Scholar-Athlete Finalists Announced
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 23, 2014
The 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Awards for the 2013-14 school year have been announced.
The program, celebrating its 25th anniversary, 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, 608 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, the final 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. Dearborn Heights Crestwood, Hastings and Marlette each have three finalists this year. Fourteen schools each had two finalists: Bay City Central, Bloomfield Hills Marian, Dearborn, Grand Haven, Grand Rapids West Catholic, Manistee Catholic Central, Marquette, Middleville Thornapple Kellogg, Midland Dow, Saginaw Swan Valley, Sturgis, Traverse City Central, Walled Lake Western and Yale.
Multiple-sport participation remains the norm among applicants. The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 2.70, while the average of the application pool was 2.16. There are 75 three-plus sport participants in the finalist field, and all but two of the 28 sports in which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments are represented.
Of 407 schools which submitted applicants, 55 submitted the maximum allowed. This year, 1,701 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 63-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. 4; Class B scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 11, and Class A scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 18. 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 22, 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, one of Michigan's major insurers, has a statewide force of more than 400 agents serving more than 380,000 Michigan policyholders. Besides providing life, home, auto, farm, business and retirement insurance, the company also sponsors life-saving, real-time Doppler weather tracking systems in several Michigan communities.
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.
2013-14 Scholar-Athlete Award Finalists
BOYS CLASS A
Stone Manczak, Bay City Central
Zachary Segall, Berkley
Andrew Barton, Birmingham Seaholm
Rami Kadouh, Dearborn
Samuel A Mousigian, Dearborn
Jared Hagan, Dearborn Heights Crestwood
Jalal Taleb, Dearborn Heights Crestwood
Brad King, Garden City
Ryan S Fischer, Grandville
Kenneth Elkin, Grosse Pointe North
Chris Kruger, Holt
David Doyle, Linden
Craig Ekstrum, Marquette
David Walter III, Middleville Thornapple Kellogg
Nate Fisher, Midland
Vikram Shanker, Midland Dow
Tanner Vincent, Novi
Trevor Denoyer, Petoskey
Kellen Scott Michael, South Lyon
Kyle Dotterrer, Traverse City Central
Cody James McKay, Utica Ford
Devin Kimberlin, Walled Lake Northern
Mitchell Dennis, Walled Lake Western
David J Walczyk, Walled Lake Western
GIRLS CLASS A
Anna Haritos, Auburn Hills Avondale
Saige Tomczak, Bay City Central
Jessica Hacker, Bay City Western
Tatyanna Dadabbo, Bloomfield Hills Marian
Clare Nienstedt, Bloomfield Hills Marian
Tala Taleb, Dearborn Heights Crestwood
Caroline Ann Hagan, East Lansing
Elizabeth Cowger, Fenton
Paige Blakeslee, Gibraltar Carlson
Mallory Beswick, Grand Haven
Claire Elise Borchers, Grand Haven
Joslyn Mae TenBrink, Jenison
Jessica Graves, Lowell
Gabrielle Gencheff, Marquette
Fiona B Shea, Middleville Thornapple Kellogg
Kallisse R Dent, Midland Dow
Rachel Barrett, Milford
Grace Kao, Okemos
Kirsten Avery Chambers, Riverview
Meghan Datema, Rockford
Elianna Shwayder, Saline
Molly Peregrine, Traverse City Central
Sarah O'Connor, Waterford Kettering
Jenna Ciennik, Waterford Mott
BOYS CLASS B
Tye Wittenbach, Belding
Carl Steinhauser, Berrien Springs
Ryan Spaulding, Freeland
Joseph Corey, Grand Rapids West Catholic
Nicholas Linck, Grand Rapids West Catholic
John Gatti, Grosse Ile
Matt Johnson, Hastings
Richard Cassell, Jackson Lumen Christi
Ben Woodruff, Jackson Northwest
Ismail Aijazuddin, Madison Heights Lamphere
Zachary A Ohs, Monroe St Mary Catholic Central
Michael T von Kronenberger, Ogemaw Heights
Anthony William Canonie, South Haven
Trenton Karle, Three Rivers
Daniel Kosiba, Vicksburg
Noah Nicholl, Yale
GIRLS CLASS B
Greer Elizabeth Clausen, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood
Abigail Brown, Caro
Lindsey Brewis, Dearborn Divine Child
Bailey Baker, Eaton Rapids
Callie Jensen, Gladstone
Grace Bosma, Hastings
Kylee Nemetz, Hastings
Amanda M Metz, Otsego
Alexandra J Grys, Portland
Kiersten Mead, Saginaw Swan Valley
Courtney T Reinhold, Saginaw Swan Valley
Roxane L Strobel, Spring Lake
Peyton Boughton, Sturgis
Alea Penner, Sturgis
Angela Maurer, Williamston
Alana Koepf, Yale
BOYS CLASS C
Ty Michael Rollin, Beal City
Matthew S Johnson, Fennville
Carter Ballinger, Jonesville
Luke Joseph Smigielski, Mancelona
Dakota Hall, Marlette
Bradley Schaub, Marlette
Kyle Baxter, Mayville
Stephen T Erwin, Royal Oak Shrine Catholic
Jason Beckman, Shelby
James Barber, St Charles
Devin Morrow, Three Oaks River Valley
Nicholas DeSimpelare, Unionville-Sebewaing
GIRLS CLASS C
Korinna Corbin, Addison
Kirsten Olling, Breckenridge
Elizabeth Baker, Bronson
Melissa Dowell, Clinton
Amanda Reagle, Homer
Mandy Haferkorn, Iron Mountain
Megan Chapman, Ishpeming Westwood
Keara Wilson, Marlette
Grace Leighton, Mendon
Allie Kendall, Saginaw Nouvel
Kari Feddema, Schoolcraft
Erin McDonnell, Traverse City St Francis
BOYS CLASS D
Grant Hohlbein, Adrian Lenawee Christian
Bret Hiveley, Au Gres-Sims
Tyler Anthony Johnson, Bear Lake
Jeremy Bigalke, Manistee Catholic Central
Ben Feliczak, Manistee Catholic Central
Steven McKenzie, Marcellus
Alec Firack, Pickford
Harding Fears III, Southfield Christian
GIRLS CLASS D
MacKenzie Ciganick, Bellaire
Julie Ahnen, Bessemer
Sara Inbody, Deckerville
Vanessa Freberg, Eben Junction Superior Central
Kari Borowiak, Gaylord St Mary
Lyvia Deaver, Jackson Christian
Erin Gast, Lake Linden-Hubbell
Jennifer Malcolm, Plymouth Christian
Leinaar, Smith Receive 2014 Bush Awards
June 5, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A pair of administrators who combined have served high school athletes for more than 60 years on local, state and national levels – Bear Lake athletic director Karen S. Leinaar and Buchanan athletic director Fredrick J. Smith – have been named recipients of the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Allen W. Bush Award for 2014.
Al Bush served as executive director of the MHSAA for 10 years. The award honors individuals for past and continuing service to prep athletics as a coach, administrator, official, trainer, doctor or member of the media. The award was developed to bring recognition to men and women who are giving and serving without a lot of attention. This is the 23rd year of the award, with selections made by the MHSAA's Representative Council.
This year’s honorees have much in common. Both have served multiple school districts during careers each stretching more than three decades. Both have hosted a variety of MHSAA tournament events at multiple levels, including Leinaar managing MHSAA Volleyball and Competitive Cheer Finals.
Both also have been registered MHSAA game officials for 29 years and continue to serve as elected members of the Representative Council – Leinaar since 2000 and Smith since 2005.
“One quality that both Karen and Fred share is their willingness to serve others,” said John E. “Jack” Roberts, executive director of the MHSAA. “No local athletic administrator has worked at more MHSAA Finals venues than Karen, and no one has conducted more leadership training for athletic administrators than Fred.”
A multiple-sport standout while attending Delton-Kellogg High School, Leinaar joined that school’s staff in 1982 and served as athletic director and recreation director during a tenure stretching more than 16 years. She later served as athletic director at both Gaylord and then Benzonia Benzie Central before taking her current position in 2010 at Bear Lake schools, where she organizes athletic programs for students grades 5-12.
Leinaar has been a member for 30 years of both the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA) and National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA), and has served as chairperson of the MIAAA Annual Conference and awards chairperson for both the state and national bodies. She’s also served as chairperson of the MIAAA’s Exemplary Athletic Program and in various leadership roles as part of the MIAAA Board of Directors including as Assistant to the Executive Director.
Leinaar received the MHSAA’s Women In Sports Leadership Award in 1998, a citation from the NFHS in 2000 and was named MIAAA Athletic Director of the Year in 2001. She also served four years on the Board of Directors for the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
“Karen continues to serve as a voice for high school athletic departments throughout Michigan, and for Michigan high schools at the national level,” Roberts said. “She’s a go-to person on a variety of issues who understands the challenges of schools small and large, north and south. Karen Leinaar is a deserving recipient of the Bush Award.”
Smith began his career as a teacher, coach and athletic director at St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic High School, served as athletic director at Comstock for 16 years beginning in 1985 and joined Buchanan as athletic director for grades 7-12 at the start of the 2007-08 school year.
In addition to hosting numerous MHSAA tournaments at the District, Regional and Quarterfinal levels, and serving on a number of MHSAA sport committees, Smith has provided instruction and leadership training at the state and national levels.
He’s presented at 12 MHSAA New Athletic Administrator In-Service programs and also presented at the first statewide MHSAA Sportsmanship Summit. He’s also a certified instructor for the MHSAA’s Coaches Advancement Program. Smith has been involved in the NIAAA Leadership Training Program at both the state and national levels, instructing Leadership Training Institute classes in eight states as well as at the MIAAA state and NIAAA national conferences.
Smith has been a member of the MIAAA since 1985 and has served as its president and the co-chairperson of its Professional Development Committee; he earned its Athletic Director of the Year award in 2000 and George Lovich State Award of Merit in 2007. Smith also has been a member of the NIAAA since 1985 and earned both the Thomas E. Frederick Award of Excellence in 2004 and Frank Kovaleski Professional Development Award in 2012.
“Fred Smith understands – and has taught to administrators all over the state and country – the value of educational athletics. His Buchanan program provides an outstanding example for others to follow,” Roberts said. “Professional development is of high importance to Fred; he works to help others improve just as he seeks to grow himself. We are pleased to present Fred Smith with the Bush Award.”
Leinaar has worked with athletic boosters at Delton Kellogg, Gaylord, Benzie Central and Bear Lake, and served as a member of the Frankfort Downtown Development Association. She graduated from Delton Kellogg in 1977, earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Michigan State University in 1982 and a master’s in athletic administration from Western Michigan University in 1994. She has received the Certified Athletic Administrator designation from the NIAAA.
Smith has served on the Buchanan Area Recreation Board since 2010 and also has been active in the Berrien County “Girls on the Run” program, Buchanan’s “Thrill on the Hill” and the McCoy Creek Trail/Buchanan Athletic Dinner-Dance Charity Auction. Also a multi-sport high school athlete, he graduated from Battle Creek St. Philip in 1973 and earned his bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University in 1979. He became a Certified Master Athletic Administrator from the NIAAA in 2006.