Michel Finishes with Story to Tell
June 11, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Andrew Michel received the heart-breaking news only moments before leaving his golf team’s Regional on Friday to get ready for that night’s Brownstown-Woodhaven prom.
But missing making the MHSAA Finals by a stroke was not the first thing he shared with those who asked about his day at West Shore Golf and Country Club in Grosse Ile.
Instead, the graduating senior told of the 132-yard shot he dropped for a hole-in-one on the par-3 12th hole, his second ace but first in competition.
Michel finished with a season-best 76, missing the cut for this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final by a stroke despite firing another eagle during the final holes of his round.
“At the start of the day, I told myself don’t leave anything on the table. Go for it on every hole, make every shot and just have fun at your last tournament,” Michel said Tuesday afternoon as he readied for that night’s graduation ceremony. “Being a senior, I went for everything.”
The best part might’ve been how he came back from a disappointing previous hole.
Michel had just finished off a triple bogey on No. 11, and admitted he was down on himself. He stepped to the next tee with his pitching wedge, and “I didn’t really care what happened. I chose the club I like to hit on that hole, and in the air I was thinking it was really good,” he said.
The ball touched down on the green and spun back into the hole.
Michel also played golf and soccer at Brownstown-Woodhaven. He’ll attend Grand Valley State University in the fall, study engineering, and will try to walk-on the Lakers’ golf team.
“Deep down inside,” he said he’s disappointed he won’t be playing at Michigan State’s Forest Akers West on Friday. But he’s got a quite a highlight to take with him from his final high school round.
“It was very bittersweet. I really wanted to go to state,” Michel said. “But the hole-in-one balanced it out a bit.”
Eye on the official
Hopefully you caught our MHSAA benchmarks piece (also published on Second Half) on longtime official Lamont Simpson, who has worked not only MHSAA Finals but NCAA tournaments and is one of 32 officials in the WNBA. (Here’s the link in case you missed it.)
He also became that league’s first to wear the referee cam, debuting the new gear during a recent game between the Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever.
The camera provides plenty of ref’s-eye views. Click the video below to check it out.
Wheels of Steele
We’ve been watching the inspiring progress of Frankenmuth runner Bobby Steele especially over the last few years as his story became known across the Lower Peninsula.
Steele, who is visually impaired, has run cross country and track for the Eagles, thanks to the help of guides who ran with him to help him stay on course.
If you haven’t heard Steele’s awesome story, check out this 8-minute video. Not only did Steele run, but he cut roughly 12 minutes off his first cross country times over the course of his career.
HEARTSafe School Video Contest to Assist in Promoting Cardiac Awareness Month
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 19, 2022
April is Michigan Student Athlete Cardiac Awareness Month, and the Kimberly Anne Gillary Foundation is partnering with the MHSAA to promote cardiac awareness – and providing an opportunity for students to join the effort and earn $5,000 for their school.
Michigan has lost at least 81 students to sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and related causes since 1999, according to data compiled by the Kimberly Anne Gillary Foundation. Randy and Sue Gillary lost their daughter Kimberly to a cardiac arrest in a high school water polo game in April of 2000.
The MI HEARTSafe School Video Contest will promote student-produced videos highlighting the importance of Michigan schools becoming a Mi HEARTSafe school. The winning entry will be chosen by Kimberly Gillary’s three sisters and will receive $5,000 for the winner’s school. Entries are due May 13; see the Kimberly Anne Gillary Foundation website for details.
Randy and Sue Gillary founded the Kimberly Anne Gillary Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) charitable foundation within days of losing Kimberly. The mission of the Foundation is to donate automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to Michigan high schools and to advocate cardiac screening and testing of Michigan high school student athletes.
A major drive of the foundation is for every Michigan school to become a MI-HEARTSafe School. This is a designation given by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHSS) when a school has met the criteria to demonstrate it is prepared to respond to a cardiac emergency on school property. Schools receive a banner and other materials that can be displayed in the school to let those who attend and visit know that the school is a MI-HEARTSafe School.
“The goal of our Foundation is to try to prevent other parents from going through what we went through with the loss of our beloved Kimberly,” Randy Gillary said. “We are proud to be partnering with the MHSAA in promoting cardiac awareness for Michigan’s student athletes. The MHSAA has been a leader in helping to change the culture in the state of Michigan to make our Michigan high schools more focused on being prepared to respond to a cardiac emergency on school property.
The Kimberly Anne Foundation has raised more than $1.68 million and has donated more than 825 AEDs to Michigan high schools.
“We believe that the vast majority of Michigan high schools now have at least one AED,” Randy Gillary said. “Most high schools did not have an AED when we lost Kimmy in 2000. Michigan high schools are now in a much better position to respond to the sudden cardiac arrest of a student athlete. AEDs donated by the Kimberly Anne Gillary Foundation to Michigan schools have been used to provide defibrillation shocks to save at least nine lives.”
