Michigan High School Athletic Association - Promoting Educational Athletics
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Jan. 29, 2007 Finalists Announced For 2006-07 Scholar-Athlete Award EAST LANSING, Mich. –Jan. 29 – The 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Award for the 2006-07 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 postseason tournament. Farm Bureau Insurance underwrites the Scholar-Athlete Award, and will present a $1,000 scholarship to each recipient. This year, 2,205 applications were received from 492 schools. 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. Okemos has four finalists; while Ann Arbor Pioneer, Dearborn, Grand Ledge, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, Grosse Ile, Iron Mountain, Ludington, Mackinaw City, Pittsford, St. Johns, Standish-Sterling and Troy Athens each have two finalists. Multiple-sport participation is again the norm for this year’s applicants, and even more so for the finalists. The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 2.53, while the average of the application pool was 2.02. All of the 28 sports in which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments are represented in the finalist field. The applications were judged by a 82-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 13; Class B scholarship recipients will be announced on Feb. 20; and Class A scholarship recipients will be announced on Feb. 27. All announcements will be made on the MHSAA Web site. 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 24. 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 postseason 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 350 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 1,800 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. -0- MEDIA ADVISORY – A list of finalists follows this release. A complete list of scholarship nominees for the Scholar-Athlete Award can be found on the MHSAA Web Site (Click on Recognition, and then select Scholar-Athlete Award from the drop-down menu). Please scan that list for the names of student-athletes from your area. Information about scholarship recipients will be posted on the MHSAA Web Site according to the schedule listed in this release, and media in the markets of the scholarship recipients will be notified by fax or e-mail the day before the public announcement. For more information about Farm Bureau Insurance, contact Luke Schafer, Public Relations Manager, at 517.323.7000. You can download the Scholar-Athlete Award logo from the MHSAA Web Site – click on Forms & Graphics off the home page. RL07-032 2006-07 MHSAA Scholar-Athlete Award Finalists Class A Girls Class A Boys Class B Girls Class B Boys Class C Girls Class C Boys Class D Girls Class D Boys
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