Finalists Announced for 2025-26 MHSAA/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Awards
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 20, 2026
The 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Awards for the 2025-26 school year, presented by Farm Bureau Insurance, have been announced.
The program, in its 37th year, has recognized student-athletes since the 1989-90 school year and again this winter will honor 32 individuals from MHSAA member schools who participate in at least one sport in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament.
Farm Bureau Insurance underwrites the Scholar-Athlete Awards and will present a $2,000 scholarship to each recipient. Since the beginning of the program, 991 scholarships have been awarded.
Scholarships will be presented proportionately by school classification, with 12 scholarships to be awarded to Class A student-athletes, six female and six male; eight scholarships awarded to Class B student-athletes, four female and four male; six scholarships awarded to Class C student-athletes, three female and three male; and four scholarships awarded to Class D student-athletes, two female and two male. In addition, two scholarships will be awarded at-large to minority recipients, regardless of school size.
Every MHSAA member high school could submit as many applications as there are scholarships available in its classification and could have more than one finalist. This year, 95 schools have a finalist, with Birmingham Groves and Flint Powers Catholic atop the list with three apiece. Twenty-one schools have two finalists: Ann Arbor Greenhills, Bay City Central, Birch Run, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, Corunna, Detroit Country Day, Frankenmuth, Grand Ledge, Holland, Holland West Ottawa, Midland Dow, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart, Negaunee, Northville, Okemos, Plymouth, Royal Oak, White Lake Lakeland and Yale.
Multiple-sport participation remains the norm among applicants. The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 3.02, up from 2.88 a year ago. There also are 82 three-plus sport participants in the finalists field, up from 75 in 2024-25, and all 31 sports in which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments are represented — including field hockey and boys volleyball, which joined the MHSAA's championship lineup this school year for the first time.
Of 426 schools which submitted applicants, 20 submitted the maximum allowed. This year, 1,438 applications were received. All applicants will be presented with certificates commemorating their achievement. Additional Scholar-Athlete Award information, including a complete list of scholarship nominees, can be found on the Scholar-Athlete Award page.
The applications were judged by a 72-member committee of coaches, counselors, faculty members, administrators and board members from MHSAA member schools. Selection of the 32 scholarship recipients will take place in early February. Class C and D scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 3, Class B scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 10 and Class A scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 17. All announcements will be made on the MHSAA Website.
To be eligible for the award, students must have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.50 (on a 4.0 scale) and previously have won a varsity letter in at least one sport in which the MHSAA sponsors a postseason tournament. Students also were asked to respond to a series of short essay questions and submit two letters of recommendation and a 500-word essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.
Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan was founded in 1949 by Michigan farmers who wanted an insurance company that worked as hard as they did. Those values still guide the company today and are a big reason why it is known as Michigan’s Insurance Company, dedicated to protecting the farms, families, and businesses of this great state. Farm Bureau Insurance agents across Michigan provide a full range of insurance services — life, home, auto, farm, business, retirement, Lake Estate®, and more — protecting nearly 500,000 Michigan policyholders.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 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, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.
2025-26 Scholar-Athlete Award Finalists
GIRLS CLASS A
Reese Beauleaux, Adrian
Asia Shi, Ann Arbor Huron
Lilamae Frank, Battle Creek Lakeview
Brynn Corrion, Bay City Central
Bella Matthews, Bay City Central
Lydia Binelli, Berkley
Jacey Roy, Birmingham Groves
Julia Yoder, Birmingham Groves
Ella Griffin, Bloomfield Hills
Sydney Behnke, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Justine Casey, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Laurin M. Edwards, Detroit Cass Tech
Grace Kim, Farmington Hills Mercy
Gracelynn Olson, Fruitport
Jade Queen, Grand Ledge
Maggie Telgenhof, Holland
Maggie Rothstein, Holland West Ottawa
Mattie Thompson, Okemos
Veda Keshavamurthy, Plymouth
Ava Mac Donald, Rochester Adams
Jillian Hayes, Saline
Arabella Glass, Waterford Kettering
Anna Linen, White Lake Lakeland
Meredith Peterson, White Lake Lakeland
BOYS CLASS A
Ari Blank, Birmingham Groves
Caleb Garrett, Birmingham Seaholm
Sajan Doshi, Bloomfield Hills
Kazutaka Suzuki, Canton
Ryan Dye, Detroit Catholic Central
Carson Soltis, DeWitt
Trevor Griffith, Flint Kearsley
Ian Deters, Grand Ledge
Eli Macauley, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern
Andrew Legg, Holland
Drew Rothstein, Holland West Ottawa
Wesley Rogers, Mason
Marcel Stork, Mattawan
Eamon Murray, Midland
Matthew Huang, Midland Dow
Matthew McGaugh, Midland Dow
Benjamin Hu, Northville
Amogh Mavatoor, Northville
Ian Morgan, Okemos
Sami Anwar, Plymouth
Omar Elghawy, Portage Northern
Luke Desnoyer, Royal Oak
Nicholas Maeso, Royal Oak
Owen Wohlfert, Traverse City West
GIRLS CLASS B
Sophia Hazzi, Ann Arbor Greenhills
Sydney Fox, Birch Run
Avery Pagel, Birch Run
Presley Chamberlain, Cheboygan
Madison Dennis, Durand
Natalie Foltz, Frankenmuth
Julia Noureddine, Grosse Ile
Phoebe Elder, Haslett
Brayley West, Lake Fenton
Aubrey Tarkiewicz, Marshall
Clare O'Donnell, Negaunee
Liliana Saunders, Negaunee
Lilly Thelen, Portland
Maya Grossman, Vicksburg
Ava Lassey, Wixom St. Catherine
Kendall Hollon, Yale
BOYS CLASS B
Parth Ashok, Ann Arbor Greenhills
Cole Haist, Big Rapids
Miles Dell, Chelsea
Nolan Carr, Corunna
Joel DeLorge, Corunna
Hugh Aaron, Detroit Country Day
Micah Zacks, Detroit Country Day
Möbius Stubblefield, Edwardsburg
Caleb Carignan, Flint Powers Catholic
Bryce Gross, Flint Powers Catholic
Logan Johnson, Flint Powers Catholic
Caden Sommerfield, Frankenmuth
Dylan Becksvoort, Holland Christian
Jaxxon Thelen, Ionia
Tucker Cole, Tecumseh
Jackson Kohler, Yale
GIRLS CLASS C
Anna Poppema, Bath
Hope Miller, Blissfield
Brynne Schulte, Elk Rapids
Addyson Rhodes, Grandville Calvin Christian
Molly Soper, Hanover-Horton
Izabella Latuszek, Laingsburg
Maya Carlson, Manistique
Ashley Carlson, Norway
Luella Whipkey, Oscoda
Emma Winans, Perry
Lillian Kwiatkowski, Rudyard
Irelynn Pachulski, Saranac
BOYS CLASS C
Ethan Stine, Bridgman
Joe Gaffney, Charlevoix
Gavin Comero, Ishpeming Westwood
Sean Siems, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep
Eli Smith, LeRoy Pine River
Grason Weber, Leslie
Sean Dammann, New Lothrop
Logan Slimko, North Muskegon
Drew Ruddy, Ottawa Lake Whiteford
Luke Paxton, Pewamo-Westphalia
Ryan Kowalczyk, Pinconning
Amos Miller, Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy
GIRLS CLASS D
Audrey Stone, Bessemer
Madison Karakashian, Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart
Alexa Ross, Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart
Caila Fitchett, Dryden
Lorna Wiesen, Leland
Isabel Rookard, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart
Hope Woolman, Sterling Heights Parkway Christian
Emily DelFavero, Wakefield-Marenisco
BOYS CLASS D
Zyan Breznik, Adrian Lenawee Christian
Ian Flanagan, Deckerville
Brady Jungwirth, Felch North Dickinson
David Wahl, Gaylord St Mary
Connor Hill, Hillsdale Academy
Noah Zeien, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart
Jack Nelson, Ontonagon
Louis Kowalsky, West Bloomfield FJA
2022 WISL Honoree Hyman Lauded for Lifetime of Leadership
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 25, 2022
Lori Hyman was a sports standout in high school, then at Michigan State University. She then coached college basketball for 17 years, starting when she was only 23 years old, and surely could’ve continued down that path.
While always a leader, she decided to change gears in 1995 and provide guidance another way – coaching up coaches as a high school athletic director. Over the next 27 years, she became one of the most respected ADs in Michigan – and contributed in that role at her alma mater Livonia Stevenson over the last 22.
To celebrate her many contributions to school sports, at home but also statewide, Hyman has been named the 35th recipient of the MHSAA Women In Sports Leadership Award. She will receive the award during the Division 1 Girls Basketball Final on March 19 at Michigan State’s Breslin Center.
Hyman served her first five years as an athletic director at Dexter, making the move there after four college basketball coaching stops. After a memorable hoops career at MSU, she served as a women’s basketball graduate assistant at Ferris State University and then head coach at Northwood Institute (now University) from 1981-82 – when she was only 23 years old – through 1985-86.
She then served as an assistant at University of Illinois before returning as head coach at Ferris State from 1989-90 through 1994-95. In Fall 1995, she began at Dexter.
“Every part of my career I’ve been happy with, and honored, and just thoroughly enjoyed it,” Hyman said. “It’s been a passion of mine, every aspect.
“(Playing at Michigan State) was one of the best times, if not the best time, of my life as a youngster. And then being an athletic director has probably been the most rewarding as an adult. And being at Stevenson, coming back home, has been quite an honor and just a very rich experience for me.”
Each year, the Representative Council considers the achievements of women coaches, officials and athletic administrators affiliated with the MHSAA who show exemplary leadership capabilities and positive contributions to athletics.
Hyman is a 1975 graduate of Stevenson, where she also played softball and competed in track & field. She was named MSU’s Outstanding Athlete of the Year for women’s basketball in 1979, after serving as co-captain of the team that season but missing the majority of it with an injury.
As an athlete at MSU, she joined her teammates in filing a 1978 discrimination complaint that requested the women’s basketball team receive travel allowances equal to those received by the Spartans men’s team. “It is very meaningful that Michigan State is where they are now, not just in women’s basketball but the women’s sport program,” Hyman said. “I feel like we were part of that growing and moving forward in a positive way, and I thank Michigan State for recognizing that and moving it forward.”
She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and health in 1980 and has a master’s in athletic administration from Wayne State University. She received her certified master athletic administrator designation from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) in 2006.
Back at Stevenson, Hyman has directed the athletic program for a high school with nearly 1,700 students, which by enrollment ranks 50th out of 750 MHSAA member schools.
She has hosted a multitude of MHSAA Tournament events while at both Dexter and Stevenson and has served on the MHSAA’s girls tennis, girls basketball and boys basketball committees. She also has served as the girls and boys tennis commissioner of the Kensington Lakes Activities Association, of which Stevenson is a member.
“Lori has been a leader and pioneer in the world of athletics, and in particular as an advocate for females and girls sports,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “When she left coaching basketball to work as an AD, it was an incredible victory for kids in our state. She’s been dependable, loyal and just a model of consistency in running a first-class program.”
Hyman was named her region’s Athletic Director of the Year by the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA) in 2014 and received its Jack Johnson Distinguished Service Award in 2015.
As an instructor for the MIAAA, Hyman has provided training particularly to beginning athletic directors. She has served as a Leadership Training Institute instructor as well for the MIAAA and as a presider and speaker at the MIAAA’s annual conference. She also has spoken at the MHSAA’s Women In Sports Leadership Conference.
“I’ve always been an advocate for women in sports and equal opportunity,” Hyman added. “I treat all of the sports here equally, male and female. But if I feel that there needs to be a little bit more advocacy for women in sports, whether it’s coaching and getting more girls involved, or officiating, administration, any kind of leadership, I’m really big on that.”
“I’m a big advocate for women in athletics, but (also) just athletics in general.”
In addition to her vast school sports responsibilities and contributions, Hyman has volunteered with Special Olympics, Livonia’s Newburg United Methodist Church and Rotary Club.
The first Women In Sports Leadership Award was presented in 1990.
Past recipients
1990 – Carol Seavoy, L’Anse
1991 – Diane Laffey, Harper Woods
1992 – Patricia Ashby, Scotts
1993 – Jo Lake, Grosse Pointe
1994 – Brenda Gatlin, Detroit
1995 – Jane Bennett, Ann Arbor
1996 – Cheryl Amos-Helmicki, Huntington Woods
1997 – Delores L. Elswick, Detroit
1998 – Karen S. Leinaar, Delton
1999 – Kathy McGee, Flint
2000 – Pat Richardson, Grass Lake
2001 – Suzanne Martin, East Lansing
2002 – Susan Barthold, Kentwood
2003 – Nancy Clark, Flint
2004 – Kathy Vruggink Westdorp, Grand Rapids
2005 – Barbara Redding, Capac
2006 – Melanie Miller, Lansing
2007 – Jan Sander, Warren Woods
2008 – Jane Bos, Grand Rapids
2009 – Gail Ganakas, Flint; Deb VanKuiken, Holly
2010 – Gina Mazzolini, Lansing
2011 – Ellen Pugh, West Branch; Patti Tibaldi, Traverse City
2012 – Janet Gillette, Comstock Park
2013 – Barbara Beckett, Traverse City
2014 – Teri Reyburn, DeWitt
2015 – Jean LaClair, Bronson
2016 – Betty Wroubel, Pontiac
2017 – Dottie Davis, Ann Arbor
2018 – Meg Seng, Ann Arbor
2019 – Kris Isom, Adrian
2020 – Nikki Norris, East Lansing
2021 – Dorene Ingalls, St. Ignace
PHOTO Livonia Stevenson athletic director Lori Hyman (right) and Finals swimming champion McKenzie Siroky hold up a championship medal alongside photos honoring Siroky's achievements. (Photo courtesy of the Stevenson athletic department.)