AD Inducted to National Hall of Fame
May 7, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Winter gets hectic so quickly that we’re forced to save some intriguing items that come our way for a sunnier day – and that day is today.
Following are news, notes and a few key links collected over the last few months, including the national Hall of Fame induction of a longtime Michigan athletic director, local recognition for another and statewide acclaim for a group of students putting their video production equipment to good use benefiting all.
Ann Arbor AD Honored Nationally
Former Ann Arbor Huron athletic director Jane Bennett was among five inducted into the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Hall of Fame in December.
Bennett served 26 years as a teacher, coach, athletic director and assistant principal in Michigan before spending the last decade as a principal at two schools in Montana. She served as athletic director at Huron for 15 years through 2002-03. The NIAAA reported that during her final decade in that position, participation in athletics doubled.
Bennett, who received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan, began her career at Huron in 1977 as varsity softball coach and became a math teacher and the co-director of athletics a year later. She coached the softball team 14 seasons before moving into the full-time athletic director position. Bennett was co-founder of the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association and served as MHSSCA president from 1982-87.
Among other achievements at Huron, Bennett was a leader in a successful campaign to gain voter approval of a $60 million bond package, which included $20 million to improve and expand athletic facilities. She also developed curriculum for an annual varsity captains/head coaches leadership training program and composed handbooks/guidebooks for coaches, athletes and parents.
Bennett also was a valuable contributor to the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and the NIAAA. She was president of the MIAAA in 1993-94 and a state conference speaker on several occasions. Bennett also served in various NIAAA leadership positions including on the committee that developed the Leadership Training Institute in 1996.
Bennett was named MIAAA Athletic Director of the Year in 1998 and received its State Award of Merit in 1997. She received the MHSAA’s Women in Sports Leadership Award in 1995 and was inducted into the MHSSCA Hall of Fame in 1995. Prior to her selection to the NIAAA Hall of Fame, Bennett was honored with the NIAAA Distinguished Service Award in 1998 and the NIAAA Thomas E. Frederick Award of Excellence in 2000. In 2005, she was inducted into the National Council of Secondary School Athletic Directors Hall of Fame, having served as its president in 2003 and been selected as its Athletic Director of the Year in 1998.
PSL's Ward: 'Pillar' of Detroit Athletics
Alvin Ward, the executive director of athletics for the Detroit Public School League and a member of the MHSAA Representative Council, received a 2014 Pillar in the Community Award in April from the Coast II Coast All-Stars, a Detroit-based pro basketball team that plays in the American Basketball Association.
Ward has served as a teacher, assistant principal and principal as well for Detroit Public Schools, and directs programs with a combined 500 coaches and 4,500 athletes.
Linked up
- This winter, the MHSAA Representative Council adopted a number of football practice rules changes aimed at improving player acclimatization at the start of fall and reducing head trauma and injuries. The Adrian Daily Telegram’s Doug Donnelly got responses from a number of coaches from that area of the state; click to find out why they feel these changes are important.
- Port Huron Times Herald writer Paul Costanzo let people know about our Student Advisory Council through the experience of Marlette’s Connor Thomas, one of our juniors and a great contributor this school year.
Power of Awareness
The Kimberly Anne Gillary Foundation works to educate Michigan schools on sudden cardiac arrest and train personnel in CPR and the use of an AED (automated external defibrillator). The video below teaches us again about the importance of awareness.
Saginaw Heritage was awarded $5,000 in April as the winner of the Gillary Foundation’s High School AED Contest. Students were asked to create a 3-minute video emphasizing the importance of Michigan high schools being adequately prepared to respond to a sudden cardiac arrest or related event on school property.
Randy and Sue Gillary created the foundation after their 15-year-old daughter Kimberly – an athlete at Troy Athens – died after suffering sudden cardiac arrest in 2000. The contest judges were Kimberly’s sisters Emily Kucinich, Jennifer Gregroy and Katie Gillary.
As of April 1, the Gillary Foundation had raised $1.2 million and donated 650 AEDs to schools – with three lives having been saved with donated AEDs. For more, click www.kimberlysgift.org.
5 All-Leaguers + No Seniors = Big Things Ahead for Kalamazoo Christian Boys Golf
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
May 26, 2026
KALAMAZOO — In spite of a team loaded with sophomores, juniors and even a contributing freshman, Kalamazoo Christian coach Brian Seifert is optimistic heading into today’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Golf Regional at Centreville’s Island Hills Golf Course.
Seifert has reason for that optimism.
His top five golfers, none of them seniors, all earned all-conference honors in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, and the sixth golfer barely missed it.
“In high school golf, you want a solid three guys for sure that can help you go really low,” Seifert said. “Four makes you a wild card and I’ve got four, five and six that can really play golf. It’s pretty fun to watch.”
Two of those golfers, junior Brixton DeVries and sophomore Ian Riggs, were instrumental in the Comets’ fifth-place finish at last year’s MHSAA Division 3 Final.
DeVries said one important thing to remember in tournament play is “don’t let a bad shot get to you. You’ve got to stay mentally there the entire time.”
Riggs added, “It’s a team effort. Every shot counts, short putts, everything counts. Staying level-minded through your round is definitely a big thing with our team.”
He also said he noticed there are a lot of good golfers competing, but “you’ve just not got to worry about the scores and play your game.”
Seifert said Riggs has been working on his game and also takes lessons.
“He’s really improved this year, and to be named SAC (Most Valuable Golfer) as a sophomore is really nice,” he said.
A third all-conference golfer, Max Nobis, returned this year from a devastating injury and also earned all-conference honors along with sophomores Hart Hoekzema and Owyn Webb. Freshman Cade Van Dusen just missed league recognition.
Nobis joined the golf team, transferring from Hackett Catholic Prep, after recovering from an injury suffered while playing club soccer a year ago.
“I got slide-tackled in one of our games and ended up snapping my fibula and tibia in half,” he said. “Broke both.
“I had surgery two weeks later and have a metal rod in my leg.”
Nobis did physical therapy twice a week for a month, then continued on his own at the gym.
Seifert said he is happy Nobis is far enough removed from the injury and healthy enough to golf.
“He’s worked on his game and figured out how to navigate injury and golf at the same time,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting him. It was a real bonus to get Max.”
DeVries said in spite of losing two seniors to graduation, he thinks this year’s team is even better than last season’s contender.
“I feel like our whole team is good at leading,” he said. “We all contribute.”
Learning from last year’s road to the Finals, DeVries said the keys to playing well are “showing up and helping the rest of the team. You learn that you have to really show up at practice and be there mentally and physically.”
Seifert said the junior has not had a bad round all season.
“He’s going to give me something I know we can count on, consistent leadership,” Seifert noted. “You need that in golf to set the pace. That pulls everybody along.”
Riggs said a key to success is to “keep grinding even if I have a bad first hole, fifth hole. You’ve got 18 holes of golf to play, so you just have to keep grinding until the last hole.”
While the Comets aren’t looking past Regionals, if they qualify for the Finals, their confidence should increase.
Division 3 will be hosted at Bedford Valley in Battle Creek, where the Comets shot a school-record 305 two weeks ago.
“As a coach I try to schedule our matches on courses where we know there will be significant play, and Bedford Valley is one of them that we go to once or twice because it’s always in the mix,” Seifer said. “Understanding the course better is really important, and being successful on it, I like our chances right along with everyone else’s.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Kalamazoo Christian’s Max Nobis follows his putt as it approaches the cup. (Middle) Clockwise from top left: Kalamazoo Christian boys golf coach Brian Seifert, junior Brixton DeVries, sophomore Ian Riggs and junior Max Nobis. (Action photo courtesy of Seifert; headshots by Pam Shebest.)