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Scholars and Athletes 2013: Class B

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

February 7, 2013

The Michigan High School Athletic Association has selected eight student-athletes from Class B member schools to receive scholarships through its Scholar-Athlete Award program.

Farm Bureau Insurance, in its 24th year of sponsoring the award, will give a $1,000 college scholarship to 32 individuals who represent their member school 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. 

Each scholarship recipient will be honored during a halftime ceremony at the Class C Boys Basketball Final game March 23 at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing. Commemorative medallions will be given to other finalists in recognition of their accomplishments.

The Class B Scholar-Athlete Award honorees are:  Ashley M. Carney, Jackson Northwest; Amanda Ciancio, Comstock Park; Mary Emington, Cadillac; Nicole L. Green, Portland; Alec Robert Fisher, Battle Creek Harper Creek; Patrick Gifford, Haslett; Scott Parkinson, Grayling; and Keeton Thayer Ross, Grosse Ile.

Overviews of the scholarship recipients of the Class B Scholar-Athlete Award follow. A quote from each recipient's essay also is included:

Ashley M. Carney, Jackson Northwest.   Will finish high school career earning four letters each in golf, volleyball and tennis.  Helped golf team to four MHSAA Finals, and medaled at her conference meet as a senior.  All-area, all-conference and a team captain in golf and volleyball.  Was team most valuable in volleyball last fall.  Academic all-state in all three sports.  Helped coordinate a basketball shooting fundraiser for American Cancer Society; and volunteered with Habitat For Humanity, the Jackson Interfaith Shelter and the Salvation Army.  Also active in National Honor Society, student government and as an elementary school tutor.  Plans to attend Siena Heights University and study sports management.

Essay Quote:  “I have experienced many life lessons through sports that will carry me farther in life than any win or loss.  The qualities and character that spectators, opponents and coaches remember me by are everlasting.  We may not all be ‘winners’ reflected by the final score, but we can all be ‘winners’ measured by our attitude, respect for opponents, and respect for the game.”  

Amanda Ciancio, Comstock Park.  A standout in cross country, serving as team captain and earning all-conference and team most valuable as a junior and senior.  Also lettered in basketball and softball, winning all-district in the latter sport.  Participated in student leadership activities and served as class president each year of high school.  Involved all four years as a camp counselor; a youth basketball volunteer game official, coach and scorekeeper; and as a volunteer for various elementary school activities.  Member of National Honor Society, attendant at church nursery and helped plan school dances.  College plans includes studies in math and accounting.

Essay Quote:  “Players and coaches can both teach and preach sportsmanship, but before every game or competition, it is up to the athlete to determine whether they will participate for the glory or for the experience.”

Mary Emington, Cadillac.  Participated in basketball and softball, earning all-area and all-conference in both sports.  Honored twice in each activity with local scholar-athlete award.  Captained softball squad the past two seasons, and was team most valuable as a sophomore.  Led hoop squad in assists as a sophomore and junior.  Served on class and student council; was president of class council as a sophomore and treasurer as a senior.  Involved with Art activities, and took part in annual “Be The Change Team” at school, which inspires positive action and connection with others.  Four-year member of church youth group.  Will attend Calvin College and major in architecture or communications.

Essay Quote:  “During physical exertion, blood and emotions run rapidly. Only through the very delicate balance of love for the game and sportsmanship do the matches continue.” 

Nicole L. Green, Portland.  Will win her fourth letter in soccer this spring to go with three letters in basketball and two in volleyball.  A team captain in all three sports, including three years in soccer.   Team most valuable in soccer and volleyball, and earned first team all-conference and academic all-state honors in both sports.  Academic all-conference in all three activities.  Helped organize fundraisers in all three sports for American Cancer Society.  Selected school Citizen of the Year by Daughters of the American Revolution.  Participant in Academic Letters, Captain’s Club and National Honor Society.  Volunteer for local youth basketball and volleyball programs.  College plans include studies in Zoology.

Essay Quote:  “Sportsmanship is important because student-athletes serve as influential role models for younger students.  As such, we must model respectful interaction, hard work, dedication, and a positive attitude.  Aspiring athletes need to see the positive impact these behaviors will have on the personal and team success.”

Alec Robert Fisher, Battle Creek Harper Creek.  Record-setting scorer for soccer and football teams.  Own school records for goal in soccer, as well as field goals and extra points on the gridiron.  Four-year letterwinner in soccer, where he was a team captain, all-state and academic all-state performer.  Also lettered in basketball and track, serving as team captain on the hoop squad.  Served on Student Senate as treasurer for four years.  Member of National Honor Society.  Helps with youth sports activities with school soccer and basketball camps, Special Olympics, and with the First Tee of Battle Creek.  Will study business or law at the University of Buffalo.

Essay Quote:  “We have been told the same thing since we were young kids playing in recreation leagues or with our friends, to now in competitive sports as highschoolers; always have sportsmanship.  It is one thing, win or lose, that can separate the young gentlemen and the jerks that care about nothing but winning.”

Patrick Gifford, Haslett.  Captained basketball and tennis teams, and has won academic all-conference honors in both sports.  Part of league and regional doubles winning tandem.  Class representative to Student Council all four years, and has participated in Key Club and National Honor Society.  Sports editor of school newspaper and announcer for its television station.  Honored by the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association and Michigan Association of Broadcasters for television sports play-by-play.  Serves as an in-class aide for autistic students in Peer–to-Peer program.  Involved in youth sports as a basketball coach and soccer official.  Received 69th District Citizenship Award.   Broadcast journalism studies await at either Ohio University, Syracuse University or the University of Missouri.

Essay Quote:  “As I prepare to graduate from high school and see my athletic career come to a close, I know I will take much more than the tennis and basketball skills I learned in high school with me.  The sportsmanship I have been coached to develop will help me move to this next state of my life and approach it with integrity, hard work, and leadership.”

Scott Parkinson, Grayling.  Will earn 10 varsity letters in athletic career in three sports – basketball, football and track – and serving as team captain in each activity.  Earned all-conference honors in football and track; won most improved award in basketball and track.  Conference champion in 110-meter hurdles in track.  Selected to an officer’s position on Student Senate all four years.  Seven-time winner of Mr. Spirit award as selected by teachers and chosen Most Athletic and Most Spirited by members of graduating class.  Four-year participant in Relay For Life and Youth Booster Club, and active with church youth group and local youth sports programs.  Will attend Michigan State University and study actuarial sciences.

Essay Quote:  “Having sportsmanship in educational athletics can teach life lessons and can also develop a person into a better and more-rounded athlete.  In turn, these lessons can be applied to future events in life.”

Keeton Thayer Ross, Grosse Ile.   Played baseball, basketball and football, and received all-conference honors on the diamond and the gridiron.  Also captained baseball and football teams.  Also academic all-state in baseball.  Earned the rank of Eagle Scout, served as vice president and president of school’s National Honor Society chapter, and as president of German Club.  Involved as student leader in school anti-bullying campaign and to help orient freshman class members.  Presented National Physical Education Award as a sophomore and has received an Ad Altari Dei Religious Medal.  Has served as a summer youth basketball camp counselor.  Planning on majoring in nuclear engineering and radiological sciences at either Georgia Tech or the University of California-Berkeley.

Essay Quote:  “My personal saying before each game is ‘It’s just a game.  Win or lose, life goes on.’ I believe that this saying has helped me to have great sportsmanship throughout my high school career by remembering the big picture behind the games.  Every team works their butts off to try and win games, and because of this, every team deserves respect from the opponent as well as its own team.”

Other Class B girls finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were: Brittany Beeler, Spring Lake; Kelsi Caywood, Sturgis; Morgan Kathleen Cinader, Goodrich; Hannah C. Engle, Adrian; Haley June Obetts, Wayland Union; Molly Oren, Hamilton; Catherine Polgar, Grosse Ile; Emily Quinn, Portland; Florence Ann Sobell, Croswell-Lexington; Anjali Sood, Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard; Megan Taylor, Houghton Lake;  and Shelby Walsh, Livonia Ladywood;

Other Class B boys finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were:  Michael Azzopardi, Detroit Country Day; Michael Broderick, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep; Brice Brown, Ionia; Michael Chickeral, Flat Rock; Thomas D. Finch, Otsego; Mark Gibson, Freeland; Andrew Hammond, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Eastern; Michael Heinrich, Ludington; Luke James Hurst, Ovid-Elsie; Matthew Liu, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood; Adam Olszewski, Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard; and Ryan Schall, Comstock Park.

Previously announced were the Class C and D scholarship award recipients.  The Class C Scholar-Athlete Award honorees are: Kylei Ratkowski, Bronson; Grace Smith, Kalamazoo Hackett; Nicole Winter, Watervliet; Jesse Anderson, Union City; Ashwin Fujii, Ann Arbor Greenhills; and Connor Lockman, Royal Oak Shrine.  The Class D Scholar-Athlete Award scholarship recipients are:  Elyse Kathleen Lisznyai, Hillsdale Academy; Elena Victoria Luce, Mason County Eastern; Charles Barchett, Watervliet Grace Christian; Chip A. Blood, Hillsdale Academy; and Francisco Jay Noyola, Lansing Christian

The Class A honorees will be announced Feb. 19.

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.

No Place Buchanan’s Herd Would Rather Be

February 17, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor 

BUCHANAN – Cailin Gunn was new at Buchanan entering eighth grade, and she was shy. What’s more, eighth graders in her district are housed in the same building as the high schoolers, which understandably could be intimidating.

She went to only one basketball game that season, in 2013-14. But the wall of Bucks cheering on their team easily caught her attention.

And then Jessica Lee, another eighth grader that year, and her friends invited Gunn to join the “Herd” – at that point the reigning Battle of the Fans II champion.

“She was scared, and we all took her in,” Lee said. “Because I know it is scary going to a new school. So the Herd was like, we’re open to everyone. Everybody come join.”

Also an eighth-grader at that time, Kevin Frost was tucked into a top corner of “The Woods” as section leaders whose names remain easy to recall helped Buchanan’s become an example to be followed statewide.

“We just got to see them in action. It was just amazing to watch,” said Frost, who with Lee and Gunn is among current Herd leaders. “I don’t know how to describe it. When we won on a buzzer beater at the ‘Mean Stinks’ game – just to be part of that; it’s come full circle. To be down leading everyone else, it’s indescribable.”

The tradition indeed lives on. The MHSAA’s visit to Buchanan for Friday’s boys basketball game against Berrien Springs was its fourth in seven years of Battle of the Fans and the last of three finalists tour stops for this year’s BOTF VII.

We met with section leaders Gunn, Lee, Frost, fellow seniors Madison Schau and Kenneth Stuckey and junior Garret Lollar to learn more about how they’ve both carried on and added to the Herd’s legacy.

As with our first two finalists tour reports on Petoskey’s Blue Crew and Boyne City’s Rambler Rowdies, below is our review of an evening hanging with the Bucks. Following again the format of a typical game night, we begin with the Herd’s suggestions for other student sections getting started and video from our visit and then tell more of the story behind a group that continues to rock the bleachers.

Buchanan’s Gameplan

Take some of these tips from Buchanan’s Herd:

• Be positive – in planning and performance. It all starts with the right attitude, Lollar said, and that starts with the process behind the scenes and carries over to the fun in the stands.

• Don’t be scared. That advice covers a number of scenarios. Don’t be scared to come to a student section meeting with older classmates or many you don’t know. Don’t be scared to share your opinion. And never be scared to dance with your section when the rest of the crowd is watching.

• Make it all about fun. The more fun you’re having, the more tightly-knit your section will become.

• Work together. The Herd has a large group of leaders, but they work to make all of their individual ideas mesh together. That allows them to collect a lot of great ones – and keep everyone in a large group engaged as well.

Pregame Prep

As an established section for most of this decade, the Herd generally enters a school year with a running start.

Tradition and expectations are set, thanks in part to a group of teachers who are passionate about facilitating whatever the Herd needs to be at its best. But students continue to show as well – it’s the usual this year to have 30 or more at the section’s regular meetings.

The Herd from its beginnings at the start of this decade has been about immersing itself in the community. That’s included a lot of things over the years, including being asked to attend events in town that have little to do with the school’s athletics. But it begins with becoming a fabric of the entire school district, which starts in part with section leaders holding “traveling pep rallies” to teach cheers to elementary and middle school students. (The video below was submitted as part of the BOTF "Challenge Round.")

At one traveling pep rally, Gunn and her fifth-grade sister led a cheer together. Another poignant moment unfolded when kids ran up to Lee later on because they recognized her from a pep rally and wanted to show her some of the cheers they’d learned.

“They saw me as a leader, and I like to be a leader,” Lee said. “And I think that’s another thing I like about the Herd: I see myself in them. I was you once, and now I’m … the people who led it before.”

For this year’s application video, the Herd rallied its classmates during the final days before holiday break to shoot a lip dub. Leaders went that route because they wanted to offer something that hadn’t been done as part of BOTF before – but also, the lip dub allowed them to show off more than just a basketball game night. The run through the school’s hallways included appearances by a number of sports teams, school clubs and social groups that all have some ownership in the section.

Herd leaders have an inside joke that while the section has always been good, it went through some “dark ages” before experiencing a “renaissance” this year. This BOTF candidacy is topping things off. 

“I feel like this has been our entire high school (career),” Schau said. “We’ve been part of the Herd since we got into the high school. … It’s something we’ve always done, all the way through. So our passion’s really strong this year.”

Game Time

“Tonight for sure, you’re going to see some bad dancing,” Stuckey said. “I’m one of them, but we’re going to let it all out.”

The Woods are alive from before tip-off until long after the final buzzer. There are plenty of traditions – the speaker system pipes in music during quarter breaks and halftimes for a full section dance party, and during play the cheers and chants are ones the Herd has made regulars over the years – and taught to all of those younger students coming up so they’re ready to step in as high schoolers.

Community indeed runs deep. On this night, Buchanan’s 1977-78 Class C champion boys basketball team was featured for a halftime reunion. As would make sense, the Herd wasn’t really involved – but then received a giant shout-out at the end of the ceremony from retired coach Mike Rouse.

A few other things that stuck out on this night: Halftime kicked off with a full section conga line around the gym. And as it’s done since 2012-13, the Herd finished the night after the game had ended singing a song from the stands with the team and many from the community filling the floor.

Also recognizable were faces in other sections of the gym of at least a few alums we’d seen in years past. That support is ongoing – the Herd has received quite a bit of social media action from past grads sharing their pride. They’ve also seen it from visiting fans and even an opposing player who said his school’s student section needed to step up to Buchanan’s level.

The Woods has been shaking things up quite a bit this winter. On the road at places like Niles Brandywine, where it joined that school’s “Pink Out.” Supporting other teams besides basketball, including wrestling and competitive cheer. Unifying with the boys basketball team on Tie-Dye Night, when Bucks players also hit the court dressed to match. Herd leaders are even planning to have a spring cheering section for the first time, supporting those often-forgotten teams as well.

Some Herd leaders weren’t psyched at first with Lollar’s suggestion of Clean Bandit’s “Rather Be” as the soundtrack for the lip dub – they were hoping for something currently popular. But the 2014 jam has grown into this year’s anthem. And Friday, it seemed like no one wanted to go home when the game was done.

“This is really important to us,” Gunn said, “and we really live that saying – there’s no place we’d rather be.”

Postgame Analysis

Please join us: “Instead of coming into high school and it being scary, terrifying, like (these are) bigger people than you, it’s an inviting thing,” Lollar said. “Because you get to have fun with a bunch of people you usually wouldn’t hang out with. In the student section, I stand next to freshmen I don’t talk to (otherwise) ever. But I’m friends with them because we have this.”

Leave a legacy: “I notice when we go on our traveling pep rallies, we see these kids at the elementary school – they’re not even higher than my knee,” Schau said. “And they know the cheers. I don’t know if I was that age and knew how to cheer, but they know the cheers by heart. That’s what makes me want to do it – because those kids know every single cheer. You just grow up. They know now. They know what to do.”

Shy no more: “All of the positivity and all of these people showed me there’s no reason to be scared,” Gunn said. “Something I learned and something other people should learn is you won’t be embarrassed (because) everyone else is doing it around you. It’s a lot of fun.”

We will remember this forever: “It’s something we get to remember (from) high school,” Stuckey said. “There are many kids who can’t be like, ‘We had a student section and we were able to lead it.’ And it’s nice we’re able to say that. The Herd is a family; we’re not just people who know each other, we’re not just a student section. We all care about each other, and it’s nice to have a family away from your real family.”

Next on BOTF: The Buchanan visit concluded this year’s BOTF finalists tour. Beginning Tuesday, fans all over the state may vote for the student section they think should win this year’s contest. Check out Second Half on Tuesday for instructions on how to vote on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The champion will be announced Feb. 23.

Click to see our reports on Petoskey’s Blue Crew and Boyne City’s Rambler Rowdies.

The Battle of the Fans is sponsored in part by the United Dairy Industry of Michigan.

PHOTOS: (Top) Buchanan's "Herd" cheers during Friday's boys basketball game against Berrien Springs. (Middle) Classmates follow the beat as Kevin Frost plays drums during a break in the action. (Photos courtesy of Buchanan's yearbook staff.)