Lady Cougar Tracks
(Where are they now?)
This page is dedicated to providing
information about former Lady
Cougar players and where they went after they
finished
at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.
Class of 2008
Shannon Dumond
Jessica Sanders
Class of 2007
Amber Peters
signed early with Grand Valley State University before the
coaching change in the Fall of 2007 and has left the team to attempt to transfer
elsewhere to play in the Fall of 2008. Amber was
disappointed with the departure of Coach Plitzuit and her staff for the greener
pastures of the University of Michigan. (NCAA Division
II)
Charity Knight
will attend Western Michigan University and not play. She is pursuing her
degree in the nutrition field and turned down a couple of full scholarship offers
because the schools did not have her program and she wanted to pursue
her academic goals (NCAA Division I)
Kim Gear
signed a combination volleyball/basketball scholarship with Wayne State
University. Wayne State is a member of the G.L.I.A.C., one of the
strongest Division II conferences in the country and Gear is expected to be a
strong contributor for both sports. (NCAA Division II)
Jealyn Foston
has signed to play basketball with one of the highest scoring teams in the NAIA,
Olivet Nazerene University in Kankakee, IL. The ONU run and gun offense
was a challenging style change for Jealyn, but she made the transition well and
was a strong contributor as they won over 20 games and went to the NAIA National
tournament. (NAIA Division I)
Betsey Dennis
accepted a scholarship at Concordia University in Ann Arbor, MI
after finishing a fine career at KVCC, but after a short time at the
school opted to return to Kalamazoo and not continue to play. She is attending
both KVCC and Western Michigan in pursuit of her degree.. (NAIA Division II)
Kendra Kutz
continued attending KVCC after
undergoing off season shoulder surgery. She continues to explore options
to continue to play next year, talking to schools in Florida, Pennsylvania and
Alaska. While at KVCC in 2007-08 she was a volunteer coach for the Cougars. (NCAA Division I)
Kate Whittaker
will take her aggressive rebounding and offensive post game to nearby Bethel
College in Indiana. She has recieved a combination athletic/Academic
scholarship and is excited about playing close to home. (NAIA Division II)
Samantha Karasiewicz
will continue her academic career at Ferris State University in the radiology
field. She has decided not to play further. (NCAA Division II)
Amy Millard
will continue her academic pursuits close to home and attend Western Michigan
University. She has also accepted the position of Varsity Assistant to
Coach Mike Dennis in the Hackett Catholic Central girls program. (NCAA Division I)
Telisha Saunders
will continue her educational pursuits at home at Western Michigan University. NCAA Division I)
Class of 2006
Kortnie Matteson, is attending West
Virginia State University on a basketball scholarship. She will be a "red shirt"
Junior in 2007-08 and has two years of eligibility remaining. She also runs
track there. ( NCAA Division II )
Jamie Munting
has joined the working world and
is living and working in the Kalamazoo/Portage area.
Chelsea Acker
was the recipient of the Dale B. Lake award at KVCC and is attending Grand Valley State University, electing not
to play and concentrate on her
academic pursuits. (NCAA Division II)
Class of 2005
Lindsay
Brown has graduated from Western Michigan University where she was on a full basketball
scholarship. In the Fall of 2007 she will head over seas to play professional
basketball.
(NCAA Division I)
Brandie Shaw
attended Point Loma University in San Diego, CA on a basketball scholarship.
Point Loma is a private college on the Pacific coast in San Diego. Brandie
has since moved to North Carolina and is playing at a Private Division II school
there.( NAIA Division I / NCAA Division II )
Amanda Chan
is in the nursing program at Kalamazoo Valley.
Megan Shanley
transferred to Central
Michigan University in the Fall of 2006 after finishing up her course work at
KVCC and will attempt to walk on to their
basketball team. Central Michigan is a member of the Mid-American
Conference, thus there is some potential for her and former teammate Lindsay
Brown to meet on the basketball floor!( NCAA Division I )
Becca Wahmhoff
was the recipient of the prestigious Dale B. Lake Award at KVCC and was an
Academic All American as a sophomore. She is
continuing her pursuit of a degree in Computer engineering at Michigan State
University.
(NCAA Division I)
Class of 2004
Becca Cline
after garnering third team All American honors at KVCC, attended The
University of West Virginia and won a roster spot and scholarship with the 2005
NIT runner up Mountaineers. After one season she transferred back to Western
Michigan University and did not play.
( NCAA Division I )
Jami Grannell attended the
University of Indianapolis on a full basketball scholarship, but is not
currently attending. She hopes to continue her playing career at a different
school
( NCAA Division II )
Erin Palmer has
graduated from Oakland University where she was on a volleyball scholarship.
Her senior season was ended by an ACL injury. She is now teaching and is
Varsity assistant to the girls basketball team in her home town, Centreville. (NCAA Division I )
Colleen Callen
has graduated from Olivet Nazarene University in Kankakee, Illinois. At
last contact she was in California furthering her educational pursuits. ( NAIA Division I )
Alynn VandenBosch
finished her career and graduated from Olivet
Nazarene in Kankakee. She is now married and living in the suburban
Chicago area. ( NAIA Division I )
Jen Layne has
graduated from Kalamazoo College here in Kalamazoo, where she has played two years. In her senior season she averaged 9.5 ppg and 2.6 apg, was
given the coveted "Coaches Award" by the Hornet coaching staff and was named to
the MIAA Honorable Mention list. She took a job at
(Parchment) in the Fall of 2007, and coached the 8th grade team. ( NCAA Division III )
Darina Parker is attending Michigan State
University and has elected to end her playing career and concentrate on her
studies after using her "red-shirt" year during the Spartans super run to the
final game in 2004-05.
( NCAA
Division I )
Tara Butcher received her Associate Degree
from Kalamazoo Valley and respectfully turned down a full Division I scholarship
offer to Elon University in North Carolina. She remains in the area
and has entered the working world.
Melba Melton
attended Clarion
University in Pennsylvania where she was a two year conference all star. Her team qualified for the NCAA Division II national tournament
in her Jr. year. She is now back in the Muskegon area and was an assistant
coach at Muskegon Heights in the 2007-08 season. (NCAA
Division II )
Mary Small continued her
education at Grand Rapids CC in the two year occupational therapy program after
attending GVSU for a couple years.
(NCAA
Division II )
Class of 2003
Maureen Welch Brown earned her Associate Degree from Kalamazoo
Valley in May 2004 . After changing her major course of study to education,
she
attended Western Michigan in the Fall of 2004. She was married in June 2005 to
former KVCC baseball player and Assistant baseball coach, Jesse Brown.
Their first son, JJ, was born in July of 2006. She
spent to 2007-08 season coaching the Martin Clippers varsity team, but
will return to the college ranks in the Fall of 2008, accepting an Assistant
position with her Dad at KVCC. While doing all this and being a Mom, she's
working toward a sonography certificate at Jackson CC.
Class of 2002
Melissa Stoevsand played for two years at S.E. Louisiana in Hammond, LA.
She received her teaching degree and is teaching school in Florida as of Fall
2007. (NCAA Division I)
Annie Roys graduated from Mercyhurst University in Erie, PA where she played for one year
and was accepted into the Masters program at Western
Michigan in the Fall of 2004. After coaching as a varsity assistant at Kalamazoo Hackett
in 2004, she resigned to take an internship in her area of study
at Western Michigan. She received her Masters and was married to Ryan Daus in
the summer of 2007. They are living and working in the Kalamazoo area. ( NCAA Division II )
Emily Hoyle attended Western Michigan University
and graduated in April 2005 with
a degree in Exercise Science. After sitting a year out she came back to KVCC
and became a
Volunteer Assistant on the Lady Cougar staff in 2003-04 and 2004-05.
After a couple years working for Duncan Aviation, she has decided to return to
school and get her teaching certificate so she can work with kids. ( NCAA Division I )
Nicole Joffrion transferred to Western Michigan University after playing at Saginaw Valley State University. She
has received her nursing degree and in the summer of 2007 married Ryan Brown. They
are living and working in the Plainwell/Otsego/Kalamazoo area
( NCAA Division II )
Gretchen Klein transferred to Western Michigan
University after
playing at Saginaw Valley and suffering a broken leg while
playing. She graduated from Western in the Spring of 2005 and went to work
for the Croyden School in Kalamazoo. After a couple of coaching stops -
including as a Volunteer assistant at KVCC in 2005-06, she became the third
former Cougar to accept a head Varsity coaching position this summer as she will
take over at her Alma Mater in Colon this Winter. ( NCAA Division II )
Erika
Thompson, after taking a couple years off, played for St. Andrews College in North Carolina in the Fall of 2006.
She was leading her team in scoring until a partial tear in her knee sidelined
her for the year. The knee was repaired in April of 2007 and she
returned for her senior year in the Fall of 2007. She will graduate in
December 2008. ( NCAA Division II )
Lauren Kandlestorfer
played for and graduated from Olivet College after KVCC. She received her
under graduate degree
in the Spring of 2004. She is currently the varsity assistant and JV coach at Lawton High
School with Coach Thornton. She was married in September of 2005 and she gave birth of their first child in July of 2006
( NCAA Division III )
Danaea
Williams played at perennial NAIA Division I powerhouse Central State of Ohio in Wilberforce, Ohio.
She has finished her degree and assisted with that program after leading
them in scoring her senior season. She played semi-pro ball in Puerto Rico in
2007 and is now back in Dayton working. ( NAIA Division I
)
Class of 2001
April Danzy played at and received her degree from Long Island University in Bronx, NY She
has moved back to the area and is currently working on getting her teaching
certificates for both Michigan and Indiana. She is living and teaching in South Bend. ( NCAA Division I )
Julie
Porter graduated from University of Texas Pan American in the Spring of 2004
where she played for two years. She was an assistant in the women's basketball program at Defiance College in Ohio
for two years and is now teaching in Lima, Ohio. ( NCAA Division I )
Carrie Vlietstra Ash
graduated from Lake Superior State after playing for two years. She and husband
Ben have settled in the Kalamazoo Area and they became proud parents when their
first child, Mackenzie Ryan Ash, arrived in early 2006.
( NCAA Division II )
Leslee
Szekely attended Western Michigan University where she played softball for one year.
She is coaching three sports at her old high school - Kalamazoo Christian ( NCAA Division I )
Brenna
Hall graduated from Adrian College where she played basketball for one year
after leaving KalamazooValley.
(NCAA Division III)
Class of 2000
Melissa Hoyt
Jamie Hensley Bonney
is happily married to an Army man and has been living on the East
Coast (Maine). She moved back to Michigan in the Fall of 2006 where her
soldier will be stationed for the next three years.
Kim Buchanan Guess
graduated from Western Michigan University,
married former KVCC player Lavelle Guess and is living and working in the Kalamazoo Area.
Trina VanderArk after attending Northern Michigan
University for a year, she transferred to Grand Valley State University
and graduated in December 2005 with a degree in Fitness and Wellness.
Future plans are to move back to the North country and open her own fitness &
health center. (NCAA
Division II)
Melanie Heslinga
is finishing up her degree at Western Michigan University after working for a
couple years
Rhiannona Eyer is living and
working in the Grand Rapids area.
Class of
1999
Kirsten Stocchiero
is married and living and working in her home town of Bangor.
Nicole Larimer graduated from Grand Valley in 2004 with a degree in secondary education.
She's
currently teaching in Three Rivers (NCAA Div. II)
Nicole Cartwright
Taryn Klimmer graduated from Grand
Valley, got married (yes, to Derek) and is living and working in the Grand
Rapids area.
Bridget Chobot
Michelle Pfau
Brittany Whitfield is living and
working in the Kalamazoo Area.
Class of 1998
Chrissy Garcia
Kristie Tafil
has returned to KVCC after playing Ice Hockey for a couple years
and is in the Police Academy.
Kelly VanderStelt
went to Hope College and played for one year. She graduated
from Hope with a degree in Business Administration and is currently working in
the Kalamazoo area at Richard Allan Scientific. (NCAA Div. III)
Class of 1997
Casey Monroe
Randall
is married and living in Alaska.
She graduated from Albion College in 1999 with a degree in psychology and played
until injury ended her playing career.
Recieved her
Masters of Science in Counseling Psychology from Alaska Pacific University in
2002. She is a licensed Professional Counselor, and a Certified Chemical
Dependency Counselor and a full time behavioral Health Clinician at the Arc of
Anchorage. (NCAA Div. III )
Mandy Shellenberger
Keiser graduated from
Western Michigan with a teaching degree and is married and living and teaching
in Vicksburg, Michigan
Katie Mein Overhuel graduated with her
teaching degree from Western Michigan University, is married, and is living,
teaching and coaching in Portage.
She and husband Kyle welcomed their first child in 2006.
Renee Munson
is teaching and coaching in the Grand Rapids area.
Shikoko Cantrell
is living and working in Kalamazoo.
She volunteers her time at the Douglas Community Center helping
young people. She came back in the summer of 2007 and worked the Lady
Cougar basketball camp
Class of 1996
Jennifer Reisterer
transferred to Western Michigan University and graduated in 1998
with a Degree
in Marketing and Business and has worked in the Kalamazoo area at The Greenleaf
Trust for the past five years. She
continues to be involved with basketball by coaching in the Gull Lake "Glyba"
program for youngsters.
Leslie Church
Stacy Knudson moved to the East Coast
in July 2006 to work
Christine Holben is a graduate of the
KVCC Nursing program and is living with her husband and two children in Dorr,
Michigan
Amy Gray transferred to and graduated
from Western Michigan with a teaching degree and is teaching in Union City,
Michigan.
Tracy Little transferred to Grand
Valley and received her degree in Psychology and Special Education and her
Masters degree in Developmental Disabilities. She is currently teaching
in Grand Rapids at East Kentwood and in the summer of 2007 she accepted her
first varsity coaching position. She took over the reins at Comstock Park
High School near Grand Rapids in 2007 and was named Grand Rapids Area Coach of
the Year in her first year. (NCAA Div. II)
Stephanie Ford
graduated from Western Michigan University and is teaching in California.
(NCAA Div. I )
Monica Reyna
Shauntais Danzy
This Page will be updated as information is received.
If you have information that should appear here or be updated, please forward it to Coach
Welch at KVCC. That email address is:
rwelch@kvcc.edu
( Last updated 1/12/08 )
