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.
Tecumseh Finds 2nd-Half Stride Again to Reach 1st Final in 50 Years
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
March 21, 2025
EAST LANSING – Tecumseh coach Kristy Zajac wasn’t too worried when her team got off to a sluggish start during the first half of Friday’s Division 2 Semifinal.
The second half has proved to be when her team is at its best.
Tecumseh overcame a double-digit deficit and rallied to defeat Frankenmuth 52-43 at the Breslin Center, earning the program’s first championship game appearance in 50 years.
“Every game all year we start slow, but finish strong, and we were able to pull it out tonight,” Zajac said. “I’m super proud of these girls because they fought back, and this is a great win for our program.”
Tecumseh will play for the Division 2 championship at 6:15 p.m. Saturday, seeking its first Finals title since 1974 and after also finishing Class B runner-up in 1975.
Tecumseh, which outscored Frankenmuth 34-20 during the second half Friday, improved to 26-1. It's only loss was to Division 1 finalist Rockford.
The win was bittersweet, though, after junior Maddy VanBlack suffered an apparent leg injury during the final minute.
“Super special for our girls, but that last play of the game is just so hard,” Zajac said. “She’s worked so hard to get back to us after missing almost two years of seasons, and that’s why these girls are all in tears. I feel so terrible for her, and we’re hoping she’s OK.”
Frankenmuth led 30-20 midway through the third quarter after a 3-pointer from Clare Conzelmann. However, Tecumseh slowly chipped away at the deficit and eventually tied it at 32-32 with a 10-2 run to end the third quarter.
Miss Basketball Award finalist Alli Zajac struggled with foul trouble, but her teammates picked her up and ignited the second-half blitz.
“It’s not a great thing that I was in foul trouble, but I’m kind of glad that I was just so I can see how well they work together when I'm not in there with them,” Alli Zajac said. “It was amazing to see other girls step up.”
One was senior Ashlyn Moorhead, who drained 4-of-6 3-point attempts and finished with 14 points.
“I loved seeing her knock down those 3s and hit those pull-up jumpers,” Kristy Zajac said. “She stepped into beast mode in the second half. She started slow, but I knew she had it in her and stepped up that confidence.”
Said Moorhead: “I knew that my teammates and coaches had confidence in me. I just went up and let it fly.”
Sophomore Addi Zajac also fueled the comeback with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
“She’s one of the best rebounders I’ve ever seen, and we knew that other people had to step up and they did,” Kristy Zajac said. “That’s what is great about this team. There’s not one person you can shut down and then try to beat us. You have to beat all of us.”
An 11-0 run in the fourth quarter sealed the win.
“These girls deserve this,” Kristy Zajac said. “They’ve worked hard for this, and they’ve put in the time.”
The Eagles were in search of a return trip to the Final after finishing runner-up in 2023, but suffered through a five-minute scoring drought during the final quarter and shot a dismal 8-of-27 during the second half.
“One day short of what our goal was,” Frankenmuth coach Joe Jacobs said. “The first half went in our favor, but then they made shots in the second half and the game got away from us. But it doesn’t take away from what these girls accomplished, and we have three seniors that have been here two times, so it was a special opportunity for them.”
Conzelmann led the Eagles with 15 points and three blocked shots. Macy Donovan and Isabelle Bernthal finished with nine and eight points, respectively.
PHOTOS: Tecumseh’s Makayla Schlorf (3) makes her move toward the basket with Frankenmuth’s Grace Brenner guarding her Friday at Breslin Center. (Middle) Chloe Bullinger (10) keeps the ball inbounds, sending it over Brenner’s outstretched arms. (Photos by Keionna Banks/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)