Mourning Those Who Contributed Much
April 14, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
This weekend was a sad one for those who work in Michigan high school athletics or have appreciated the contributions from three who gave significantly to our games but died after long fights with cancer.
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart's Keisha Brown, Grand Haven's Robin Bye and Haslett's Jamie Gent left memorable legacies in their passing – Brown on Thursday, Gent on Friday and Bye on Saturday.
Following are just a few details of their contributions to schools and sports, followed by a handful of Twitter posts celebrating their commitments.
- Brown in 2006 became the first and only female coach to lead a boys team to the MHSAA Basketball Finals, guiding the Irish to the Class D Final before they fell to Wyoming Tri-unity Christian. She also served as principal and athletic director at Sacred Heart and coached the boys basketball team to a 114-30 record before taking over the Alma College women’s program, which she coached through this season. Click to read the memorial column from the Mount Pleasant Morning Sun’s Jim Lahde.
"RIP Keisha Brown. What a truly inspiring human being that battled cancer with courage and strength. My thoughts are with her family.” – Oakland Press reporter Drew Ellis, formerly of the Morning Sun
“Rest in Peace Keisha Brown #TrueWarrior. Words cannot express my sadness #HeartBroken.” – Alma College Sports Information Director Mike Hanson
- Bye worked in the Grand Haven school system for 34 years, including the last two-plus as athletic director after formerly serving as an assistant and a girls basketball coach. He also had been a middle school art teacher in the district, and last year received its “Spirit of Grand Haven” award for commitment and dedication to Grand Haven schools. Click to read the story on his passing from the Muskegon Chronicle’s Scott Brandenburg.
“Thinking of the Bye family tonight. Robin will be missed. As a person and an AD, he made me want to be better a person/coach. God Bless.” – Grand Haven boys basketball coach Steve Hewitt.
“I will miss Robin Bye. He made a big difference for the youth in our town, more than an athletic director; an inspiration.” – Grand Haven parent Pat McGinnis
- Gent began his career at Haslett in 1967 as a middle school teacher and high school coach in three sports. He was head coach of the track and field, boys basketball and football varsity teams at different times and began his second stint as the school’s athletic director in 1991. He also was an MHSAA registered official for more than 15 years and a mentor to many both in the Lansing area and statewide through his contributions to the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. He received the MHSAA’s Charles E. Forsythe Award in 2008. See below for a video posted that year in honor of Gent as he retired as athletic director, and click for Dick Hoekstra's piece in the Lansing State Journal posted today.
“Sad to hear of the passing of Jamie Gent, long time Haslett HS athletic director. Really great guy, very kind hearted.” – former Haslett athlete, current White Pigeon teacher/coach Kurt Twichell
“Jamie Gent was one of the best ADs I had the privilege to know. A great loss tonight for the Haslett community.” – Chelsea football coach Brad Bush
PHOTOS: (Clockwise from left) Former Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart boys basketball coach Keisha Brown comforts one of her players after the Irish fell in the Class D Final in 2006. Jamie Gent, left, receives his Charles E. Forsythe Award from Negaunee's Jim Derocher during the 2008 Boys Basketball Finals. Grand Haven athletic director, Robin Bye, is recognized as an assistant coach on the 1981 girls basketball team inducted into the Grand Haven sports Hall of Fame.
Greenhills' AD Seng Honored Nationally for Contributions to Women in Coaching
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 14, 2022
Ann Arbor Greenhills athletic director Meg Seng – also a member of the MHSAA Representative Council – has been named the first Peg Pennepacker Paving the Way Award winner by the Global Community of Women in High School Sports.
Seng is in her 38th year of service to schools and athletes, and has served as Greenhills athletic director since 2003 after previously teaching and/or coaching there and Ann Arbor Huron.
The honor from GCWHSS recognizes Seng’s contribution to encouraging female athletes to become coaches. In 2001, Seng co-founded The Academy of Sports Leadership, a non-profit organization that provides education and training for women interested in becoming coaches.
In 2021, Seng received a Citation from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). She also has received the MHSAA’s Women In Sports Leadership Award and Allen W. Bush Award, as well as the Jack Johnson Dedicated Service Award from the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA). Seng was named state Athletic Director of the Year by the MIAAA and Michigan High School Coaches Association (MHSCA) during the 2021-22 school year.
Seng received her Pennepacker Award during the recent National Athletic Directors Conference in Nashville, Tenn. Her Greenhills athletic program also was one of two from Michigan (with Mattawan) to receive a Quality Program Award from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA).
Pennepacker, from Pennsylvania, is an NIAAA Leadership Training Course national faculty member and considered one of the foremost experts nationally on Title IX issues. She formerly served in education for more than 36 years and continues her service in various roles in her state and nationally. She’s received the NIAAA Distinguished Service Award and was inducted into the NIAAA Hall of Fame on Tuesday.
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Jack Johnson, a legendary swim coach at Dearborn and honoree with the MHSAA's Charles E. Forsythe Award in 1988, was among eight inductees into the NIAAA Hall of Fame.
Johnson served as a teacher, athletic director and coach at Dearborn High School for nearly 40 years, leading the boys swimming & diving team to Lower Peninsula Class A championships in 1971, 1972 and 1974 and being named state Athletic Director of the Year by the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA) in 1983.
He also received an NFHS Citation in 1984 and was inducted into the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame that same year; the MHSCA Hall of Fame reports that Johnson won 13 league championships over 17 years and coached 25 high school All-Americans.
Johnson, who died at age 90 in 2019, also served on the MHSAA Representative council, and the MIAAA Distinguished Service Award is named for him.