Know Your Role: Lead by 'Embracing the Bench'
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 1, 2023
Recent Royal Oak graduate and multi-sport athlete Thomas Romito was among winners this past year of the Michigan Student Voice competition hosted by the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals.
During the MASSP conference at the end of June, Romito explains how he responded to his changing role as a student-athlete, and how others can still make an impact from the sideline by following the same path.
Performance of the Week: Ann Arbor Pioneer's Gabrielle Haudan
November 6, 2026
Gabrielle Haudan ♦ Ann Arbor Pioneer
Junior ♦ Field Hockey
Haudan scored the only goal of this season’s MHSAA Final at Michigan State with 29 seconds left in the first quarter as Ann Arbor Pioneer repeated as champion with a 1-0 win over Saline. The goal made a memorable day even more so, as Haudan celebrated her 17th birthday Saturday.
The junior forward also was a significant contributor on Pioneer’s Finals championship team in 2025 and already is set to continue her career after high school as she’s committed to national power Northwestern. Haudan will be continuing a Division I athletic legacy as her mother Jenny (Zangara) Haudan was on University of Michigan’s 2001 national championship field hockey team and her father Brad ran track at U-M. Gabrielle also runs track for Pioneer and earned a Lower Peninsula Division 1 Regional championship in the 100 meters this past season.
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Past 2026-27 honorees
Oct. 30: Mason Crosby, South Lyon East tennis - Read
Oct. 23: Addilyn Duflo, Bath golf - Read
Oct. 16: Levi Lengemann, Imlay City tennis - Read
Oct. 9: Olivia Buford, Sterling Heights Stevenson swimming - Read
Oct. 2: Sophia McCollum, Muskegon Reeths-Puffer golf - Read
Sept. 25: Jenna Middleton, Kingsley volleyball - Read
Sept. 18: Caden Livermore, Grandville cross country - Read