Girls Events Set Attendance Record
September 17, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Michigan High School Athletic Association girls postseason events enjoyed record attendance for the second straight school year in 2014-15 as nearly 1.4 million fans total took in tournament events for which attendance is recorded.
Total attendance for 2014-15 was 1,389,209 fans, with 926,099 at boys tournaments and 463,110 spectators at girls events. Attendance is kept for all sports except golf, skiing and tennis, for which admission typically is not charged.
That total was down 31,518 fans, or 2.2 percent, from 2013-14. But that decrease was due mostly to a 20 percent drop in football attendance stemming from an uncharacteristically cold and snowy weekend for Pre-District games, and despite a slight uptick in MHSAA Finals attendance (53,494) in the sport for the second straight season to its highest total since 2011.
Attendance for Pre-District football games was down 45,663 fans (33 percent) from the same round of the 2013 Playoffs – although that one-weekend deficit was made up partially by an increase of 28,550 fans (6.6 percent) at girls events over the previous school year.
Two girls sports – competitive cheer and volleyball – plus the combined girls and boys bowling tournament set attendance records during 2014-15. Volleyball set a an overall attendance record for the second straight season, with 110,931 fans, and also set records at the MHSAA District and Regional levels. Cheer set records at the District and Finals levels and overall with 31,284 fans for the tournament – an increase of 20 percent over the 2013-14 season. Bowling set an overall attendance record for the fourth straight season, this time with 13,298 fans.
A number of other sports continued promising trends. The Baseball and Softball Finals, which showed a 29-percent increase from the previous year after moving to Michigan State University in 2014, experienced another boost this spring. The Girls Soccer Finals also moved to MSU, which attracted more fans total to the site that weekend; however, the combined attendance for Baseball, Softball and Girls Soccer Finals (16,310 fans) this spring was 29 percent higher than the 2014 combined total when girls soccer championship games were played at two other sites.
Baseball and Softball Regionals experienced their highest turnouts since the 1995 season, with baseball setting a record for that round with 12,297 fans. Girls Soccer Regionals also set a record with 11,228 in attendance. All three sports saw overall postseason attendance increases from the spring 2014 to 2015 seasons.
Both girls and boys basketball also enjoyed postseason attendance increases for the 2014-15 season; girls basketball had its most fans (171,665) since 2005-06, while the boys (320,908) welcomed the most since 2011-12. Boys soccer postseason games attracted 34,795 fans, up 20 percent from 2013 and the most since the 2008 season, and wrestling experienced upticks at both championship levels – the Team Finals attendance of 29,564 was the highest since 2011, and the Individual Finals total of 49,215 was that event’s highest since 2012. Boys swimming and diving and the combined track and field tournaments also enjoyed increased tournament attendance from the previous school year.
2019 Scholar-Athlete Finalists Announced
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 22, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Awards for the 2018-19 school year, presented by Farm Bureau Insurance, have been announced.
The program, in its 30th 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 $1,000 scholarship to each recipient. Since the beginning of the program, 768 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 will be awarded to Class B student-athletes, four female and four male; six scholarships will be awarded to Class C student-athletes, three female and three male; and four scholarships will be 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. Detroit Catholic Central has four finalists this year while Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart, Northville and St. Joseph each have three. Twelve schools each have two finalists: Ann Arbor Pioneer, Big Rapids, Davison, Fenton, Grand Rapids West Catholic, Grosse Pointe South, Marlette, Novi, Okemos, Saranac, Traverse City Central and White Lake Lakeland.
Multiple-sport participation remains the norm among applicants. The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 2.4. There are 77 three-plus sport participants in the finalists field, and all but two of the 28 sports in which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments are represented.
Of 418 schools which submitted applicants, 30 submitted the maximum allowed. This year, 1,645 applications were received. All applicants will be presented with certificates commemorating their achievement. Additional Scholar-Athlete information, including a complete list of scholarship nominees, can be found on the MHSAA Website.
The applications were judged by a 65-member committee of school 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. 5, Class B scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 12 and Class A scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 19. All announcements will be made on the MHSAA Website.
To honor the 32 Scholar-Athlete Award recipients, a ceremony will take place during halftime of the Class C Boys Basketball Final, March 16, at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.
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, 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.
2018-19 Scholar-Athlete Award Finalists
BOYS CLASS A
Colin Czajkowski, Brownstown Woodhaven
David DeBacker, Detroit Catholic Central
Joseph Hardenbergh, Detroit Catholic Central
Keegan Koehler, Detroit Catholic Central
Ryan Marra, Detroit Catholic Central
Jack Killian, Fenton
Noah Stout, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central
Ryan Downey, Grosse Pointe South
Michael Willard, Grosse Pointe South
Samuel Martens, Holland
Carson Currie, Lapeer
Noah Kinnucan, Muskegon Mona Shores
Daniel McLaughlin, Northville
Matthew George, Novi
Trey Mullins, Novi
Carson Krumm, Okemos
Harrison Poeszat, Orchard Lake St. Mary's
Parker Raymond, Rochester Adams
Nolan Rich, St. Joseph
Edward Roe, Traverse City Central
Michael Song, Troy
John Tisch, Utica
Trent Farquhar, White Lake Lakeland
Avery Robinson, Wyoming
GIRLS CLASS A
Anna Scott, Ann Arbor Huron
Alexa Easter, Ann Arbor Pioneer
EmJ Rennich, Ann Arbor Pioneer
McKenna Evans, Battle Creek Lakeview
Ariella Cuellar, Bay City Central
Emily Moriartey, Davison
Ellie Timmons, Davison
Audrey Whiteside, East Grand Rapids
Chloe Idoni, Fenton
Lexi Loehfelm, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern
Adele Kemp, Greenville
Addison Irish, Hudsonville
Maya Albright, Midland
Mariella Simoncini, Northville
Claire Wan, Northville
Alma Cooper, Okemos
Yveloute Rea, Petoskey
Elizabeth Bulat, Rochester
Megan Corbe, St. Joseph
Cailey Rooker, St. Joseph
Jade Turner, Traverse City Central
Madeline Purvis, Troy Athens
Madeline Rehm, White Lake Lakeland
Megan Morehouse, Zeeland East
BOYS CLASS B
Sam Bussler, Battle Creek Harper Creek
Pierce Morrissey, Big Rapids
Clark Doman, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Justin Luo, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Alex Netzley, Cadillac
Noah Doederlein, Carleton Airport
Adam Bruce, Gladstone
Jack Perry, Michigan Center
Connor Swinehart, Newaygo
Michael Gormley, North Branch
Isaac Waffle, Olivet
Tommee Smith, Sparta
Cooper Clark, Stevensville Lakeshore
Dillon Mochty, Tawas
Dylan Day, Tecumseh
Ethan McKenzie, Whitehall
GIRLS CLASS B
Kamryn Cushway, Big Rapids
Salena Prakah-Asante, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Eleri Giem, Boyne City
Lauren Anderson, Charlotte
Olivia Haring, Clare
Daisy Ansel, Comstock
Sarah Bidgood, Comstock Park
Chloe Bartz, Edwardsburg
Zoe Neirink, Frankenmuth
Bridget Kohane, Grand Rapids West Catholic
Dana Wila, Grand Rapids West Catholic
Lindsey Jurecki, Grosse Ile
Robin LeFevere, Imlay City
Sophie Moccio, Milan
Emily Unger, Montague
Mallory Kean, Yale
BOYS CLASS C
Trey Feldeisen, Ann Arbor Greenhills
Brian Goetz, Blissfield
Timothy Marvin, Byron
Noah Waldron, Concord
Jared Swiontek, East Jackson
Alexander VanDeWeghe, Ithaca
Jack Sumners, Marcellus
Logan Marshall, Marlette
Logan Solgat, Marlette
Dane Smitz, Roscommon
Drew Ward, Saranac
Nathan Huizar, Vassar
GIRLS CLASS C
Sarah Barnes, Houghton Lake
Precious Delos Santos, Indian River Inland Lakes
Riley Poupore, Iron Mountain
Lauren Freeland, Kent City
Megan Dopheide, Lawton
Elizabeth O'Hotzke, Manchester
Joslyn Muth, Manistique
Rachel Allen, Mason County Central
Jordan Cooper, Saranac
Thea Johnson, Saugatuck
Lillian Bambacht, Union City
Jordan Craven, Whitmore Lake
BOYS CLASS D
Jake Lane, Climax-Scotts
Brendan LeClaire, Dollar Bay
William Newbold, Frankfort
John Slivka, Manistee Catholic Central
Ryan Yahner, McBain Northern Michigan Christian
Noah Krepostman, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart
Brendan Zeien, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart
Brandon Scheurer, Portland St. Patrick
GIRLS CLASS D
Keagan Fischer, Bellaire
Lyndsi Wolfe, Fulton
Natalie Woodland, Lansing Christian
Samantha Somers, Mackinaw City
Scout Nelson, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart
Abbey Bullis, Peck
Jessie Rieth, Three Oaks River Valley
Julia Diskin, West Bloomfield Frankel Jewish Academy