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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 20, 1998
Contact: John Johnson or Mike Clifford 517.332.5046

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Three athletic administrators with a combined total of 96 years of involvement in the education community have been chosen to receive the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Allen W. Bush Award for 1998.

Bush served as executive director of the MHSAA for 18 years. The award honors individuals for past and continuing service to prep athletics as a coach, administrator, official, trainer, doctor or member of the media. The award was developed to bring recognition to men and women who are giving and serving without a lot of attention. This is the seventh year of the award, with the selections being made by the MHSAA's Representative Council.

This year's recipients are: Bill Mick, recently retired citywide athletic director for Midland Public Schools; Dave Price, athletic director of Rockford High School; and Norman Quinn, citywide athletic director of Bloomfield Hills Public Schools.

The recipients of this year's awards will be recognized at ceremonies in their communities at a future date.

Unique to this year's group is their strong involvement in athletic administration at the local, statewide and national levels. Their involvement has also seen each host various MHSAA finals - Rockford in Lower Peninsula Girls Gymnastics and Lower Peninsula Track and Field; Midland in Lower Peninsula Track and Field; and Bloomfield Hills in Boys Soccer.

"The contributions of leaders extend well beyond their home communities," said John E. "Jack" Roberts, executive director of the MHSAA. "What Bill Mick, Dave Price and Norm Quinn have done to impact educational athletics in their school districts, their state, and nationally, has earned them a place among the elite athletic administrators in the country. We're pleased to be honoring them with the Bush Award."

Here are brief biographical sketches of the 1998 Bush Award recipients:

Bill Mick - Retired from his position as citywide athletic director for Midland Public Schools in 1997 after 33 years of teaching, coaching and serving as an administrator in that area. He began his career at Bullock Creek High School, where over an 11-year period, he coached four sports. While at Midland High School, he coached girls cross country and served as coordinator of health, physical education and athletics. He then moved up to the citywide athletic administrator's position for the last 10 years of his career. He has served as a member of the MHSAA's legislative body, its Representative Council; on the board of the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association; and as a member of the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. He continues to be active with the MIAAA and NIAAA. In the community, Mick has served on the Midland Catholic Family Services Board of Directors, as scholarship chair for the Midland Elks Club, and as chair of the Midland County Amateur Sports Capital Committee. He has been honored as the Midland Elk of the Year; received the ACE Award from Midland County Community Education; given the President's Leadership Award from the Athletic Track Officials of Michigan; and as an MIAAA Regional Athletic Director of the Year. He is a graduate of Tawas City High School with a B.A. degree from Albion College and two advanced degrees from Central Michigan University.

Dave Price - Returning to Michigan in 1989, Dave Price has been a part of the explosive growth in the Rockford Public School District as its athletic director. While at Rockford, Price has established a school Athletic Council; an Athletic Hall of Fame; overseen the construction of a $34 million athletic complex; and assisted in the establishment of 12 new programs or levels of competition in existing athletic programs. Active in MIAAA and NIAAA activities, Price has served as chair of the NIAAA Publications Committee for the past three years. Prior to his appointment at Rockford, Price was athletic director at Concord High School in Elkhart, Indiana, for five years. He was also on the staff of Stevensville-Lakeshore Public Schools from 1972 to 1984, where he was a head coach in football and softball, and an assistant coach in wrestling. He also served as director of career education and sex equity programs at Lakeshore. He also had coaching and teaching stints at Burr Oak High School and in Muscatine, Iowa. He has been active in numerous community programs. Price is a graduate of Riverview High School, who earned his bachelor's degree from Olivet College.

Norman Quinn - Thirty-two of the 40 years Norman Quinn has spent as an athletic administrator has been with Bloomfield Hills Schools, where he is the citywide athletic director. In his position, he established a 17 sport middle school athletic program in the 1980's which involves the participation of nearly every student to this day. Respected as an administrator locally, Quinn is referred to as the Dean of Oakland County athletic directors. He was instrumental in the organization of the 28 school Oakland Activities Association in 1994. His contributions to the MHSAA include serving as tournament manager for the Boys Soccer Finals since 1986, and serving on numerous committees. He has been active with the MIAAA and NIAAA, being recognized by the former organization as a regional athletic director of the year. The Bloomfield Youth Guidance Community Service Award has also been bestowed on Quinn, who has also served for over 30 years with the community-based program, which provides counseling services for families and youth in the area. Quinn eared his bachelor's and master's degrees from Central Michigan University.