Johnson Served as Storyteller, Guardian
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 5, 2021
Promoting the value – and values – of school-based sports.
No statement more completely, or succinctly, explains the mission of the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
Those words were sparked in the mind of John Johnson, and also might best describe his work for the MHSAA over more than three decades – which concluded with his retirement Dec. 18.
Johnson’s official title for most of his tenure was communications director, by which he designed and delivered the message of the MHSAA’s work. A more suitable title might have been “guardian” – Johnson in 1987 joined the then 62-year-old organization and became keeper and protector of all the MHSAA had been and was becoming under its recently-hired executive director, Jack Roberts.
More than 33 years later, “JJ” has stepped away as the pioneer in his field and having impacted multiple generations of Michigan high school and middle school athletes in ways that will continue. Whether as the coiner of memorable slogans, the voice explaining the nation’s first elaborate sportsmanship effort or detailing the MHSAA’s work for its schools during tougher times, or simply as the narrator passing on some of the good stories the bubble up from every season, Johnson daily worked to keep those who follow school sports in the know.
“Being the voice, and having to be the face a lot, is something that came with the territory – somebody had to be the storyteller. And while you can be prideful about that, the important thing is still the story,” Johnson said. “I’ve said it a lot: I was the lucky guy who got the job. Because the story was there to be told, the work was there to be done.”
Thousands upon thousands of times over the years, Johnson did that work with enthusiasm and grace. Most visibly, it came in front of a TV or radio microphone, or as quoted in your local newspaper and media nationwide. He has been the drive behind the MHSAA championship games watched annually on TV and online, and the messenger via various campaigns delivering the good news of why school sports are vital for kids and communities.
Serving as that storyteller, Johnson has never been one to tell much of his own. But there is no shortage of storytellers who have benefitted from Johnson’s wisdom and tutelage over the years – and we were enable to enlist a few to paint a more vivid picture as we recount at least a glance of what Johnson has meant to the MHSAA and its schools over these many years.
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“The measure of all of us is what we leave behind. Those with whom we’ve been in contact. Those we’ve lifted up along the way. And by that measure, we are witnessing the end of a spectacular career. I’ll take away from all the exchanges, the ready smile, the encyclopedic knowledge that JJ possessed and the sense of calm within the frenzy. It was invaluable to those who popped into his world only a few times a year. John Johnson has left very large shoes in East Lansing.”
– John Keating, longtime FOX Sports Detroit anchor and host for many MHSAA Football and Basketball Finals
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First and 1 of a Kind
Jack Roberts became the fourth full-time executive director of the MHSAA during the summer of 1986. He brought an emphasis on communication, and “communications director” became the first position he created in East Lansing.
Johnson in 1987 became that first communications specialist at the MHSAA, beginning a long last stop during a run in sports that Johnson began as a student at Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart, about an hour’s drive north of Lansing.
Johnson hadn’t played sports at Sacred Heart, but had taken part in just about every other way possible for a student. He was a team manager, statistician, student trainer, and picked up part-time sports writing work at the former Mt. Pleasant Daily Times. He wrote a series while still in high school on the creation of the MHSAA football playoffs, which were set to kick off in 1975, and that series was syndicated among the newspapers in the Daily Times’ chain. As a student, Johnson moved on to Michigan State University where he majored in journalism, and again he was published and syndicated by the Daily Times – this time for a series on how game officials were being trained by state associations, including the MHSAA.
That series foreshadowed the work he would take up a decade later – it closed with a piece on poor spectatorship toward officials. (Coincidentally, the collection of stories had been clipped and saved by the MHSAA executive director at the time, Vern Norris. The file found its way to Roberts, who eventually found out he had just hired the author.)
Also having served as a student assistant in the MSU sports information office, Johnson began his communications career at Albion College in 1978 as an assistant in the college relations office with responsibility for publicity for the college’s 17 athletic teams. (He didn’t graduate from MSU until 1979, but received two days off per week to get back to East Lansing for classes. He also served as a radio voice for Albion High games on the side.) Johnson moved on to brief stints in the news department with WITL Radio in Lansing and as an intern in the Office of Public Affairs at Ferris State University before landing with the Western Michigan University sports information department as an assistant director.
That led to a three-year stint as an assistant sports information director at Indiana University, where his responsibilities included serving as SID for coach Bobby Knight’s men’s basketball program. Johnson also assisted with press operations at the 1984 U.S. Olympic Basketball Trials hosted by IU. Johnson then left Indiana in January 1986 for a promotions position at Michigan Farm Bureau.
Six months later, his eventual journey to the MHSAA accelerated.
Roberts was hired during the summer of 1986, and not long after he asked MSU sports information director Nick Vista who had been his best student assistant of the past decade. The answer: John Johnson.
Johnson and Roberts met multiple times over the next many months, and Roberts made his choice.
“From the first moment I sat down with Jack Roberts, I knew I wanted to be here,” Johnson said. “The way he talked so passionately about high school sports, and the values of high school sports. … I saw the opportunity to take Jack’s vision and run with it.”
The day before the announcement of Johnson’s hire was to be made, Roberts asked Johnson to come with him to Grand Rapids to watch South Christian basketball star Matt Steigenga (later of MSU and the NBA) – but Johnson couldn’t go because his wife Suzie had gone into labor with their first of two children.
But a little more than a month later, Johnson started at the MHSAA on April 1 – and that came with plenty of jokes on its own.
Yet while Johnson had to miss that trip to Grand Rapids, he and the executive director would get plenty of car time together – to the benefit of the MHSAA’s member schools. To introduce themselves to statewide media, Roberts and Johnson did a driving tour to visit all of them, touring their offices, talking to them about MHSAA initiatives and asking how Association staff could better assist the media in its work. Those drives also allowed them to dream up together “the kinds of things that were unveiled over time,” Roberts recalled.
“We talked so much those first 15 years, we could intuit each other’s thinking the last 15 years,” added Roberts, who retired from the MHSAA in 2018. “We didn’t spend nearly as much time together, but we didn’t need to.”
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“John Johnson has positively influenced so many more people than he knows and more than anyone realizes. It starts with the thousands and thousands of people who have been able to watch high school sports on the web throughout Michigan. Live-streaming of games has really come to the forefront due to the pandemic, but he was on top of this innovation nearly a decade ago when it was just in the early idea stage. He has been the person who orchestrated and led the countless schools across the state who started streaming their games in the past several years.
“JJ has also impacted numerous student journalists who wanted to learn the craft by covering high school games. He has always been SO supportive of these aspiring broadcasters and writers and reporters, affording them the opportunities to cover high school championships on the biggest stages, and treating those students the same as their professional peers. The students got to be on the turf at Ford Field and in the postgame press rooms, even if their school's team wasn't involved in the game! All they had to do was ask for credentials, and he granted them time and time again.
“JJ's influence also touched those of us who work for the MHSAA in a freelance fashion at various championship events. He has helped so many of us become better communicators, announcers, statisticians, and more. He was always willing to provide feedback & opportunities to learn, and he served as our leader who was always accessible morning, noon, and night. He pushed us to be our best every game, just as the athletes were trying to be their best. It's been my pleasure to work for him as a PA announcer for several years now, and I tried to be perfect every single time because I knew he was listening and because I wanted to do well for him.”
– Roger Smith, advisor for Lake Orion High School’s nationally award-winning School Broadcast Program and public address announcer for MHSAA Finals
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Telling the Story
In Roberts’ eyes, a few campaigns from his and Johnson’s time together stand out most.
• Promoting the Value – and Values of High School Sports. “I came in with “School Sports – the other half of education” but that wasn’t as good,” Roberts said. … (His words) caught our brand much better.”
• Good Sports are Winners. The MHSAA launched a sportsmanship initiative a few years into their tenures that was “unparalleled” nationally, per Roberts’ description. “Before sportsmanship was an 'in thing' to talk about, John and I were talking about it.” Johnson created all of the print and broadcast materials designed to promote improving sportsmanship, and his work helped make Michigan not just the leader but a voice nationally on the topic.
• Safer Than Ever. The campaign, stretching over much of the last decade, explained that high school football – for a variety of reasons – is safer than it has ever been. Johnson worked with the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association to build the messages and promote them at a time when injury fears were regularly headlining media coverage.
“John made our ideas visible and practical. People would put them together at the league level and school district level,” Roberts said.
“To narrow (his work) down to three is unfair to him because he did a thousand things.”
And in a number of roles. Johnson started as communications director, picking up along the way responsibilities in information technology, marketing, merchandising and more. Everything from daily media questions to maintaining the MHSAA record book (and serving on the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) national record book committee) fell onto Johnson’s desk, and just about any message read at any game by a public address announcer was his work. His final years were as “all things broadcasting” as Johnson served as the MHSAA’s first director of broadcast properties – an all-encompassing title that included all-encompassing responsibilities.
The MHSAA provides video broadcasts of nearly all of its MHSAA Finals – including football and basketball with FOX Sports Detroit – and Johnson has navigated the growth of those opportunities. Same with the MHSAA Network’s audio offerings during championship events, and his voice has been heard weekly during “This Week in High School Sports” which is aired as part of programming by more than 100 radio stations statewide.
The most significant advance under his guidance over the last two decades has been the School Broadcast Program, begun for MHSAA schools during the 2008-09 school year. The MHSAA relied on that knowledge in playing a leading role last decade in the formation of the NFHS Network – the nationwide digital home for live and on-demand high school events – and it’s not unusual for Michigan SBP schools to broadcast upwards of 500 events per week via the network.
“What people don’t necessarily know is John is the pioneer in this field,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “The way he shaped this job over the last 30 years has been extraordinary – and has become the model for the 49 other states.”
***
“I’m sure that with me, JJ had to do things he never had done with anyone else – I was pregnant three straight schools years. The accommodations for me, even as just a female, it was kinda crazy especially in the 1980s. But when I was pregnant, I couldn’t walk up stairs, and he always would make special concessions for me, (like to) try to find bathrooms for me. There were so many media, and there always had to be exceptions, but he always had to take special care for me, and I’m so thankful for what he did. We laugh about that stuff all the time.
“I remember too, I had a tragedy in my family one year, and I know he was busy at the Finals, but he took me (aside), sat there and cried with me and talked with me. He took time out of his way. He treated me professionally, like everyone else. But as a person, he has such a gift to connect with people.”
– Jane Bos, longtime prep sports editor for the Grand Rapids Press and 2008 recipient of MHSAA Women In Sports Leadership Award
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More than Scratching the Surface
The work Johnson pioneered at the MHSAA goes on. Formerly a staff of one (with help from valuable volunteers including long-time postseason assistant Walter Dell) now includes a team of employees to handle the media relations, publications, broadcasting, marketing and other messaging needs.
While making the rules for school sports remains the top priority for the MHSAA, telling the story of their importance in students’ lives comes in a close second – and Johnson has written at least the first chapters of the book.
“It needed to be done; the Association had to take bigger steps into the communications world. And thanks to Jack Roberts, it did. I was the lucky guy who landed in the chair,” Johnson said.
But again, that is simply scratching the surface. We’ll end with longtime Detroit Free Press sportswriter Mick McCabe taking a last deep dive.
I first met John Johnson in the late fall of 1977.
He was a student at Michigan State and worked in the sports information office. I was a sports writer for the Detroit Free Press, covering MSU basketball, featuring JJ’s brother, Earvin.
Well, maybe Earvin and JJ weren’t exactly blood relatives, but they were both fun to be around and each had a profound effect on my life.
No, really.
When watching the Spartans back then you knew you were watching someone special, which is why they called him Magic.
No one ever used the word magic in describing JJ, but he was young and enthusiastic and sociable while he learned the tricks of the trade under the watchful eyes of Fred Stabley Sr. and Nick Vista, the absolute best sports information directors in the country.
That is why I knew JJ would be such a good fit at Albion College, which just so happened to be looking for an SID when JJ was graduating from MSU.
JJ was exactly what Albion needed and did an excellent job and soon JJ’s career was off and running.
Somewhere along the way JJ landed at Indiana University where Bob Knight learned to tolerate JJ. If you’ve ever met Knight and understand his relationship with other human beings, you know that is like saying JJ and Knight were besties.
That was reinforced in the spring of 1984 when I spent almost two weeks in Bloomington covering the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball trials and interacted with JJ on a daily basis.
In the spring of 1987 JJ accepted a job with the Michigan High School Athletic Association. It was a job that hadn’t existed before JJ came riding into town.
Jack Roberts was in his first year as the MHSAA’s executive director and JJ was one of his first hires. He was also one of his best.
JJ was hired as the MHSAA’s first communications director. Before JJ arrived the words “communication” and “MHSAA” had never been used together in the same sentence.
If a member of the media had a question for the MHSAA chances are good it would never be answered.
That changed the minute JJ was hired. If he didn’t know the answer, he got the answer for you. And if you needed to speak with someone about a particular question, JJ got you to that person.
It wasn’t JJ’s job to do our job for us, but the thing we didn’t want was for him or someone else from the MHSAA to get in the way of us doing our job.
Not only didn’t JJ get out of the way for us, he helped us and made our jobs easier with the way he ran communications for the MHSAA.
A few weeks ago, with JJ’s imminent retirement growing closer, someone asked me to describe the worst phone call I received from JJ, one in which he was irate with something negative I had written about the MHSAA.
Certainly, he assumed, over 34 years there had to be many such phone calls.
He was genuinely surprised to learn it never happened. Not even once.
JJ knew that the media has a job to do and his job didn’t require him to complain when something negative about the MHSAA was written. I’m certain it was a lesson he learned from Stabley and Vista, who operated the same way.
As far as I know, the only times JJ ever called a member of the media after a negative story was when the reporter had the facts wrong. His call just pointed out the errors and he left out the tongue lashing.
JJ was the consummate professional in doing his job and he did it better than anyone else.
There is no way I am going to describe JJ’s job performance at the MHSAA as magical, like Earvin’s, but it was pretty darn close.
PHOTOS: (Top) MHSAA Communications Director John Johnson kneels at midcourt at The Palace of Auburn Hills in 1990 having designed the floor for that year's Basketball Finals. (2) Johnson, middle, wears the headset during a playoff production. (3) Johnson, right, coordinated media, announcing and stat-keeping among other areas during MHSAA events at the Breslin Center. (4) Johnson, far left, stands with (from left) MHSAA public address announcers Roger Smith, Erik O. Furseth, Tony Coggins and Steve Miller during a Baseball/Softball Finals weekend. (5) Johnson walks the turf at Ford Field during a Football Finals. (Photos from MHSAA archives.)
Scholars & Athletes 2017: Class A
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 20, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Michigan High School Athletic Association has selected 13 student-athletes from Class A member schools to receive scholarships through the MHSAA-Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award program.
Farm Bureau Insurance, in its 28th year of sponsoring the award, will give $1,000 college scholarships to 32 individuals who represent their member schools in at least one sport in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament. The first 30 scholarships are awarded proportionately by school classification and the number of student-athletes involved in those classes; also, there are two at-large honorees which can come from any classification.
Students applying for the Scholar-Athlete Award must be carrying at least a 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale) grade-point average and have previously won a letter in a varsity sport in which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors a postseason tournament. Other requirements for the applicants were to show active participation in other school and community activities and produce an essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.
Each of the scholarship recipients will be honored at halftime ceremonies of the Class C Boys Basketball Final game March 25 at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing. Commemorative medallions will be given to the finalists in recognition of their accomplishments.
The Class A Scholar-Athlete Award honorees are: Justin Beemer, Fenton; Aidan Carichner, Saline; Lindsay Duca, East Grand Rapids; Connor K. Fischer, Grandville; Jordan George-Nwogu, Ann Arbor Pioneer; Paige Hallock, Greenville; Nathan Jones, Battle Creek Lakeview; Landon Kemp, Greenville; Connor Bryant Meehan, Saline; Varun R. Shanker, Midland Dow; Nikki Sorgi, Utica Ford; Caroline Szabo, Midland Dow; and Jordan Walker, Muskegon Mona Shores.
Overviews of the scholarship recipients of the Class A Scholar-Athlete Award follow. A quote from each recipient's essay also is included:
Lindsay Duca
East Grand Rapids
Played four years of varsity volleyball and will play her fourth of varsity lacrosse; also played varsity basketball as a freshman. Served as lacrosse team captain as a junior and will as a senior and has been part of three straight MHSAA Division 2 championships in that sport; also played on the 2013 Class A volleyball title-winning team. Earned all-state in lacrosse. Founded school’s “Big Sister Little Sister” program and helped match up more than 160 freshmen and senior girls. Participated in key club four years volunteering more than 40 hours each year. Participated in multiple leadership and youth development initiatives over her four year and served the last two as part of the MHSAA’s Student Advisory Council. Also served three years with school’s “Healthy High” organization promoting healthy lifestyles and two as part of the Kids Food Basket Youth Advisory Board raising funds and awareness to combat childhood hunger. Will attend Pomona College in California and study political science.
Essay Quote: “Situations … where I have performed courageous acts of sportsmanship in the face of adversity, have shaped my character into a brave contender unafraid to stand up, or swallow my pride, for what is right. They have challenged me to not take the easy route out, even if that entails suppressing my instincts or sacrificing my dignity.”
Paige Hallock
Greenville
Played three years of varsity volleyball, four of varsity basketball and will run her third of varsity track & field. Earned all-state recognition in basketball and served as captain of both that team and her volleyball team. Participating in third year of National Honor Society and received academic honors her first three years of high school with a grade-point average above 3.9. Serves as president of her school’s LINK and Helping Out New Kids clubs and as an e-board member for Students Against Destructive Decisions. Also has participated in student council and as part of her school’s Interact junior rotary club. Participating in fourth year as part of school’s Village Green Show Choir. In addition to other volunteer work, helped raise $2,000 for a school banner bringing awareness to drunk driving. Will attend Grand Valley State University and study either physical therapy or nursing.
Essay Quote: “The word sportsmanship means many different things to people, but to me it means playing the game and playing it the right away. Respecting your teammates, referees, coaches, the opposing team, spectators in the stands and the communities. It’s important to be able to show this respect and still compete at a high level of play. By showing respect, you will earn others’ respect in return.”
Landon Kemp
Greenville
Played two years of varsity golf, four of varsity basketball and will run her fourth of varsity track & field. Set the MHSAA all-Finals record for pole vault in 2016 in winning the Lower Peninsula Division 1 title. Has placed a combined eight times at MHSAA Finals over her first three track & field seasons; also qualified for the MHSAA Finals in golf and earned all-league honors in basketball three times heading into this winter. Served as captain of both the basketball and track & field teams. Participating in fourth year of National Honor Society, currently as vice president, and also serves as an e-board member for her school’s Helping Out New Kids club. Received academic honors her first three years of high school with a grade-point average above 3.9 and was selected by her school superintendent to serve on school improvement and mission statement committees. Served four years on the Greenville Area Youth Advisory Council and is serving this year as a student representative to the Greenville Education Foundation. Will attend University of South Dakota and study sports management and media.
Essay Quote: “Sportsmanship isn’t about what you can do for yourself; it’s about what you can do for others. … Learning to go out of your way for others can be hard at first, but the more you do it, the more you will want to do it.”
Nikki Sorgi
Utica Ford
Played four seasons of varsity basketball and will play her fourth of varsity softball. Helped basketball team to a District title as a junior and her softball team to the MHSAA Division 1 Semifinals as a freshman. Has been part of four team school records in softball and earned all-state honors, and owns two school records in basketball while earning all-county recognition. Served as captain of both teams and was named one of two state winners of the Wendy’s High School Heisman Award. Serving fourth year on student council and participating in her fourth year of both National Honor Society and National Technical Honor Society. Also has participated in DECA, including as president, and as part of her school’s Interact club. Selected every year as a mentor/recruiter to encourage middle and elementary school students to play high school sports. Organized a drive to collect donated blankets the last three years for C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Will attend Bowling Green State University and major in pre-medical studies.
Essay Quote: “In softball, failure is a natural part of the game. Where else do you succeed only three out of 10 times and you are considered a success? Coping with this rate of failure not only builds mental toughness, but also an understanding that failure in sports is not something to fear: it presents an opportunity to learn and to grow.”
Caroline Szabo
Midland Dow
Played four seasons of varsity golf and will play her fourth of varsity tennis. Earned all-state honors in tennis twice and all-region and academic all-state honors in golf. Won No. 2 singles championship at 2016 Lower Peninsula Division 1 Tennis Finals and helped both teams to MHSAA Finals team titles during the calendar year 2016. Named National Merit Scholarship semifinalist and Advanced Placement (AP) Scholar with Honors. Participating in third year of National Honor Society and second as part of DECA, serving as her school club’s vice president of competition and a delegate to the International Career Development Conference; helped her DECA club to a state championship in sports & entertainment marketing and state medal award in business test. Participated in a summer chemistry research internship at Michigan State University. Served as a volunteer at Mid-Michigan Regional Medical Center and Greater Midland Tennis Center. Will attend Michigan State and study biochemistry.
Essay Quote: “ … I realized that if athletes don’t uphold the values of the game through good sportsmanship, they have not reaped the benefits from their participation in sports – benefits that can extend beyond sports and into life in general. I have now been on state championship-winning teams in two sports, but those accomplishments wouldn’t be as special to me if I hadn’t shown good sportsmanship throughout all of my athletic endeavors.”
Jordan Walker
Muskegon Mona Shores
Played four seasons of varsity basketball, will run her fourth of varsity track & field and also played a season of varsity volleyball. Earned all-state and academic all-state recognition for basketball as both a sophomore and junior and helped her team to three straight league titles entering this winter. Named the statewide Miss Basketball Award winner as a senior. Also served as captain of the basketball team and has served the last two years as part of the MHSAA’s Student Advisory Council. Serving her fourth year on student senate, with two as vice president, and is participating in her second year of National Honor Society. Organized “Kicks for Kids” shoe drive and has served as a peer tutor and a volunteer basketball coach; also has served as part of her district’s elementary school reading program and on the hospitality committee for her church. Will attend Western Michigan University and study political science.
Essay Quote: “It took a devastating injury for me to grasp aspects of the game of basketball that may previously have been a blur or that I ignored all together. Similarly, I learned a great deal and encountered similar frustration being on the sideline during this past election – a year shy of being able to vote. Although my voice may be heard from the ‘sideline’ in both cases, nothing trumps one’s ability to have a direct influence – especially when it comes to displaying appropriate sportsmanship … in competition and beyond.”
Justin Beemer
Fenton
Played two years of varsity soccer and participated in three seasons of varsity swimming & diving, earning all-league honors in both and advancing to the MHSAA Finals in the latter as part of the school record-setting 400-yard freestyle relay. Helped both teams to league championships, the swim team to three straight over his first three seasons, and co-captained both teams while also earning league all-academic honors in both sports. Participating in fourth year of marching band and third of National Honor Society, and helped the school’s first robotics team to a state semifinalist finish as a junior. Earned a Michigan Interscholastic Press Association writing award and serves as a band section leader. Has represented his Michigan district and a four-state region as part of the Missouri Synod’s Lutheran Youth Fellowship leadership program. Will attend University of Michigan and study biomedical engineering.
Essay Quote: “Sportsmanship lays a foundation for the fair treatment and respect of others. Much like athletics, the world is a competitive place. … My coaches often say that you play like you practice. I believe this principle applies to our lives as well; the dignity with which student athletes conduct themselves in high school is simply practice for the competition of life.”
Aidan Carichner
Saline
Ran three seasons of varsity cross country and will run his third of varsity track & field this spring. Earned all-state in cross country in the fall after finishing 26th at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final, and academic all-state in that sport as a junior. Has served as captain of both teams. Served three years on student council, two as section leader in his school’s jazz band, two as a “Link Crew” leader and two as a “Ten for Men” Christian fellowship leader. Recognized as Saline’s “Youth of the Year” in 2016 and was named a National Merit Scholarship Commended Scholar. Received a superior rating for clarinet from the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association. Initiated a drive to recycle 100 pairs of shoes for use in making tracks and other play surfaces; and for “Walk, Run & Roll” event, secured donation of shoes for athletes with special needs. Participating in second year of National Honor Society and fourth as part of University of Michigan’s MREACH academic enrichment and leadership development program. With attend University of Michigan and major in pre-medical studies or business administration.
Essay Quote: “Sportsmanship is a product of understanding, connection, competition and respect. … Without it, we remain strangers on opponent sides. With sportsmanship, we form a special bond and add to the richness of our experience.”
Connor K. Fischer
Grandville
Played two seasons of varsity football, three of varsity ice hockey and will play his third of varsity lacrosse this spring. Helped hockey team to the MHSAA Division 1 Final in 2015 and Semifinals in 2016 and has served as team captain for all three of his sports. Earned academic all-state recognition in football in the fall. Serving second year as his class’ president and fourth on his class’ executive board. Participating in second year of National Honor Society and first on his school’s student life committee, and has logged more than 570 hours of community service in addition to providing youth leadership and service with his church. Carries a 4.06 grade-point average and earned the Advanced Placement (AP) Scholar Award. Selected to both the U.S. Military Academy Summer Leadership Experience and U.S. Naval Academy Summer Seminar in 2016. Has accepted appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and will study mechanical engineering.
Essay Quote: “One team overcome by grief, one team surrounding them with compassion. That powerful moment was perhaps the purest example of the importance of sportsmanship. What made it amazing was that it wasn’t scripted. No one told those young men what to do, or how to act. They already knew; it was already in them. It had been developed and engrained through years of competition in educational athletics.”
Jordan George-Nwogu
Ann Arbor Pioneer
Played three years of varsity football and will play his third of varsity baseball this spring. Earned all-league honorable mention in football his last two seasons and made the Ann Arbor News Dream Team as a junior; earned all-state baseball honors as a junior and has served as captain of that team. Participating in third year of National Honor Society and Kiwanis Club and second as part of school’s Gift Club community service organization. Played two years in school’s concert band and earned all-state as first chair tuba from the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association. Also participated in Ann Arbor Public Schools’ Rising Scholars program for three years, as a Science Olympiad coach for elementary students and as part of his church teen ministry. Named NAACP Scholar and Alpha Kappa Alpha Young Man of Promise. Will attend University of Michigan and study engineering.
Essay Quote: “Sportsmanship is about being gracious in both victory and defeat. As an 8-year-old playing soccer, sportsmanship was easier since we got an ice cream treat after a game whether we won or lost. Dealing with losses can be a lot more difficult in high school. … Sportsmanship has taught me to treat game losses as a learning experience as there are a lot more games to be played.”
Nathan Jones
Battle Creek Lakeview
Played two seasons of varsity soccer, ran two of varsity cross country and will play his fourth of varsity baseball; also played two junior varsity seasons of basketball. Made all-state Dream Team in baseball and has helped that team to the MHSAA Semifinals once and three league titles. Earned all-conference in cross country helping that team to a league title, and also helped his soccer team to an all-city championship. Served as captain of the baseball team and squad leader in soccer. Serving fourth year as a representative in student government and also fourth as part of Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Soul Impact, for which he is a co-prayer leader. Also has participated for four years in school’s Friends Forever club, church youth group and served as editor of the school newspaper. Named state finalist for computer graphics by the Michigan Industrial and Technology Education Society. Will attend Eastern Michigan University and study computer science.
Essay Quote: “That game is what high school sports should be about: respect and true sportsmanship towards each other. … Sports are far more than just winning or losing; it’s the time you spend enjoying the sport you love, and being able to share that time with everyone around you.”
Connor Bryant Meehan
Saline
Ran four years of varsity cross country and two of varsity track & field entering this spring. Earned all-region honors in cross country, serving as that team’s captain in the fall and a track & field captain last season. Also earned academic all-state honors in cross country. Achieved school’s highest academic honors every trimester of high school and was named a finalist three years by the Michigan Math Prize Competition; also earned an outstanding service award for FIRST Robotics Competition. Participating in fourth year of orchestra, serving as first chair for viola. Earned Eagle Scout rank as a freshman and has participated in Boy Scouts all four years of high school, also earning membership in the Order of the Arrow honor society. Has participated at least three years in Michigan Math Circle, Michigan Technological University’s Engineering Scholars and the Michigan Math & Science Scholars programs. Participating in third year with Ten for Men leadership group and serves as teen leader at his church. Will attend University of Michigan and study engineering.
Essay Quote: “Selfish ambition has no place in the heart of a true sportsman. Achieving individual racing records would feel empty if it was at the cost of the team’s success; instead, we work together as a collective varsity unit with the team’s best interest ever in view.”
Varun R. Shanker
Midland Dow
Played four seasons of varsity tennis, earning individual MHSAA Finals championships at No. 3 and No. 1 singles and helping his team to Lower Peninsula Division 2 championships in 2013 and 2016. Earned all-state honors all four seasons and received the Mr. Tennis Award this past fall. Served as team captain the last three seasons and was the first sophomore captain in program history. Named National Merit Scholarship semifinalist and Advanced Placement (AP) Scholar with Distinction carrying an unweighted 4.0 grade-point average; ranks first in his class of 288 students. Helped school’s innovation team earn $135,000 over three years from the A.H. Nickless Innovation Award competition and is serving his third year as president of school’s DECA club; also served as school’s science quiz bowl captain in 2016. Participating in second year of National Honor Society and served over three years as a research assistant at a biomaterials laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Is undecided where he will attend college but will study biological/biomedical engineering.
Essay Quote: “Sportsmanship is not necessarily defined by grandiose gestures of sacrifice or conspicuous actions of consequence. It is often a sequence of small, yet meaningful, actions of integrity, compassion, fairness, and respect for fellow athletes, which when considered cumulatively over time help define and represent the character of a great athlete.”
Other Class A girls finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were: Kaitlyn Coons, Cedar Springs; Sarah Kurpiers, Farmington Hills Mercy; Jocelyn Prinz, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central; Amber Nicole Manitowabi-Huebner, Marquette; Alex Wilkinson, Middleville Thornapple Kellogg; Emma Streveler, New Baltimore Anchor Bay; Alexa Scroggie, New Boston Huron; Elizabeth Stockert, New Boston Huron; Allissa Wight, New Boston Huron; Katelyn Jones, Owosso; Jalynn Byers, Petoskey; Mackenzie Carano, Pinckney; Sydney Asuncion, Rochester; Allyson Faulkner, Rockford; Harmony Groves, Sturgis; Maggie Dutmers, Traverse City Central; Hunter Kehoe, Traverse City West; and Aubrey Fetzer, Warren Cousino.
Other Class A boys finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were: Trevor Roznowski, Alpena; Jonah Kamoo, Birmingham Groves; Ben Williams, Birmingham Seaholm; Andrew R. Twiford, Byron Center; Eric Bach, Coldwater; Kameron Miller, Coldwater; CJ Baird, Detroit Catholic Central; Jackson Ross, Detroit Catholic Central; Steven Stine, Fraser; Dominic LaJoie, Gaylord; Drew VanAndel, Grand Haven; Michael Gumbko, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern; Michael Visscher, Holland; Tyler Opdycke, Livonia Churchill; Gary R. O'Brien III, Riverview; Matthew J. Polzin, Sturgis; and Andrew Long, White Lake Lakeland.
The Class C and D scholarship award recipients were announced Feb. 7, and the Class B honorees were announced Feb. 14.
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The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,400 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.