Scholar-Athlete Finalists Announced
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 23, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Awards for the 2014-15 school year have been announced, with 18 schools having multiple candidates for the 32 awards.
The program, celebrating its 26th 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, 640 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. Beal City has three finalists this year. Seventeen schools each have two finalists: Ann Arbor Pioneer, Berkley, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, Cheboygan, Dearborn Divine Child, East Grand Rapids, Grandville, Hartland, Holland, Iron Mountain, Plainwell, Roscommon, Springport, Traverse City Central, Traverse City West, Utica Ford and White Lake Lakeland.
Multiple-sport participation remains the norm among applicants. The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 2.63, while the average of the application pool was 2.16. There are 65 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 406 schools which submitted applicants, 45 submitted the maximum allowed. This year, 1,584 applications were received. All applicants will be presented with certificates commemorating their achievement. Click for additional Scholar-Athlete information, including a complete list of scholarship nominees.
The applications were judged by a 58-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. 3; Class B scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 10, and Class A scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 17. 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 28, 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 450 agents serving nearly 500,000 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 1,400 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.
2014-15 Scholar-Athlete Award Finalists
BOYS CLASS A
Stone Mathers, Ann Arbor Pioneer
Matthew J. Orringer, Ann Arbor Skyline
Jacob W. Herbers, Battle Creek Lakeview
Eric Braun, Berkley
Justin Boogaart, Byron Center
David A. Posawatz, Clarkston
Michael Kenney, Detroit U-D Jesuit
Sean Lang, East Grand Rapids
Mikey Roth, East Grand Rapids
Joseph Pummill, Garden City
Miles Kuperus, Grand Rapids Christian
Andrew James Fox, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central
Kyler Beal, Holland
Raymond Surya, Holland
Collin DeShaw, Holland West Ottawa
Andrew Bennett, Linden
Ryan Susterich, Muskegon Mona Shores
Shunhe Wang, Northville
Mark Luoma, Okemos
Ravin Randall, Port Huron
Benjamin Hill, Royal Oak
Alex Scott, Traverse City West
Blake McComas, White Lake Lakeland
Matthew Carter, Ypsilanti Lincoln
GIRLS CLASS A
Kara N. Gehrke, Alpena
Rachel Menge, Ann Arbor Pioneer
Eliza Laramee, Berkley
Rachel DaDamio, Birmingham Seaholm
Diane Reed, Bloomfield Hills
Sheridan Skopczynski, Gibraltar Carlson
Isabella Buck, Grandville
Allison Utting, Grandville
Allegra Lanae Berry, Greenville
Sara Condra, Hartland
Carson Vestergaard, Hartland
Kirsten Smith, Lansing Eastern
Caycee Turczyn, Lapeer
Meg Darmofal, Mason
Cydney Martell, Richland Gull Lake
Hayley Rogers, Salem
Emily Diehl, Saline
Courtney Rooker, St. Joseph
Ashley Ko, Traverse City Central
Ellie Lauren Taylor, Traverse City Central
Mikenna Ray, Traverse City West
Danielle Maxwell, Utica Ford
Alex Sorgi, Utica Ford
Jessica Erickson, White Lake Lakeland
BOYS CLASS B
Stephen Luckoff, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Francis Misra, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Samuel Swem, Buchanan
T.J. Baker, Cadillac
Derek Sturvist, Cheboygan
Dane Miller, Dearborn Divine Child
Tyler James Burkhardt, Fowlerville
Andrew Olesak, Gladstone
Bradley Madsen, Manistee
Tyler Horn, Marshall
Chandler Biggs, Midland Bullock Creek
Jonathan Krug, New Boston Huron
Jacob Almeda, Plainwell
Trenton L. Monroe, Plainwell
Mark Williamson, Spring Lake
Garrett Bondy, Yale
GIRLS CLASS B
Kendall Latshaw, Battle Creek Harper Creek
Kalabrya LeBrae Gondrezick, Benton Harbor
Kelsey Cushway, Big Rapids
Kirstin Anderson, Charlotte
Amanda Paull, Cheboygan
Shelby Bowers, Coldwater
Riley Blair, Dearborn Divine Child
Rebecca Piron, Escanaba
Raven Jefferson-Brinkley, Ferndale
Morgan Ketola, Freeland
Rachel Money, Grayling
Courtney Vande Vorde, Hamilton
Kikel Sekoni, Haslett
Kristen Marsman, Holland Christian
Jenna Davids, Portland
Kelsey Metzger, Sturgis
BOYS CLASS C
Deontay Walker, Bath
Nicholas Pung, Beal City
Ryan Karapas, Clinton
Blaine Michael Stowe, East Jackson
Pierce Vreeland, Gobles
Cole Rossato, Iron Mountain
Mark Holmgren, Ishpeming
Connor Thomas, Marlette
Jason Bell, Negaunee
Jacob Dibbet, Roscommon
Daniel Brown, Springport
Aaron J. Watson, Union City
GIRLS CLASS C
Nicole Gross, Beal City
Emily Elizabeth Steffke, Beal City
Skyler Sobeski, Bronson
Marti Ann Pirkola, Iron Mountain
Mary Grace Fries, Jackson Lumen Christi
Lauren M. Skidmore, Oscoda
Jami Hubbard, Reading
Katie Burmester, Roscommon
Maggie Belcher, Springport
Mallory Munderloh, St Louis
Erica Treiber, Unionville-Sebewaing
Bridget Dewan, Wixom St Catherine
BOYS CLASS D
Kevin Greenman, Battle Creek St. Philip
Chantz Owens, Burr Oak
James Thibodeau, Clarkston Everest Collegiate
Gideon Rea Mulka, Hillman
Aaron Van Horn, Kingston
Travis McCormick, Mason County Eastern
Thomas Gallagher, Peck
Connor Patrick Cappaert, Stephenson
GIRLS CLASS D
Danielle Piggott, Fowler
Taylor Richards, Fruitport Calvary Christian
Rachelle Trafford, Lansing Christian
Anissa Keeler, Marion
Kelsey Rambo, Pickford
Hunter Branstrom, Rock Mid Peninsula
Margo Brown, St. Ignace
Jane Hursey, Suttons Bay
Providing Opportunities, Molding Leaders Most Rewarding for Hampton Honoree Thompson
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 7, 2025
A leader on the basketball court as a high school and college standout, and then a leader in the classroom and at every level of educational administration over a 33-year career, Arnetta Thompson has been a staunch advocate for underrepresented groups in sports.
To recognize her work in creating opportunities for those groups, and all students, the Wyoming Godfrey-Lee Public Schools superintendent has been selected as the recipient of this year’s Nate Hampton Champion of Progress in Athletics Award by the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
The Hampton Award was created by the MHSAA’s Representative Council to honor Nate Hampton, who retired in 2021 after serving in education and educational athletics for 50 years, including the last 32 as an MHSAA assistant director. Honorees have championed the promotion and advancement of opportunities for women, minorities and other underrepresented groups within interscholastic athletics, while serving as an administrator, coach, official, educator or school sports leader in Michigan.
Thompson is the second recipient of the award, as Novi principal Nicole Carter received the inaugural honor last year. Thompson will receive the Hampton Award during the MHSAA Boys Basketball Division 1 Final on March 15 at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.
“I just feel honored that I’m allowed to be in these spaces, to be selected as a principal or a superintendent, that people believe in me enough to believe I can help their students become better people and reach their goals,” Thompson said. “The rewarding part is seeing those students that you reconnect with or those you stay connected with and see what their paths in life become as a result of crossing paths with me.
“I’m passionate about students – especially students that are not always the top of the class, not the typical student – and helping guide them with the resources and with people that look like them and then opportunities to do some things they hadn’t done and didn’t even think they could do.”
Thompson is in her second school year as superintendent of Godfrey-Lee schools. She previously served 20 years in Grand Rapids Public Schools – as a teacher for six, then as an athletic director, assistant principal, instructional assistant principal and K-8 principal – and also served as an elementary curriculum specialist for Muskegon Public Schools and in multiple roles in the Muskegon Heights Public School Academy System including as superintendent during the 2021-22 school year. She began her professional career as a teacher in Memphis City, Tenn., schools after graduating from Tennessee Tech University.
She is a two-time appointee to the MHSAA Representative Council – previously serving from 2009-13 and currently a two-year term.
“Arnetta Thompson’s work to empower her students and those who have worked for her and with her is simply inspiring,” said MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl. “She has brought compassion and vision to every district with which she’s served. The Hampton Award recognizes promotion and advancement of underrepresented groups within interscholastic athletics, and Arnetta has continuously provided leadership in that area including now during a second tenure on the MHSAA Representative Council.”
Thompson earned her bachelor's degree in secondary education biology from Tennessee Tech in 1990, and her master’s in education with a concentration in educational leadership from Western Michigan University in 2001. She went on to also earn an educational specialist degree from Grand Valley State University in 2011 and her doctorate in philosophy from Eastern Michigan University in 2017.
During six years teaching at Memphis City, Thompson also served as varsity head coach of the girls basketball, volleyball and track & field teams. Coming to Grand Rapids Public Schools in 1997, she served as a lead teacher at Grand Rapids Union’s alternative high school, then as athletic director and assistant principal at Grand Rapids Creston. She also served as an assistant girls basketball coach at Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills for one season and coached the Grand Rapids Central varsity for four.
Thompson entered college on a pre-medical track. A professor noticed how she provided assistance to another student during a lab and suggested she consider education.
“My grandmother told me one time she thought I had a gift, and she wanted me to use that gift to fight for those who could not fight for themselves. Going into college with the mindset to go into medicine, and then my professor saying that, and talking with some of my colleagues at that time, I was moving in the direction of becoming an educator, and I thought that was the place for me,” Thompson said. (Education) has been even more than I anticipated. … Just the feeling of being an educator, just to give people opportunities, to mold our younger kids into great community leaders.”
Thompson earned eight varsity letters across three sports for Ottawa Hills before graduating in 1985, garnering all-state recognition in basketball and all-city in volleyball and also competing in track & field. She then played four seasons of basketball at Tennessee Tech, starting on the team that reached the NCAA Tournament in 1988-89.
Thompson has been married to her husband Willie for more than 30 years. They have two daughters, Daenetta Joseph and Arnell Thompson.
PHOTO Arnetta Thompson, third from left, claps during Godfrey-Lee's 100th anniversary celebration in 2023. (Photo courtesy of the Kent ISD/School News Network.)