New Member Elected to Rep Council
October 16, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Elections were completed recently to fill positions on the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s legislative body, its Representative Council, and one new member was among those selected.
Gobles athletic director Chris Miller will join the council to represent Class C and D schools in the southwestern section of the Lower Peninsula. He was elected to a two-year team, as were five others who were re-elected and will begin terms during the council’s fall meeting.
Kingsford athletic director Al Unger will continue to represent Class A and B schools in the Upper Peninsula, Detroit Public School League administrator of athletics Alvin Ward will continue to represent the Detroit Public Schools, and Adrian Madison athletic director Kristen M. Isom will continue to represent Class C and D schools in the southeastern section of the Lower Peninsula.
Pewamo-Westphalia superintendent Jason Mellema was re-elected as one of two representatives of junior high and middle schools, and Bear Lake athletic director Karen S. Leinaar will continue as one of two at-large statewide representatives.
The Representative Council is the 19-member legislative body of the MHSAA. All but five members are elected by member schools. Four members are appointed by the Council to facilitate representation of females and minorities, and the 19th position is occupied by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee. The Council meets three times annually, and five members of the Council convene monthly during the school year to form the MHSAA’s Executive Committee, which reviews appeals of Handbook regulations by member schools.
Additional elections took place to select representatives to the Upper Peninsula Athletic Committee. Gladstone athletic director Matthew C. Houle was elected to represent Class A and B schools, and Iron Mountain athletic director Chris Hartman was selected to represent Class C schools. Rock-Mid Peninsula athletic director Gary Brayak was chosen to represent Class D schools.
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.
SBP Excellence Awards Announced
May 16, 2014
Montrose High School captured first place in two of five individual categories in the inaugural MHSAA School Broadcast Program Excellence Awards, and with it the “Program of the Year” honor.
The SBP Excellence Awards are underwritten by Herff Jones, which will award certificates and plaques to the ten schools which took individual honors. Presentations will be scheduled in the coming weeks to the recipient schools.
Montrose took first place in two categories: Best Multicamera Production for a basketball game against Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary; and Best Produced Commercial/Feature for a public service announcement about texting while driving. The program also demonstrated during the year a good blend of productions in a variety of sports covered and an overall command of the PlayOn! Sports software used for graphics and inserting commercials during the course of productions.
Other category winners were: St. Ignace High School for Best Use of PlayOn! graphics in a football game against Hillman; Rogers City High School for the Best Overall Single Camera Production of a Game Using PlayOn! Graphics in a football game against Mio; and Haslett High School for Best Student Play-by-Play in a girls basketball game against DeWitt.
Here is the complete list by categories of the school being honored in this year’s SBP Excellence Awards:
Best Single Camera Production with PlayOn! Graphics
First Place – Rogers City Sarah Meredith, Amber Nowicki – Football game v. Mio
Second Place – Petoskey – Stuart Green, Nick Snider, Josh Kuhlman, Joe LeBlanc – Girls Volleyball match with Ogemaw Heights
Third Place – St. Ignace – Alysse Bentley, Jenny Campbell, Dillian Denman – Football game v. Hillman
Best Multicamera Production
First Place – Montrose – Tyler J. Anderson, Eric Vandefifer, Cabresha Nard, Ashley Abair, Sidney Trantham – Boys Basketball game v. Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary
Second Place – Johannesburg-Lewiston – Girls Basketball game v. Gaylord St. Mary
Third Place – Cedar Springs – Ian Murphy, Alex Tanis, Alex Hughes, Kody Hall, Liz Moore, Alec Lachniet, Jake Detloff – Boys District Basketball game, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern v. Grand Rapids Northview
Best use of PlayOn! Graphics/Software
First Place – St. Ignace – Alysse Bentley, Jenny Campbell, Dillian Denman – Football game v. Hillman
Second Place – Haslett – Delany McFate – Girls basketball game v. DeWitt
hird Place – Petoskey - Stuart Green, Nick Snider, Josh Kuhlman, Joe LeBlanc – Girls Volleyball match with Ogemaw Heights
Best Produced Commercial/Feature
First Place – Montrose – Cabresha Nard, Tyler J. Anderson, Haley Ruiz – Texting/Driving PSA
Second Place – Charlevoix – Ben Boss, Benny Patkai – Classroom electives offerings promo
Third Place – Rogers City – Morgan Hall, Sarah Meredith – Rogers City Softball Preview
Best Student Play-by-Play Commentary
First Place – Haslett – Andy Stamm, Tyler Mehigh – Girls basketball game v. DeWitt
Second Place – Rockford – Riley O’Keefe, Kevin DeLaFuente, Lucas Henry – Football game v. East Kentwood
Third Place – Escanaba – Jon Perrault, Todd Rose – Boys basketball game v. Gladstone
The School Broadcast Program, powered by PlayOn! Sports, is a platform which schools can utilize to reach members of their community about activities taking place in their buildings, providing recognition for students while at the same time giving them hands-on opportunities to gain broadcasting experience and providing schools an opportunity to realize additional revenues for their programs.
Schools interested in becoming a part of the School Broadcast Program should contact John Johnson at the MHSAA Office.