GLIAC Spring 2023 Commissioner’s Award recipients announced – GLIAC

Senior pitcher Hannah Beatus earned NFCA and D2CCA first team All-American honors this season after helping the Lakers to the National Championship Series in the College World Series for the second time in program history. Beatus was named the D2CCA Midwest Pitcher of the Year and also earned D2CCA and NFCA Midwest Region first team honors. She earned GLIAC Pitcher of the Year honors for the third time in her career and also named to the All-GLIAC first team for the third time in her career. Beatus posted a 30-3 record this season with a 0.91 ERA including 225 strikeouts and 30 complete games. Her 30 wins this season ranked fourth in the country and she finished her GVSU career with 97 wins which ranks second in GVSU history. Beatus tossed two no-hitters this season and has eight career no-hitters which is a GVSU record. Beatus helped lead the Lakers to a GLIAC Regular Season Championship for the fifth time in her career with a 20-1 GLIAC record.

Minnie Bittell of Northern Michigan lacrosse rewrote the record books for the program during the 2023 season. The Minnetonka, Minnesota native became the program’s all-time leader in career goals (147), assists (61), and points (208) after compiling 56 goals, 19 assists, and 75 points throughout this season, all single-season program records. Bittell’s leadership helped lead the Green and Gold to the most wins in program history, its first GLIAC Tournament win, and its first GLIAC Championship appearance. Bittell tied her single-game career-high with six goals and set a career-high with nine points against Concordia St. Paul to advance to the GLIAC Championship game and her 9-point game was also a single-game high point across the GLIAC this season. She has been named to the All-GLIAC First Team each of the past three seasons and named to the All-GLIAC Tournament Team in 2023. Majoring in Public Relations, Bittell also got it done in the classroom, making the GLIAC All-Academic Team in 2022 and then earning a spot on the Academic Excellence Team in 2023 after a 4.0 GPA in the 2022-23 winter semester.

Senior midfielder Molly Bursinger capped off her GVSU career by earning her second straight IWLCA First-Team All-American honor and third straight GLIAC Midfielder of the Year award. Bursinger led the GLIAC with 91 points, tying the GVSU single-season record, scoring 68 goals and dishing out 23 assists. She set a new program record for draw controls, tallying 339 in her career, including 126 this season. Bursinger finished second in program history with 223 points and 164 goals, and is top five all-time in caused turnovers and groundballs.Throughout her career, Bursinger helped the Lakers win three straight GLIAC regular season and Tournament championships, and led the Lakers to two consecutive Regional appearances, including their first Regional title and a trip to the Final Four this year.

Ferris State University’s Alayna Eldred led the Bulldogs to the school’s first GLIAC Championship in 16 years this past spring along with an NCAA Tournament appearance. The All-GLIAC First Team honoree claimed GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team recognition and placed fourth individually at the 2023 GLIAC Championships in stroke play. She also garnered 2023 College Sports Communicators Academic All-America First Team accolades and had a total of eight top-20 individual finishes this season. Eldred was the individual runner-up in FSU’s own Bulldog Invitational this past fall and has been a three-time NCAA East Regional participant in her collegiate career to date. The standout golfer has ranked near the top of the FSU lineup the last three years and is a two-time D2ADA Academic Achievement Award recipient.

Junior Vasileia Griva earned ITA All-American honors for being ranked as the number ten doubles pairing in the country with teammate Taylor Barrett. Griva was named the GLIAC Women’s Tennis Player of the Year this season after helping the Lakers to a GLIAC Regular Season Championship with a perfect 7-0 GLIAC mark. She earned first team All-GLIAC honors and GLIAC Academic All-Excellence honors. Griva was also named to the CSC Academic All-American third team. Griva posted a 12-8 singles record including 10 wins from the number one singles position. She played every doubles match from the number one position this season. 

Wayne State University junior tennis player Anais Ruyssen (Nantes, France) becomes just the second women’s tennis player in school history to earn a GLIAC Commissioner’s Award (joining Andreea Mitrache in 2015-16). Ruyssen was an ITA All-American as she and her doubles partner (Marta Komar) finished the season ranked sixth nationally (first in the Midwest Region) after notching a 22-11 record. The First Team All-GLIAC selection for the second year in a row, Ruyssen concluded the season as the No. 33rd-ranked singles player in the nation (second in the Midwest Region) by the ITA after compiling a 25-8 overall singles record at the No. 1 flight. She helped the Warriors to their best finish ever with three NCAA Tournament wins to finish tied-for-fifth at the national championships. A Management major, Ruyssen received College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-America Third Team honors. The two-time (2022 & 2023) ITA All-Academic Scholar-Athlete, she was also a GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team selection in 2023. Ruyssen was the 2022 GLIAC Player of the Year.

Grand Valley State University sophomore Charles DeLong put together the best season in GVSU men’s golf history, tallying seven wins, bringing is career total up to a program high 13 victories. DeLong was named the Division II Jack Nicklaus Award winner for the Player of the Year, as he also earned PING First-Team All-American honors for the second consecutive season. He was also named the GLIAC Player of the Year for the second straight year, as he shot 30 rounds of par or better, shooting an average round of 69. DeLong helped lead the Lakers to 10 tournament wins this year, including the GLIAC Championship, their first Regional Title, and the best finish, fifth place, at the National Tournament in program history. 

Noah Dooley becomes the only male recipient of the Commissioner’s Award from Davenport during the 2022-23 academic year. Dooley had a breakout performance at the GLIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in May. He was named Male Track Athlete of the Meet and also earned High Point Athlete of the Meet. He was part of the 4×100 relay team that won the event to set a new school record. He then ran in the 100 meters and won the event with a time of 10.44. He hit a provisional time and was also just one one-hundreths of a second from breaking his own school record set last year at the GLIAC Championships. His third win came in the 200 meters with a school-record time of 21.20. He broke the previous record set 11 years ago. He finished with a sixth-place finish in the javelin to earn three points.

For the second consecutive spring, Wayne State University starting pitcher Karter Fitzpatrick (Monroe, Mich. / Carleton Airport) has garnered a GLIAC Commissioner’s Award. The 2023 GLIAC Pitcher of the Year, Fitzpatrick led the GLIAC in wins (10), complete games (8), and shutouts (2); ranked second in strikeouts (70); third in both innings (81.1) and starts (12); and fourth in ERA (2.66). The two-time GLIAC Pitcher of the Week, Fitzpatrick was voted to the All-Region First Team by the D2CCA, the NCBWA and the ABCA/Rawlings following his First Team All-GLIAC selection. In 37 career games, Fitzpatrick has compiled a 23-6 record with a 3.47 ERA in 207.2 innings with 168 strikeouts. He has 10 complete games and two shutouts while facing 910 batters who have hit a combined .256. Academically, the Civil Engineering major earned College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Second Team Academic All-American honors. The three-time GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team selection, Fitzpatrick has been named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll (term GPA 3.5+) seven times.

Wayne State University junior tennis player Daniel Grey (Wiesbaden, Germany) earned his first GLIAC Commissioner’s Award. He was a member of the No. 2-ranked doubles team in the nation by the ITA after compiling a 34-10 record. Grey was ranked eighth in the MIdwest and 55th nationally in singles by the ITA. The First Team All-GLIAC selection, he recorded a 29-10 singles mark. Grey has been an All-GLIAC selection all three seasons earning Second Team honors in 2022 along with First Team accolades in 2021 and 2023. He ranks third in program history in both singles wins (64) and doubles victories (71). On the court, he helped WSU to back-to-back top-five finishes at the national championships, including a runner-up performance in 2022. Academically, the Neuroscience Honors major was voted to the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-America Second Team last month. A two-time GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team honoree, Grey has been on the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll all six semesters.

Hilbrich, a native of Schererville, Ind., ended the 2023 season leading the GLIAC and team in batting average with a PNW single-season record .381 and led the team in home runs and tied third in the GLIAC with seven which was Pride baseball single-season record. Hilbrich this season also led the team in hits (61 – PNW single-season record), doubles (14 – PNW single-season recond), total bases (98), slugging percentage (.613 – PNW single season record), on-base percentage (.482 – PNW single-season record), and tied-second in RBIs with 29. He will finish his Pride baseball career with all-time records in several major categories that include career batting average (.358), most games started (170), most games played (171), slugging percentage (.502), at-bats (617), runs (126), hits (221 – first Pride player ever to surpass 200 career hits), doubles (39), homeruns (12), and walks (90). Hilbrich also earned GLIAC Baseball Player of the Week honors this season while also ending the year with his second-straight First Team All-GLIAC selection. He recently graduated with a degree in political science. Hilbrich has received several postseason honors including D2CCA Midwest Second Team All-Region, NCBWA Second Team All-Midwest, ABCA/Rawlings NCAA DII Midwest Second Team All-Region accolades accolades.

Ferris State University men’s tennis standout Jan Koupil helped lead the Bulldogs to the GLIAC Regular-Season Championship this spring along with the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional finals. Koupil posted a 17-6 overall doubles record during the campaign and led FSU to a 16-5 overall record this year with all five losses coming to teams ranked among the top 20 in the nation. The All-GLIAC First Team pick was a 2023 College Sports Communicators Academic All-America First Team honoree and claimed GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team recognition for the third-straight year. A three-time All-GLIAC pick, Koupil served as a team captain and has twice been named a D2ADA Academic Achievement Award winner. Along with being a standout on the court, he has also held a perfect grade point average.