleague games to get into the national tournament,” Morehouse said after the game. “We dropped one (Nov. 15) that we shouldn’t have lost, in my opinion (to Ohio Wesleyan). We really needed this game.
“We were up, we were down, we came back, we got a lead. It was a rollercoaster of a game. We learned a lot from (the previous) weekend where we played really, really poorly … for most of the game. I think we learned from that. We were able to apply those lessons to this week, and I think that’s why we won this week.”
Anna Richards led four Hope players in double figures with 17 points,14 rebounds and five assists, earning tournament Most Valuable Player honors. Vis added 15 points and five steals, as she was named to the All-Tournament Team. Junior guard Terin Maynard had 13 points and Leah Richards chipped in 12 points and 11 rebounds despite battling foul trouble the entire game.
Hope, ranked 23rd in the nation by d3hoops.com, improved its record to 6-1. The Flying Dutch return to action Saturday, Dec. 6, for a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association game at Saint Mary’s (Ind.) College.
Athletics Hall of Fame Nominations Open
By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
Zeeland Athletics is accepting nominations for the 2026 class of its Hall of Fame.
You can nominate an alumni student-athlete, coach or even a fan for this honor, which will be presented between games of the basketball doubleheader between Zeeland East and Zeeland West that will be played on Friday, Feb. 6. at West.
What are the criteria for nomination? Zeeland Athletics is looking for deserving individuals in the following categories:
• Former student-athletes who have been out of high school for at least 10 years and demonstrated excellence in athletics and character.
• Retired coaches from Zeeland High, Zeeland East, or Zeeland West who have influenced student-athletes through their leadership, mentorship, and commitment to education-based athletics.
• Community members or fans who have made a lasting impact on Zeeland Athletics through their support, volunteerism, or contributions to our programs.
Three new members joined the Zeeland Athletics Hall of Fame earlier this year – Derek Kingshott, Sara Nitz and Lloyd Schout.
Nomination forms are available online.
Zeeland Record
Zeeland Athletics is accepting nominations for the 2026 class of its Hall of Fame.
You can nominate an alumni student-athlete, coach or even a fan for this honor, which will be presented between games of the basketball doubleheader between Zeeland East and Zeeland West that will be played on Friday, Feb. 6. at West.
What are the criteria for nomination? Zeeland Athletics is looking for deserving individuals in the following categories:
• Former student-athletes who have been out of high school for at least 10 years and demonstrated excellence in athletics and character.
• Retired coaches from Zeeland High, Zeeland East, or Zeeland West who have influenced student-athletes through their leadership, mentorship, and commitment to education-based athletics.
• Community members or fans who have made a lasting impact on Zeeland Athletics through their support, volunteerism, or contributions to our programs.
Three new members joined the Zeeland Athletics Hall of Fame earlier this year – Derek Kingshott, Sara Nitz and Lloyd Schout.
Nomination forms are available online.
