March 7, 2023, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Community College women's basketball team is heading back to the regional semi-finals for the sixth straight year after a 53-44 win over Muskegon Community College on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the men's season came to end after a 78-68 defeat to Delta College, ending a six-game win streak. The team, which won 11 straight games to begin the season, finished the year 21-8. For the eleventh time this season, the stingy women's defense - ranked third best in the league - held their opponent under 50 points.  It also held Muskegon to just 20.9 percent from the field. Marlene Bussler led the team with 15 points, including three of the team's seven made three-point shots. Grace Lodes, 13 points, 12 rebounds, finished with the game's lone double-double. Karissa Ferry totaled 11 rebounds. “Extremely proud of the effort defensively tonight,” coach David Glazier said. “They played as one tonight on both ends of the floor. I’m happy for our sophomores, who get to continue adding to what they have already accomplished at GRCC.” The women's team will move on to the semi-finals of the Great Lakes B District Tournament to face Jackson College on March 9 at 6:30 p.m. Jackson is the tournament's No. 1 seed after winning the Eastern Conference.  Mott Community College plays host to both the semi-finals and the finals. If GRCC wins, the championship game will be March 11 at 6 p.m.   The men's team turned the ball over an uncharacteristic 16 times and shot just 43.3 percent from the field.  Delta's 26 free throw attempts -- to just four for the Raiders -- might have been the biggest difference in the game. Danyel Bibbs finished his outstanding two-year career at GRCC with a 19-point, 10-rebound, six-assist performance.  Sophomore teammate Myron Brewer finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, while freshman guard B.J. Neely went 8-of-12 from the field for 17 points. This story was reported by Ben Brown.

March 7, 2023, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Izzy Regner continues to dominate on the mound with her third shutout in as many days to give the Grand Rapids Community College softball team a 7-0 win over Penn State Greater Allegheny on Tuesday. The softball team split its games on Tuesday while the baseball team dropped two more games against a tough Gulf Coast Community College team that is ranked No. 15 in the latest NJCAA Division I poll. In the first softball game, Regner struck out 11 batters, bringing her season total to 36 in just three games.  She also added three doubles and two RBI. Samara Kolehouse also had a three-hit game with a double of her own.  Autumn Scott and Lauren James had two hits each. In game two, GRCC suffered a 14-0 loss to Lake Michigan College and got hits from Regner, Jaye Guichelaar and Britney Cisler. The baseball team managed just four hits on the day, losing 11-1 and 13-1. Fernando Rivera-Calderon hit his second home run of the season while Zacarias Salinas, Melvin Rodriguez and Joe Hoeks picked up the other hits. The baseball team plays Andrew College in a double header on Wednesday while the softball team resumes play on Thursday. This story was reported by Ben Brown.

March 6, 2023, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Izzy Regner pitched her second one-hit shutout in as many days to give the Grand Rapids Community College softball team a 3-0 win over Lincoln Land Community College on Monday. The softball split its games on Monday on a southern tour, while the baseball team dropped two games against Tallahassee Community College, which competes in the NJCAA Division I. In the first softball team, Regner allowed a leadoff double, then got the next 20 batters out, 14 of them via a strikeout. Regner is now 2-0 on the season, with 25 strikeouts. GRCC jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second game, but Jackson College responded with five runs in the bottom of the first and won 12-4 in five innings.  Jaye Guichelaar had three hits on the day including the team’s first home run of the season. Regner had four hits and Lauren James had three hits, including two RBI doubles. The baseball team had two hits in each game, losing 4-0 and then 16-2 in five innings.  Trevin Lamin had two hits, and Aaron Bess and Tommy Reid had the other two. Colton Leatherman and Caden VanDeBerg gave up just three hits in the game one loss. Both teams will be back in action on Tuesday. This story was written by Ben Brown.

March 6, 2023, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Two Grand Valley State University professors, one current and one retired, have teamed up on a Grand Rapids Community College art exhibit showcasing their interpretations of nature. “One Wilderness, Two Paths,” featuring the work of professor Bill Hosterman and Ed Wong-Ligda, who retired from GVSU in 2015, runs through the end of March in GRCC’s Paul Collins Art Gallery, located on Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall’s fourth floor at 143 Bostwick Ave. NE. The gallery, which reopens on March 13, is available between 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; admission is free. All the pieces in the exhibit focus on nature, while highlighting the unique perspectives of the artists, both of whom are avid hikers. Hosterman, who has been a faculty member in GVSU’s Department of Visual and Media Arts since 1999, said his prints focus on relationships – land and water, nature and humanity. “Through my personal experiences and research into the habitat, landscape and human history of an area, I create images that explore how nature defines humans and they, in turn, define nature,” he said. Wong-Ligda combines what he sees on his treks with his knowledge of painting. “My landscape paintings are invented studio landscapes made by combining what I’ve seen while hiking in wilderness settings and selective 18th-, 19th-century and contemporary painting conventions to form a fictional landscape,” he said. “The titles of my paintings usually imply a specific location, but in reality, the work is almost wholly fiction.”

March 6, 2023, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Elizabeth Usadel immersed herself in art at GRCC, and that passion has sparked not one, but two careers. Start at GRCC and go anywhere. Every former student has a story to tell about how GRCC gave them the education and opportunity to be successful. She studied Visual Arts at GRCC, earning an associate degree in 2004. She then earned a bachelor’s in K-12 art education and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction, both from Calvin University. She has spent the past 14 years as an art teacher, with the East Grand Rapids, Northview, Godfrey-Lee and, currently, the Grand Rapids school districts. In 2019, she began making polymer clay earrings and realized quickly that she wanted to turn this hobby into a business. She opened a store -- The Color Forest -- at 341 S. Division Ave., where she sells her jewelry and runs workshops. “I love getting to combine my love of color and making things with my teaching background,” she said. “Each workshop is like a little art party.” The Color Forest is one of the more than 30 enterprises you can find on GRCC’s list of alumni-owned businesses . “Our goal is to encourage and empower women with our bright and fun jewelry,” Usadel said. “I hope to make my business my full-time employment. I’d like to hire a small team in the next five years and eventually become a national brand.” Usadel credits GRCC with giving her skills that have helped with both her careers. “My path to starting my business was unconventional,” she said. “I am an art teacher who found a reignited passion for making things. The support I felt at GRCC helped give me the confidence to take a risk and try something new.”  Start your GRCC story today  here.