League-High Tying Three Ferris State Student-Athletes Garner GLIAC Commissioner's Award Recognition
Big Rapids, Mich. - A league-high tying trio of Ferris State University student-athletes have been honored as Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Commissioner's Award recipients for the spring sports campaign as announced by the league office.
The Bulldog recipients included junior women's golfer Alayna Eldred (Osakis, Minn.) along with senior softball standout Paige Kortz (Brooklyn/Napoleon) and senior men's tennis captain Mathis Guerre (Aix en Provence, France), who were all chosen and selected as 12 honorees by the league's awards committee. The awards are presented after the fall, winter and spring sports seasons to six deserving male and female student-athletes who excel both in the classroom and in competition.
Overall, only a total of six schools had a student-athlete chosen among the 12 recipients and FSU compiled a league-high tying three recipients.
Since the awards were first presented in 2007, the Bulldogs have now had a total of 76 student-athletes be recognized among the league's best.
Eldred garnered all-region recognition this season for the Bulldogs in addition to being chosen as an All-GLIAC First Team recipient. The veteran standout earned all-league kudos for the second-straight year and was a scholar choice in addition to receiving GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team accolades. She led the Bulldogs to the school's first NCAA postseason appearance in eight years this season and ranked among the league and region's top performers. As an individual, she placed 13th overall at the GLIAC Championships held in Augusta, Mich., and her appearance in the NCAA East Regional Championships marked her second national trip in a row after she qualified individually in 2021. Eldred served as the Bulldogs' captain this season and had multiple top 10 finishes over the course of the campaign.
Kortz earned 2022 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America laurels for the Bulldogs in addition to being a consensus All-Region choice on the field for the third-straight season. A first-team All-GLIAC choice this year, Kortz led the Bulldogs this season and ranked among the GLIAC leaders in numerous statistical categories after hitting .383 on the year. She produced 62 hits and drove in 40 runs in 51 games while notching a school single-season record 12 home runs in addition to seven doubles and two triples. She also posted a .673 slugging percentage and stole nine bases for FSU while scoring 45 total runs. This year marked the third season in her career in which Kortz garnered All-GLIAC First Team accolades. Ferris State concluded the 2022 campaign by reaching the GLIAC Tournament Semifinals and picked up the program's first postseason win since 2016.
Finally, Guerre closed out his collegiate career by being named to the 2022 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-America squad, finishing the year ranked among the nation's top 10 in the final ITA doubles rankings while becoming the school's first men's tennis performer to earn All-America honors since 2006. Guerre claimed All-GLIAC honors for the Bulldogs for the third time in his collegiate career after previously being tabbed the league's Player of the Year in 2020-21. He led the Bulldogs to the program's 25th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance this season as FSU compiled a 15-5 overall record. The Bulldogs also earned league runner-up honors and advanced to the regional tournament for the seventh consecutive year. Guerre closed his career as one of the school's best players in history, helping FSU to multiple league regular season and postseason championships in his illustrious career.
Visit the link below for the complete GLIAC release:
https://gliac.org/general_news/Awards/Commish_-_Spring_2022/Spring_2022_Commissioners_Awards