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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE --January 28, 2000
Contact: John Johnson or Andy Frushour-- 517.332.5046

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Jan. 28 - The 114 finalists for the 1999-00 Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Award have been chosen.

The program, which has been recognizing student-athletes since the 1989-90 school year, honors 24 individuals, one in each sport in which the Association sponsors a post-season tournament. Farm Bureau Insurance underwrites the Scholar-Athlete Award, and presents a $1,000 scholarship in each sport.

A record 2,857 applications were submitted for this year's award, surpassing the 1997-98 record total of 2,785 applications. In addition to the record number of applicants, a record 516 schools participated in the program this year, exceeding last year's record of 504.

Every MHSAA member high school is allowed to select one student-athlete to represent it in each sport, and an individual may be nominated in more than one sport. 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 the sport in which they are applying. Students were also asked to shown involvement in other school and community activities, submit two letters of recommendation and a 500-word essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.

The applications were judged by a 59-member committee of school coaches, counselors, faculty members, administrators and board members from MHSAA member schools. Fall sports scholarship recipients will be announced on February 9; winter sports recipients on February on February 16; and spring sports winners will be announced on February 23.

To honor the 24 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 25.

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,300 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 conducted in 12 sports for girls and 12 sports for boys which attract approximately 1.3 million spectators each year.

MEDIA ADVISORY -- A complete list of finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award also appears as a PDF file on this site. Click here to get the list. Please scan that list for the names of student-athletes from your area.

1999-00 MHSAA Scholar-Athlete Award Finalists

Girls Basketball
Jamie Semeyn, Suttons Bay
Emily K. Damuth, Saginaw Heritage
Ahleah Tagai, Madison Heights Lamphere
Lauren M. Bramos, Grosse Pointe North
Robyn Flewelling, Okemos
Molly Kamp, Stevensville Lakeshore
Bethany Fredline, Lowell

Boys Cross Country
Seann Duffin, Carney-Nadeau
Brent Wrisley, St. Louis
Charles Stamboulian, North Farmington
Bradley Carroll, Livonia Stevenson
Kevin Drake, Three Rivers
Brent L. Densham, Grandville

Girls Cross Country
Maggie Rose Schmittling, Suttons Bay
Erin Maureen Randall, Clio
Stacey Nyland, Oxford
Julie Diepenhorst, Taylor Kennedy
Sarah Anne Ziegler, Litchfield
Lindsay Steinberg, Muskegon Reeths-Puffer

Football
Ryan Slezak, Gaylord St. Mary
Jeffrey Ustishen, New Lothrop
Grant J. Weber, Farmington
Jonathon Zurawski, Dearborn
Joshua D. Reeves, Milan
Curtis Daniel VandenBerg, Byron Center
Rick Bolhuis, Jenison

Boys Golf
David Winkle, Manistique
Patrick W. Schultz, Bay City Central
Christopher L. Scribner, Pontiac Central
Daniel J. Cousino, Erie-Mason
Edward James Hunt, Tecumseh
Jeffrey Craig Melville, Jenison

Boys Soccer
Matt Mason, Spring Lake
Daniel McNamara, Allen Park Inter-City Baptist
Brian William Horr, North Farmington
Nick Kuhl, East Grand Rapids

Girls Swimming & Diving
Rachel Riemer, Ludington
Emily D. Gladney, Pinckney
Michelle C. Miller, Trenton

Girls Tennis
Katie Berger, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central
Jacqueline McClellan, Pontiac Notre Dame
Jeanette Fershtman, Livonia Stevenson
Meghan Hope LeClair, Spring Lake

Boys Basketball
Seann Duffin, Carney-Nadeau
Garnett Kohler, Brown City
Patrick E. Cahill, Warren DeLaSalle
Joshua Bishop, Grosse Ile
Brian Pridgeon, Reading
Matt Mason, Spring Lake
Paul Wagner, Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills

Girls Competitive Cheer
Bethany Fox, Pewamo-Westphalia
Jennifer Fay Mosack, Armada

Girls Gymnastics
Laura Barker, Menominee
Kate Elizabeth Longcore, Hartland

Ice Hockey
Nick Kujala, Traverse City Central
Bryan Dery, Livonia Stevenson

Boys Skiing
Peter J. Fisher, Maple City Glen Lake
Scott Bell, Rochester Adams

Girls Skiing
Martha Grant, Mt. Pleasant
Tiffany Lynn McKee, Lake Orion

Boys Swimming & Diving
Bradford Andrew Flora, St. Joseph
James A. Pollock IV, Sterling Heights Stevenson
Christopher A. Bixler, Erie Mason

Girls Volleyball
Suzanne Brown Malpass, East Jordan
Kathryn Cramer, Frankenmuth
Alicia Blatch, Hazel Park
Georgianna Golematis, Brownstown Woodhaven
Mia Sokol, Flushing
Jennifer Pollard, Michigan Center
Laura VendenBerg, Holton

Wrestling
Tara Theisen, Merrill
Forrest Cote', North Branch
Peter Mazzarese, Detroit Catholic Central
Zachary Aaron Sine, Napoleon
Rick Bolhuis, Jenison

Baseball
Robert W. Westerman, Gaylord St. Mary
Aaron S. Johnson, Flint Powers Catholic
Jonathon Francis Kowalski, Warren DeLaSalle
Joseph R. Mierkowicz, Trenton
Ryan Stoianowski, Clinton
Stephen Wright, Cassopolis
David Wine, Olivet

Girls Golf
Brianna D. Widener, Midland Dow
Cara Christeson, Rochester
Jennifer Petzko, Coldwater

Girls Soccer
Laura Wolohan, Saginaw Nouvel
Jacqueline D. Neal, Harrison Twp. L'Anse Creuse
Larissa M. Hotra, Birmingham Marian
Lindsay Elizabeth Farrer, Kalamazoo Hackett

Softball
Katherine E. Eustice, Cheboygan
Kathryn Cramer, Frankenmuth
Michelle E. Doran, Southfield Christian
Erin Nicole DiMaggio, Grosse Pointe North
Amber Leigh Gorton, Vandercook Lake
Rachel Koller, Niles Brandywine
Stephanie B. Allsop, Bay City John Glenn

Boys Tennis
Steven Jackson, Harbor Beach
Dan Michael Karmel, Birmingham Groves
Jeffrey A. Ponders II, Detroit Renaissance
Kabir A. Seth, Stevensville Lakeshore

Boys Track & Field
Garrett Dawe, Mio
Nicholas Morgan, Flint Northern
Donald Gary Wine II, Detroit Country Day
Stephen Stamatis, Southgate Anderson
Zachary Aaron Sine, Napoleon
Jason A. Karbowski, Three Rivers
John R. Achterhoff III, Whitehall

Girls Track & Field
Jessica Balon, Bellaire
Elizabeth C. Beck, Fenton
Sarah Kostrzeba, Center Line St. Clement
Stacy Lynn Putnam, Dearborn Edsel Ford
Sarah Anne Ziegler, Litchfield
Carolyn Hammer, Allegan
Meredith L. Palen, Ovid-Elsie