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
Century of School Sports: Awards Celebrate Well-Rounded Educational Experience
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 21, 2025
This week, the MHSAA and Farm Bureau Insurance are announcing the finalists for their 36th Scholar-Athlete Awards. From more than 1,500 candidates, 32 will be selected over the next few weeks to receive this prestigious award.
When the most recent class of winners is announced over three weeks next month, they’ll push the total to 992 who have been honored since the program began during the 1989-90 school year.
That fall, Vestaburg senior Jennifer Bissell and Unionville-Sebewaing senior Scott Kieser were presented with the first of these Farm Bureau-sponsored awards during the MHSAA Football Finals on Nov. 25, 1989, at the Pontiac Silverdome. Although several of the award program’s criteria have changed over the years, the mission has remained consistent: Highlight the value extracurricular activities – including athletics – play in the total education of a high school student, while recognizing that all-around achievement.
Applicants must be graduating seniors during the current school year, carry an unrounded 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale) grade-point average and have won a varsity letter in one of the 28 sports for which the MHSAA sponsors a postseason tournament. Candidates are judged on their academic, athletic and other extracurricular accomplishments, plus community involvement and a short essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.
Farm Bureau has partnered on the Scholar-Athlete Awards from the start, awarding $1,088,000 over the first 35 years of recognition. Awards have risen in value from $500 to $1,000 to now $2,000, and 383 schools – more than half of the MHSAA membership – have produced at least one scholarship winner.
Those are just a few of the staggering numbers that have grown with the program over the years.
The first two years saw two award winners each season. In 1991-92, a change was made to award one winner per MHSAA-sponsored sport. In 2005-06, the program was expanded to its current 32 winners based primarily on school enrollment – six boys and six girls from Class A schools, four boys and four girls from Class B, three boys and three girls from Class C, and two girls and two boys from Class D schools, plus two honorees awarded at-large to minority recipients regardless of school size.
There have been 3,817 finalists, not including this year’s class. As noted above, 383 schools have produced a winner, but 624 had produced a finalist through 2023-24 – and although schools have closed or consolidated over the years, that still means that roughly 80 percent of MHSAA member schools over the last four decades have produced at least had at least one candidate advance to the final round.
Midland Dow has the most Finalists (38), while 113 schools have had at least 10. Birmingham Seaholm has set a single-year record this year with six finalists; five schools previously shared the record of five finalists for a single award season.
Eight schools have had 10 or more winners over the first 35 years. Okemos leads that parade with 13, followed by Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and Hillsdale Academy with 12 apiece. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern and Midland Dow both have celebrated 11 winners, and Grosse Pointe South, St. Johns and Traverse City Central have produced 10 award winners.
Again, it cannot be overlooked the significance of Farm Bureau’s sponsorship and enthusiasm for this program – the 1.1 million dollars in scholarships speaks for itself, but also that a representative from Farm Bureau annually joins the MHSAA executive director in awarding those scholarships during a ceremony at Breslin Center on MHSAA Boys Basketball Finals weekend.
Also deserving of significant recognition are the judges who make this program a go every year. This year’s 1,513 applications were judged by a 65-member committee of school coaches, counselors, faculty members, administrators and board members from MHSAA member schools.
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
Jan. 14: Predecessors Laid Foundation for MHSAA's Formation - Read
Jan. 9: MHSAA Blazes Trail Into Cyberspace - Read
Dec. 31: State's Storytellers Share Winter Memories - Read
Dec. 17: MHSAA Over Time - Read
Dec. 10: On This Day, December 13, We Will Celebrate - Read
Dec. 3: MHSAA Work Guided by Representative Council - Read
Nov. 26: Finals Provide Future Pros Early Ford Field Glory - Read
Nov. 19: Connection at Heart of Coaches Advancement Program - Read
Nov. 12: Good Sports are Winners Then, Now & Always - Read
Nov. 5: MHSAA's Home Sweet Home - Read
Oct. 29: MHSAA Summits Draw Thousands to Promote Sportsmanship - Read
Oct. 23: Cross Country Finals Among MHSAA's Longest Running - Read
Oct. 15: State's Storytellers Share Fall Memories - Read
Oct. 8: Guided by 4 S's of Educational Athletics - Read
Oct. 1: Michigan Sends 10 to National Hall of Fame - Read
Sept. 25: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements - Read
Sept. 18: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? - Read
Sept. 10: Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year - Read
Sept. 4: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships - Read
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin - Read