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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-- February 27, 1998
Contact: John Johnson or Mike Clifford 517.332.5046
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Feb. 20 -- The Michigan High School Athletic Association's
Scholar-Athlete Award program has selected its seven recipients for the
1997 spring sports season.
Farm Bureau Insurance, in its ninth year of sponsoring the award, will
give a $1,000 college scholarship to each of the spring sports winners.
For the seventh year, Farm Bureau will present 24 scholarships, one in
each sport in which the MHSAA sponsors a post-season tournament.
Each of the scholarship recipients will be honored at halftime ceremonies
of the Class C Boys Basketball finals at the Breslin Student Events Center
in East Lansing on March 28. Commemorative plaques will be given to other
finalists in recognition of their accomplishments.
The seven Scholar-Athlete Award honorees for the 1998 spring sports season
are: Brandon Krieter, Madison Heights Lamphere, baseball; Stephanie Bezilla,
Grandville, girls golf; Jessica Lee Berryman, Jenison, girls soccer; Anne
E. Bihler, Detroit Country Day, softball; Ryan C. Steinman, Haslett, boys
tennis; Tom Blostica, Fowlerville, boys track & field; Katherine A.
Damm, Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port, girls track & field.
Overviews of the seven scholarship recipients of the spring Scholar-Athlete
Award follow. A quote from each recipient's essay is also included:
Baseball -- Brandon Krieter, Madison Heights Lamphere.
Baseball team MVP
captain of baseball and football teams
selected all-area and all-league in baseball and football
also lettered
in football and basketball
class president as freshman, sophomore
and junior
National Honor Society vice president the last two years
part of Students Against Drunk Driving throughout high school
participated in Boy's State as a junior
junior counselor and ambassador
at HOBY seminar
has volunteered for more than 106 hours of community
service
plans to attend either the University of Michigan or Princeton
University to study computer engineering or sports medicine.
Essay Quote -- "Physical skills and abilities are only 10 percent of sportsmanship. The other 90 percent comes from within oneself. It brings yourself, your team, your coach, the spectators and your whole school to a higher level."
Girls Golf -- Stephanie Bezilla, Grandville.
Placed fourth at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Finals as a junior
member
of MHSAA Lower Peninsula Class A championship team in 1997
garnered
all-state honors as a junior
two-time all-league and all-area performer
participated in the President's Round Table to help organize school
activities
on the Board of Control for Students Against Drunk Driving
performs in the Grandville Music Theater and Grandville High School
Players
has volunteered more than 150 hours of service at a local
hospital
active in church youth group and as a church lector
plans on studying engineering at the University of Michigan, University
of Notre Dame or Northwestern University.
Essay Quote -- "Sportsmanship makes sports real. It teaches athletes lessons they can take beyond the court, field or diamond into life. Lessons such as respect for peers, honesty to self and pride in the sport being played will guide an athlete into becoming a successful adult."
Girls Soccer -- Jessica Lee Berryman, Jenison.
An all-conference performer for three years in girls soccer
selected
all-area twice and honorable mention all-state once
also participated
in swimming and volleyball
active in student government as the Student
Council treasurer as a junior and as a member for two years
represented
school in Model United Nations three times
member of National Honor
Society as a junior and senior
vice president of the National Thespian
Society as a junior and senior
earned outstanding choral student
and leadership awards
all-state and all-region honors choir participant
assisted in development of school Forensics team
volunteer
coach and official in American Youth Soccer Organization
volunteers
at Butterworth Hospital
has not decided on a college but would like
to study pre-medicine.
Essay Quote -- "A valuable lesson I have learned is respect for the authority of the officials in a game. This lack of respect for authority, no matter what the reason, carries over into the classroom and with the administration. I am not sure people realize the harm being done when students are allowed, and even encouraged, by parents to question the authority of the referees. What then stops them from questioning the judgment of any authority figure in their lives?"
Softball -- Anne E. Bihler, Detroit Country Day.
Four-year performer on varsity softball team
co-captain on softball
and swimming teams
all-district and all-area in softball as a junior
placed sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1996 MHSAA Lower Peninsula
Girls Swimming and Diving Finals
member of the Disciplinary Review
Board and Cum Laude Society the last two years
has been on the Summa
Cum Laude Honor Roll three years
member of the Acolyte Corps throughout
high school and Head Acolyte as a junior and senior
youth counselor
at Birmingham/Bloomfield Art Association
will attend Yale University
to study international business and law.
Essay Quote -- " In this age, society revolves around sport figures. Children respect and admire sports heroes who epitomize sportsmanship with their modesty and grace in the face of competition; they move others with their humble yet endearing spirits. The importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics lies in teaching children who practice sports the values necessary for becoming adults."
Boys Tennis -- Ryan C. Steinman, Haslett. All-area
academic-athletic tennis team
also played basketball as a freshman
and sophomore
Key Club president as a senior
Michigan Key
Club lieutenant governor as a junior
named the country's most outstanding
state lieutenant governor in Key Club
member of National Honor Society
sang in the concert choir
named Interlochen's most outstanding
male vocalist in 1995
member of Men's Ensemble
has provided
nearly 50 hours of community service each year of high school
will
attend the University of Notre Dame in the fall.
Essay Quote -- "Sportsmanship is important in order to uphold the objectives of high school athletics program. To allow everyone the opportunity to play sports in a non-threatening situation and to grow and develop their skills and talents. We are given the privilege to compete against each other in a healthy and supporting atmosphere, students should not violate that right by being unsportsmanlike."
Boys Track & Field -- Tom Blostica, Fowlerville.
Three-year letterwinner in track and field
academic all-league
in track and field, soccer and basketball
member of regional champion
in the 400-meter relay
elected freshman class president
selected
by faculty to attend Boy's State as a junior
board member for Students
Against Drunk Driving and Drug Abuse Resistance Education
member
of National Honor Society
active in St. Agnes Catholic Church as
an usher and in the youth group
would like pursue a career in chiropractic
medicine.
Essay Quote -- "All too often in athletics there is an extreme in emotion after a hard-fought win or loss. The victors may excessively celebrate making the opponent feel even worse, or there are occasions when the losers will be such poor sports that they refuse to shake hands or even yell inappropriate remarks at the winning person or team. Whatever the case, if a person can control his or her feelings it will bring nothing but good things and is a great indicator of maturity."
Girls Track & Field -- Katherine A. Damm, Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port.
Three-sport athlete
co-captain of basketball and track and field
teams
MHSAA finalist in long jump as a sophomore and junior
active in Student Council as vice president
member of National Honor
Society for three years, vice president as a senior
head of Science
Club for two years
started a tutoring program for fellow students
participated in Saginaw Cooperative Hospitals Exploring Medicine
Program which allowed her to shadow doctors of different practices
volunteered in the Adopt-A-Highway and Adopt-A-Park for the community
will study physiology/pre-medicine in the Lyman Briggs College at Michigan
State University.
Essay Quote -- "We have all seen their rude behavior, immature temper tantrums and arrogance splashed across television, magazine covers and newspapers. Some professional sports figures have made unsportsmanlike conduct not only a popular form of entertainment but also a profitable way of life. Real sports fans frown upon them, angry that the spotlight has been shifted from the game and its true athletes to the few who feel the need for more attention. This is why high school athletics are so exciting to watch.
Other spring finalists by sport for the Scholar-Athlete Award were:
Baseball -- Nick Anton, Spring Lake; Karl Freimuth, Grosse Pointe South;
Aaron Mendenhall, Traverse City Central; Jesse Aaron Mortimore, Comstock;
Ryan M. vonReichbauer, Saginaw Heritage; Kevin D. Witte, Muskegon Western
Michigan Christian. Girls Golf -- Erin L. Szymanski, Dexter. Girls Soccer
-- Carla Rondeau, Clawson; Kelli Selleke, Harper Woods Regina. Softball
-- Jennifer Michelle Lohman, Okemos; Sarah Marks, Decatur; Julie Anne Matchett,
Elk Rapids; Marissa Melchior, Harper Woods Regina; Lisa Schulte, Port Hope;
Sara Jane Sosinski, Bronson. Boys Tennis -- R.J. Laukitis, Holland; Jason
M. Mayol, Belleville; Jason Samuel Pratt, Traverse City St. Francis. Boys
Track and Field -- Mark A. Bovair, Allen Park; Greg Londo, Gwinn; Benjamin
L. Miller, St. Johns; Babak Orandi, Bloomfield Hills Andover; Nathan Schoen,
Lowell; Anthony Tyll, Ubly. Girls Track and Field -- Alicia Britton, Olivet;
Sara Kimberly Elfring, Novi; Catherine C. Guido, Dearborn; Kristine Jentoft,
Marquette; Julia Ogg, Clare; Julie Wisner, Lowell.
Students applying for the Scholar-Athlete Award must be carrying at least
a 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale) grade- point average, and have previously won a letter
in a varsity sport in which the Michigan High School Athletic Association
sponsors a postseason tournament. Other requirements for the applicants
were to show active participation in other school and community activities
and produce an essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational
athletics.
Fall sports scholarship recipients were: Megan Leigh Adams, Litchfield,
girls basketball; Robert J. Sullivan, Ravenna, boys cross country; Kasey
Lynn Culp, Mendon, girls cross country; Ronald D. Keller, Carson City-Crystal,
football; Christopher E. "Topher" Goggin, Alma, boys golf; Patrick
Tetreault, Jackson, boys soccer; Nicole Marie Mousseau, Saginaw Heritage,
girls swimming & diving; and Alexzandra Nicole Shade, Farmington Hills
Mercy, girls. Winter sports scholarship recipients were: Will A. Tegel,
Elk Rapids, boys basketball; Stephanie Cleland, Madison Heights Bishop Foley,
girls competitive cheer; Jennifer Carlson, Royal Oak Dondero, girls gymnastics;
Korey Henson, Portage Northern, ice hockey; Christopher Knute Paulson, Rockford,
boys skiing; Jennifer Edgar, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, girls skiing;
Jonathan Trenkle, Riverview, boys swimming & diving; Rebecca Kolar,
Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port, girls volleyball; and Daniel J. Kauffman, Central
Montcalm, wrestling.
Applications for the MHSAA Scholar-Athlete Award for high school students
graduating during the 1998-99 academic year will be available in the fall
from member school principals.