Greenville's Martin Finds Future as On-Air Voice for Local Radio Broadcasts
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
March 20, 2026
Gracelin Martin can actually point to the moment where she glimpsed the rest of her professional life.
The current Greenville senior had just completed her first full season of working as a play-by-play broadcaster for radio station WGLM, and her watchful eyes took in the moments following a tense Lowell-Greenville basketball game. If she hadn't figured it out before, it dawned on Martin she loved it all: the back-and-forth of the game's action, the noisy crowd and the responsibility of detailing into a live mic what she was witnessing while looking forward to interviewing the participants afterward.
It was right about that moment that Martin decided the whole frantic atmosphere would be paramount in her future.
"I felt very accomplished," she said. "I didn't think a person so young could be in this role. I was kind of proud of myself."
Martin wasn't even 18 years old when longtime Greenville public address announcer and WGLM employee Bill Wilson noticed this eager young teenager with obvious people-person skills chatting easily with friends when an idea popped into his mind. The station needed someone to replace Serena Schroeder, another young student sideline reporter at Greenville football and basketball games who was going off to Michigan State. Wilson engaged Martin, and his suspicions were quickly confirmed. This, Wilson thought, was what he was seeking.
"He said I had this bubbly personality and would I consider broadcasting football and basketball games," said Martin, a basketball, track and cross country letter winner at Greenville. "Without hesitating, I said yes. I was 100-percent down with it.
"I saw an opportunity and took it. I never knew what could come of it."
So despite being just a 15-year-old high school sophomore with absolutely no radio background, Martin quickly fell in love with everything about the business of being a sideline reporter in football and a play-by-play broadcaster in basketball.
Wilson, who works Greenville football, basketball, track and soccer games, said he knew nothing of Martin at first except remembering seeing her play varsity basketball as a freshman. It wasn't her voice, mannerisms or really anything else that immediately leaped out at him. It was simply a sixth sense about matching up an obviously effervescent personality with a microphone.
"I had never met her, but I knew we were looking for someone to replace Serena and things just kind of clicked," he said. "She has this good personality, I thought she could be the one. She said she was interested, and it went from there."
Martin admits there was a definite gamble in being a teenage novice with a microphone thrust in front of her mixing with longtime coaches and athletes who doubled as high school friends. Would she freeze, stutter, flub questions, seem obviously underqualified or, worst of all, unprepared?
But by doing her homework and always being prepared, Martin found she easily could hit on the information she needed through interviews.
"The thought definitely crossed my mind," she said of the whole idea being a gamble. "I didn't know football inside-out like I knew basketball. I put pressure on myself to learn. But really, I felt ease from the beginning."
Dixon Huiet works as a WGLM analyst for Greenville football broadcasts. Part of a three-person crew, Huiet said Martin has an innate ability to grasp what intricacies fans need to know about what's happening on a football field or basketball court. The ability to pair the flow of a game with what fans want to know about what's happening is critical, he said.
"She's very fluid in understanding what needs to happen as a sideline reporter," he said. "And she knows how to step up, take the lead in broadcasting the play-by-play of a basketball game.
"She's come so far. She understands where to go and if she doesn't get the answer she wants, she can pivot. She's worked at it and evolved, and that's a skill."
Martin is astute enough to recognize where she can find help in improving as a broadcaster. She's noticed, for instance, how ESPN and ABC broadcaster Holly Rowe or the Big Ten Network's Dannie Rogers conduct their business on TV. Toss in tips from Schroeder, who recently graduated from Michigan State with a communications degree, and the confidence shown by Wilson and Huiet, and Martin feels comfortable in the business.
All broadcasters start somewhere, and Martin knows she's lucky enough to have started by interviewing coaches and athletes she's known for years. It's a crucial early stepping-stone which Martin doesn't underestimate.
"I knew a lot of the coaches and players from school and watched women like Holly and Dannie, and I thought this was something I could do," she said. "Honestly, you see a lot of females on TV, and bringing them into the broadcast business is a good thing. I enjoy learning from people who are better than me."
Martin’s upcoming plans include running cross country and track while entering Cornerstone University's communication program.
After honing skills in college, Martin said, who knows where her path will lead?
"I feel like not everything will be easy," she said, "but this will set me up and pave the road ahead."
PHOTOS (Top) Gracelin Martin interviews Greenville football coach Scott McDougall during a game this past season. (Middle) Martin receives “Senior Night” recognition from WGLM’s Bill Wilson and Will Wydeck this winter. (Below) Martin describes the action for her audience. (Photos provided by the Greenville athletic department.)
Finalists Announced for 2023-24 MHSAA/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Awards
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 19, 2024
The 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Awards for the 2023-24 school year, presented by Farm Bureau Insurance, have been announced.
The program, in its 35th year, 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 $2,000 scholarship to each recipient. Since the beginning of the program, 928 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, 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. Ann Arbor Greenhills, Birmingham Seaholm, East Grand Rapids, Manistee and Midland Dow have three finalists this year. Seven schools have two finalists: Beal City, Britton Deerfield, Dearborn, Mason, Northville, Oxford, and Traverse City West.
Multiple-sport participation remains the norm among applicants. The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 2.88. There are 77 three-plus sport participants in the finalists field, and all but two of the 28 sports in which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments are represented.
Of 445 schools which submitted applicants, 28 submitted the maximum allowed. This year, 1,607 applications were received. All applicants will be presented with certificates commemorating their achievement. Additional Scholar-Athlete Award information, including a complete list of scholarship nominees, can be found on the Scholar-Athlete page.
The applications were judged by a 65-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. 6, Class B scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 13 and Class A scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 20. All announcements will be made on the MHSAA Website.
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, and submit two letters of recommendation and a 500-word essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.
Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan was founded in 1949 by Michigan farmers who wanted an insurance company that worked as hard as they did. Those values still guide the company today and are a big reason why it is known as Michigan’s Insurance Company, dedicated to protecting the farms, families, and businesses of this great state. Farm Bureau Insurance agents across Michigan provide a full range of insurance services—life, home, auto, farm, business, retirement, Lake Estate®, and more—protecting nearly 500,000 Michigan policyholders.
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 1.3 million spectators each year.
2023-24 Scholar-Athlete Award Finalists
GIRLS CLASS A
Yan Yee Adler, Ann Arbor Pioneer
Bella Adams, Battle Creek Lakeview
Katherine Slazinski, Birmingham Seaholm
Aya Moughni, Dearborn
Sam M. Peot, East Grand Rapids
Julia Holt, Farmington Hills Mercy
Tori Briggs, Fowlerville
Arianna Pate, Gibraltar Carlson
Cameron Herman, Hartland
Brooke Pedersen, Holland West Ottawa
Ella Chatfield, Jenison
Meghan Ford, Mason
Lauren VanSumeren, Midland Dow
Addison Raffle, Northville
Ella Boyd, Oxford
Abigail DeGraw, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
Anna Lassan, South Lyon East
Lily Sackrider, St. Johns
Cecilia Ruchti, St. Joseph
Addison Booher, Traverse City Central
Ava King, Traverse City West
London Williams, Trenton
Sarah Fromm, Utica
Ryah Dewey, Walled Lake Western
BOYS CLASS A
Viraj Nautiyal, Birmingham Seaholm
Dylan Shoresh, Birmingham Seaholm
Charles Howell, Cadillac
Erik Giedeman, Dearborn
Joseph Stachelek, Detroit U-D Jesuit
Charlie Lentz, East Grand Rapids
Charlie Seufert, East Grand Rapids
Chris Piwowarczyk, Fenton
TJ Silvernale, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern
Jack Ryan, Grosse Pointe South
Jaden Reji, Livonia Churchill
Connor Curtis, Livonia Stevenson
Austin Martel, Mason
Jonathan Song, Midland Dow
Logan Yu, Midland Dow
Jaxson Whitaker, Muskegon Reeths-Puffer
Kyle Brown, Northville
Sean Wilson, Oxford
Anirudh Krishnan, Plymouth
Abrar Hossen, Portage Central
Andrew Miller, Saline
Jack Carlisle, Stevensville Lakeshore
Willem Howard Anthony DeGood, Traverse City West
Vansh Jvalit Baxi, Troy Athens
GIRLS CLASS B
Elaine Gordon, Adrian
Navya Ashok, Ann Arbor Greenhills
Anika Bery, Ann Arbor Greenhills
Hannah Herman, Buchanan
Gwenyth L. Geiger, Caro
Reese Herioux, Gladstone
Julie Ashbaugh, Grant
Grace deWaalMalefyt, Hudsonville Unity Christian
Megan Marta, Ishpeming Westwood
Addison Rutter, Kingsford
Libby McCarthy, Manistee
Cecilia Postma, Manistee
Malena Johnson, Marshall
Katelyn Baney, Paw Paw
Malia Thelen, Portland
Isabella DeWildt, Sault Ste. Marie
BOYS CLASS B
Angelo Ciarelli, Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard
Lucas Nor, Ann Arbor Greenhills
Austin Hinkley, Big Rapids
Logan Cripps, Brooklyn Columbia Central
Jackson Dell, Chelsea
William E. Ribby, Eaton Rapids
Logan Lipka, Frankenmuth
Charles Lindemann, Grand Rapids Catholic Central
Ben Sytsma, Grand Rapids Christian
Stephen Petersen, Hillsdale
Michael Stout, Howard City Tri County
Anthony Mariotti Goatley, Madison Heights Lamphere
Braydon Sorenson, Manistee
Ethan Chambliss, Niles
Aiden Roulo, St. Clair
Oliver Brown, Williamston
GIRLS CLASS C
Mikaela Ann Boyle, Bad Axe
Kylie Ott, Bridgman
Allison Bowles, Clinton
Jaida Schulte, Elk Rapids
Lauren Borsenik, Hemlock
Mariah Thompson, Houghton Lake
Lola Korpi, Ishpeming
Alexis Ewing, Jonesville
Adilyn Anne Ruggles, Marlette
Sara Dammann, New Lothrop
Brooke Spitzley, Pewamo-Westphalia
Claire Neumann, Saginaw Valley Lutheran
BOYS CLASS C
Carter Upper, Alcona
Payton Butkovich, Beal City
Jamisen Latham, Beal City
Tristan B. Harbaugh, Gobles
Niko Burgoon, Iron Mountain
Kannon Duffing, Manchester
Brad H. McNeill, Montrose
Jack Lantz, New Buffalo
Ryin Ruddy, Ottawa Lake Whiteford
Benjamin March, St. Louis
Julian Ahluwalia, Traverse City St. Francis
Landen Muska, Vassar
GIRLS CLASS D
Makenzee Grimm, Battle Creek St. Philip
Alivia Salenbien, Britton Deerfield
Alayna Salenbien, Britton Deerfield
Caroline Beggs, Clarkston Everest Collegiate
Rachel Case, Kimball New Life Christian
Mallory Lowe, Leland
Bonnie Kiger, Marion
Hazel Hysell, St. Joseph Our Lady of the Lake Catholic
BOYS CLASS D
Samuel Wallace Lutz, Adrian Lenawee Christian
Jürgen Griswold, Ellsworth
Christian Besonen, Ewen-Trout Creek
Trenton Taratuta, Hillman
Ridley Fast, Hillsdale Academy
Ben McCaw, Lawrence
Nathan Mihills, Marcellus
Clayton Shoup, Mason County Eastern
PHOTO Scholar-Athlete Award medals are ready for presentation during the 2023 ceremony at Breslin Center.