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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 9, 1998
Contact: John Johnson or Mike Clifford 517.332.5046

Karen S. Leinaar (right) of Delton was honored as the 1998 recipient of the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Women In Sports Leadership Award at the Women In Sports Leadership Conference Luncheon at the Sheraton Lansing Hotel on February 9.

Leinaar has served the Delton-Kellogg Schools in a variety of roles since 1982. For the past decade, she has directed the middle and senior high athletic programs at Delton-Kellogg. She has been a tournament manager for MHSAA events in eight different sports, including the 1996 and 1997 Girls Competitive Cheer Finals. Leinaar has also served on numerous MHSAA committees, including its Scholar-Athlete Award Committee, Athletic Equity Committee, and Women In Sports Leadership Conference Committee. She has also been a press steward for MHSAA final tournaments in basketball, baseball-softball and wrestling; and has been a registered MHSAA official in six sports. She also continues as a drivers education instructor, a role she has had since beginning her career at Delton-Kellogg.

In the community, Leinaar has served as a member of the Delton Area Business Association, the Delton Founders Day Committee, the Hastings Area Outreach Committee, as secretary of the board of trustees of the WBA Ruster Foundation in Sturgis, and as director of the John Whitledge Memorial Delton-Kellogg School Hall of Fame. She was a multiple-sport standout at Delton-Kellogg High School, graduating in 1977.

The Women In Sports Leadership Award is presented annually by the MHSAA Representative Council to a person who makes major contributions by encouraging and preparing women for positions as athletic administrators, coaches and officials.

Shown with Leinaar is MHSAA Vice President Dennis Kniola, principal of Stevensville Lakeshore Junior High School. (Photo by Mark Todd, Charlotte)