With the conclusion of the decade imminent, CU Athletics will be posting a series of articles on cugoldeneagles.com and posts on social media highlighting the major storylines, successes, and reviews of the past ten years in Cornerstone Athletics.
December 26 – New Sports
December 27 – Facility Upgrades
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – In the past ten years, Cornerstone has had six First Team All-Americans from team sports and three athletes who have gone on to play professionally. The Golden Eagles had at least one First Team All-American in every calendar year since 2012. Additionally, numerous Cross Country/Track & Field athletes have earned All-American honors for their individual performances.
Melissa Veltkamp – Women's Basketball (2012)
Veltkamp hit a whopping 224 three-pointers in her career, including 73 as a senior in 2011-12 en route to First Team All-American honors. She played her entire career with her twin sister, Robyn, who was an Honorable Mention All-American as a junior and Third Team All-American as a senior.
The guard averaged 13 points per game over her career, and 17.4 during her senior season.
Veltkamp's 1,680 career points put her at sixth on the all-time Cornerstone scoring list. Her 208 career steals ranks 4th in program history while her 80.3% free-throw percentage ranks third.
Heidi Warmelink - Softball (2013)
In 2013, Warmelink became the first All-American of the Cornerstone softball program since Tarrah Brown earned the award in 2001.
Heidi Warmelink (Walburg) led the team both at the plate and in the circle over her illustrious career from 2011 to 2014.
In 2013, Warmelink helped the Golden Eagles to an impressive 32-6 record and a regular season WHAC championship. In that season alone, Heidi batted .435, slugged 13 home runs, and tallied 40 RBI.
In the first game of the WHAC Tournament on May 1, 2013, Heidi had a career day both offensively and defensively. She went 4-for-4 at the plate with a pair of grand slams as well as a three-run home run for a whopping 11 RBI. In the circle, she threw all five innings and struck out eight batters.
Heidi finished her four-year career with an even 200 hits, 40 home runs, 164 RBI, and a .405 batting average. As a pitcher, she threw 91 complete games, racked up 480 strikeouts, and maintained a 2.53 ERA.
Wes Hudson – Men's Basketball (2014)
After coming off the bench as a freshman on the 2011 national championship team, Hudson led the team in scoring in each of his next three seasons, earning First Team All-WHAC as a sophomore, junior, and senior.
The First Team All-American season in 2014 also included WHAC Player of the Year honors.
Hudson is one of six players in Cornerstone history to eclipse the 2,000 career point plateau. The guard from Wayland shot 38% from beyond the arc and 87.7% from the free throw line over his career.
Ben Sheckler – Baseball (2016 MLB Draft)
Ben Sheckler was drafted in the 8th round, 234rd overall, in the 2016 MLB draft by the San Diego Padres.
The 6-foot-8 left-handed pitcher became the first Golden Eagle to earn 1st Team All-WHAC honors, let alone get selected in the MLB draft. Sheckler posted a 6-4 record and a 2.89 ERA as a junior. The lefty struck out 77 batters in 67 innings of work.
On March 5, 2016, Sheckler struck out 13 batters in a complete game, 4-3 victory over Southeastern University.
He rose through the major league ranks, spending most of his career at the Single-A level with the Fort Wayne TinCaps. He pitched 103.2 innings and maintained a 4.60 ERA with 86 strikeouts. He also saw a brief promotion to Advanced-A with Lake Elsinore, where he recorded five strikeouts in 4.1 innings on the mound.
Kendra Zwart – Volleyball (2017) (Durham University)
Zwart's 2017 First Team All-American season was sandwiched between two Second Team All-American seasons, in 2016 as a sophomore and 2018 as a senior. The Golden Eagles went to the national tournament all three of those years, snapping an 11-year drought since the program's last appearance in 2004.
Zwart's 1,606 kills place her third in program history behind only Holly Cousins and fellow First Team All-American Shannon Burmaster. She also ranks third in the total blocks category with 705.
Zwart has continued her education and volleyball career overseason in England at one of the world's most distinguished universities in Durham University, which ranks in the top 100 worldwide in both academics and post-graduate athletics.
Kyle Steigenga - Men's Basketball (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018) (Calais Basket)
As a freshman in 2014-15, Steigenga led the basketball team to a national championship, averaging 20.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. In addition to First Team All-American accolades, the 6-foot-6 forward also earned Tournament MVP honors.
Steigenga went on to become the most decorated athlete in Cornerstone history.
By the Numbers
1 – scored his first point against Grace Bible on October 30, 2014
1,000 – scored his 1,000th career point on December 12, 2015 against Northwestern Ohio
2,000 – scored his 2,000th career point on January 28, 2017 against Madonna
2,500 – scored his 2,500th career point on November 25, 2017 against Calvin
2,773 – broke the CU school record on January 27, 2018 against Madonna
2,859 – broke the all-time state of Michigan collegiate scoring record on February 7, 2018 against Aquinas
3,000 – scored his 3,000th career point in his final collegiate game on March 10, 2018 against St. Francis
3,023 – Ended his career with a whopping 3,023 points
After his senior season, Kyle was named NAIA player of the year. Additionally, Steigenga became the first player in NAIA history to be named First Team All-American in four consecutive seasons for the sport of Men's Basketball.
In July of 2019, Steigenga inked a deal to play professionally overseas with Calais Basket in France.
Sam VanderSluis – Men's Basketball (2019)
VanderSluis, who was also teammates with Steigenga in high school at Holland Christian, thrived throughout his career, despite being in Steigenga's shadow for the majority of it. The 6-foot-8 center averaged 13.7 points and 11.1 rebounds over the course of his career, and led all players at the NAIA DII level in the rebounds category during both his junior and senior seasons.
On December 28, 2018, Vander Sluis became Cornerstone's all-time leading rebounder when he grabbed his 1,232nd career board just nine seconds into the game against St. Thomas. He finished his career with 1,537 rebounds.
On March 7, 2019, Vander Sluis pulled down a whopping 27 rebounds against Friends University in the opening round of the national tournament, setting a Cornerstone program record as well as a NAIA DII Tournament record for rebounds in a game.
The big man recorded 74 double-doubles over his collegiate career, including 32 (out of 35 games) during his senior campaign en route to First Team All-American honors.
Cornerstone XC and TF
Cornerstone Cross Country and Track & Field programs have had numerous All-Americans
All Track & Field All-Americans finished in the top 8 of their individual or relay event at Indoor or Outdoor Nationals
All Cross Country All-Americans finished in the top 30 at the National Championship meet.
Full list of those can be found at the links below.
Men's Indoor All-Americans
Women's Indoor All-Americans
Men's Outdoor All-Americans
Women's Outdoor All-Americans
Men's Cross Coss Country All-Americans
Women's Cross Country All-Americans
