Contact: John Johnson or Andy Frushour
517.332.5046 or [email protected]
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Jan. 26 -- The 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Award for the 2009-10 school year have been announced.
The program, which has been recognizing student-athletes since the 1989-90 school year, will honor 32 individuals from MHSAA member schools who participate in at least one sport in which the Association sponsors a post-season tournament. Farm Bureau Insurance underwrites the Scholar-Athlete Award, and will present a $1,000 scholarship to each recipient.
Scholarships will be presented proportionately by school classification, with 12 scholarships to be awarded to Class A student-athletes, 6 female and 6 male; 8 scholarships will be awarded to Class B student-athletes, 4 female and 4 male; 6 scholarships will be awarded to Class C student-athletes, 3 female and 3 male; and 4 scholarships will be awarded to Class D student-athletes, 2 female and 2 male. In addition, there will also be 2 at-large honorees which are also part of the general judging process, may come from any classification, and are designated by their school at the time of entry.
Every MHSAA member high school could submit as many applications as there are scholarships available in their classification, and could have more than one finalist. Thirteen schools had two or more finalists this year. Battle Creek Lakeview, Grosse Pointe South, Midland Dow and Yale each have three finalists; while Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard, Birmingham Seaholm, Engadine, Frankenmuth, Gladstone, Grand Rapids Christian, Norway, Okemos and Oxford each have two finalists.
Multiple-sport participation continues to be the norm for this year’s applicants. The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 2.44, while the average of the application pool was 2.01. There are 61 three-plus sport participants in the finalist field. All but five of the 28 sports in which the MHSAA sponsors post-season tournaments are represented in the finalist field.
A school could submit as many applications as there are scholarships available in their classification. Of 432 schools which submitted applicants, 65 submitted the maximum allowed. This year, 1,835 applications were received. All will be presented with certificates commemorating their achievement. Additional Scholar-Athlete information, including a complete list of scholarship nominees, can be found on the MHSAA Website at the following address: http://www.mhsaa.com/Schools/Students/ScholarAthleteList.aspx.
The applications were judged by a 69-member committee of school coaches, counselors, faculty members, administrators and board members from MHSAA member schools, from which the 120 finalists were selected. The selection of the 32 scholarship recipients will take place in early February. Class C and D scholarship recipients will be announced on February 9; Class B scholarship recipients will be announced on February 16; and Class A scholarship recipients will be announced on February 23. All announcements will be made on the MHSAA Website.
To honor the 32 Scholar-Athlete Award recipients, a ceremony will take place during halftime of the Class C Boys Basketball Finals at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing on March 27.
To be eligible for the award, students must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 (on a 4.0 scale), and have previously won a varsity letter in at least one sport in which the MHSAA sponsors a post-season tournament. Students were also asked to respond to a series of short essay questions, submit two letters of recommendation and submit a 500-word essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.
Farm Bureau Insurance, one of Michigan's major insurers, has a statewide force of over 400 agents serving more than 380,000 Michigan policyholders. Besides providing life, home auto, farm, business and retirement insurance, the company also sponsors lifesaving, real-time Doppler weather tracking systems in several Michigan communities.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,600 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract approximately 1.6 million spectators each year.
2009-10 Scholar-Athlete Award Finalists
Class A Boys
Joseph Roland Adamson, Battle Creek Lakeview
Aaron E Mulholland, Davison
Alex Van Tiem, Detroit U-D Jesuit
Quaid Anderson, East Kentwood
Shane Brotherton, Flushing
Nathan Kalinowski, Garden City
Matthew VanZytveld, Grand Haven
Joel Betts, Grand Rapids Christian
Robert Montgomery, Grosse Pointe South
Jonathan Roberts, Grosse Pointe South
Benjamin D. Chodos, Hartland
David S. Moore, Holland
Adam Bedell, Livonia Churchill
Joshua D. Corteville, Lowell
Alex Beckwith, Midland Dow
Phillip Bunge, Midland Dow
Christopher Luoma, Okemos
Mitchell Kilbourn, Owosso
Jordan Macocha, Oxford
Steven Robert Saliga, Romeo
Nathaniel C. Ellsworth, Saginaw Heritage
Trevor Black, Swartz Creek
Michael Atchoo, Troy
Nicholas Lewin, Walled Lake Western
Class A Girls
Ainsley McCallister, Ann Arbor Huron
Nicole Krajewski, Battle Creek Lakeview
Erin Elizabeth Riley, Battle Creek Lakeview
Lisa Marie Bender, Birmingham Seaholm
Calley Lynn Murphy, Birmingham Seaholm
Katherine Pavelich, Flint Kearsley
Lauren Lynn Anderson, Grand Rapids Christian
Katherine Steen, Grosse Pointe South
Jenna Birch, Howell
Haley Hildebrandt, Ionia
Ariel Dempsey, Jenison
Lisa A. Galasso, Lake Orion
Shannon Niznik, Livonia Franklin
Stephanie Cuniberti, Macomb Dakota
Kimberly Dinh, Midland Dow
Dana Briggs, Muskegon Mona Shores
Brianna Kovan, Okemos
Rikki Jarvis, Oxford
Kelly Hahn, Plymouth
Alycen Wiacek, Rochester
Meredith Leigh Aja, Traverse City Central
Carolyn Vlach, Traverse City West
Emily McKay, Utica Ford
Anna VanEgmond, Warren Regina
Class B Boys
Derek William Devine, Alma
Mattias DeDoes, Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard
Nathaniel Hudeck, Birch Run
Andrew Sauser, Caro
Kevin M. Wildey, Comstock Park
Peter Tratt, DeWitt
Luke J. Sheppard, Frankenmuth
Dan Becker, Gladstone
Michael Curby, Hillsdale
Joseph Robert White, Jackson Lumen Christi
Frank Liesman, Lansing Catholic
Kevin Killian, Orchard Lake St. Mary's
Justin Pung, Portland
Daniel William Hartsig, Three Rivers
Troy Hecht, Vassar
Mark Willard, Yale
Class B Girls
Rachel E. Cook, Allegan
Natalia Collins, Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard
Victoria Eger, Buchanan
Olivia Catherine DeTroyer, Chelsea
Erica Crane, Dearborn Divine Child
Kayla A. Kunde, Fowlerville
Jennifer McCain, Frankenmuth
Andria Nyenhuis, Gladstone
Kari K. Paine, Manistee
Laura Genise, Marshall
Katee Farlow, Mt. Morris
Emily M. Tjapkes, Shelby
Alexandra Anne Annese, Whitehall
Danika Markell, Williamston
Chelsea Bischer, Yale
Janae Trombley, Yale
Class C Boys
Peter Jacobson, Ann Arbor Greenhills
Ji-Hoon Min, Gwinn
Alan Peterson, Ironwood
Nicholas William Beam, Lawrence
Brandon M. King, Marlette
Jacob Snowdin, Montague
Tyler W. Huntey, Morley-Stanwood
Andrew James Kangas, Norway
Anthony Douglas Maule, Norway
Eric Evan Cogan, Petersburg-Summerfield
Tyler Alexander Wilson, Pittsford
Benjamin J. Schell, Traverse City St. Francis
Class C Girls
Emily Rohdy, Farwell
Kayley Sopel, Ithaca
Amber N. Smith, Jonesville
Stephanie N. Johnson, Kalamazoo Hackett
Amaya Mireya Ayers, Laingsburg
Melanie J. Neddow, Manistique
Meghan Maxine Griffith, Mendon
Shelbi R. Lisecki, Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central
Abbey Lynn Kelto, Munising
Kaitlyn Squanda, Reese
Kristy Lee Brandt, Saginaw Valley Lutheran
Nicole A. Franzel, Ubly
Class D Boys
Jacob Smitley, Athens
Ben S. Tanoff, Battle Creek St .Philip
Patrick W. Spalding, Bear Lake
Tyler Steven Root, Brimley
Michael Klobucher, Engadine
Devon Rossman, Fulton
Logan Longman, North Adams-Jerome
Micah J. Plocher, Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary
Class D Girls
Kelly Mikaye David, Beal City
Jessica Hines, Camden-Frontier
Kayla Marie Miller, Engadine
Elizabeth S. Brady, Hillsdale Academy
Jennifer Spinner, Mason County Eastern
Kathryn Meri Polaskey, St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic
Mackenzie Price, Waldron
Ajae Whittaker, Wolverine
Farm Bureau Insurance, Farmers Insurance, MEEMIC Insurance Company & Meijer are year-round MHSAA Corporate Partners