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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE --November 8, 2000
Contact: John Johnson or Andy Frushour-- 517.332.5046

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Nov. 8 - Seven members of the Michigan High School Athletic Association's governing body, the Representative Council, have been reelected by member schools to serve two-year terms.

The Representative Council meets three times annually to discuss and pass legislation concerning the interscholastic athletic activities of the Association's 1,300-plus member senior and junior high/middle schools. The Council is made up of 19 members, with all but 7 elected by a vote of member schools to represent different geographic regions, different sizes of schools, private schools, and junior high/middle schools. Two members are elected to statewide at-large positions. Four members are appointed by the Council to facilitate representation of females and minorities, and the 19th position is occupied by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee.

From the Council, three officers are elected. These officers and two other representatives form the MHSAA's Executive Committee, which meets on a monthly basis during the school year to review eligibility appeals from member schools and other current Association business.

Reelected to two-year terms which expire in December, 2002, are: Robert Riemersma, principal, Mainstee High School, representing Class A and B schools in the Northern Lower Peninsula; Michael Shibler, superintendent, Rockford Public Schools, representing Class A and B schools in the Southwestern Lower Peninsula; Eric Federico, assistant principal, Gibraltar Carlson High School, representing Class A and B schools in the Southeastern Lower Peninsula; Keith Alto, principal, Newberry High School, representing Class C and D schools in the Upper Peninsula; William Newkirk, superintendent, Sanford Meridian Public Schools, representing Class C and D schools in the Northern Lower Peninsula; Keith Eldred, athletic director, Williamston Middle School, representing junior high/middle schools; and Tom Rashid, director of physical education, Archdiocese of Detroit, representing private and parochial schools.

Eldred was elected to the Representative Council for the tenth time; Federico, Newkirk and Rashid were all elected to their seventh term on the Council; and Alto, Riemersma and Shibler each won their board seats for the third time.

In addition, Scott Grimes, principal, Grand Haven High School, was elected in a run-off vote to a statewide at-large position on the Representative Council for the first time.

Two positions on the Upper Peninsula Athletic Committee were also filled by a vote of U.P. schools.
Paul Polfus, Carney-Nadeau High School, was elected in a run-off vote to an athletic coach position on the U.P. Athletic Committee; and Joe Reddinger, Iron Mountain North Dickinson High School, won an appointment representing Class D schools.

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,300 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 conducted in 12 sports for girls and 12 sports for boys which attract approximately 1.6 million spectators each year.

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