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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-June 3, 2003
Contact: John Johnson or Randy Allen
517.332.5046 or www.mhsaa.com

EAST LANSING, Mich. - June 3 - The namesake of the person for whom the award is named and one of the state's top prep sports photographers are the recipients of the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Allen W. Bush Award for 2003.

This year's recipients are: Al Bush Jr., an attorney from Traverse City; and Gary Shook, a freelance sports photographer from Otsego. The recipients of this year's awards will be recognized at ceremonies in their communities during the 2003-04 school year.

Al Bush Sr., served as executive director of the MHSAA for 10 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 12th year of the award, with the selections being made by the MHSAA's Representative Council.

Here are brief biographical sketches of the 2002 Bush Award recipients:

Al Bush Jr. - A contributor to the high school sports scene inside and outside the lines. Following his 1970 graduation from Western Michigan University, Al Bush Jr. was a teacher and a coach in the Portage and Berrien Springs Public Schools districts. After earning his law degree from Cooley Law School in 1979, Bush began his legal career in Escanaba, and was also an assistant football and track coach at Escanaba High School.

In his 25 years as a lawyer in Michigan, Bush became a great friend to the interscholastic sports community as an expert in legal issues impacting educational athletics. He works closely with high schools as a legal advisor, with the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association as a conference speaker and legal counsel, and with the MHSAA as a presentor at workshops for coaches and athletic directors.

His passion for school sports is present in his presentations, described by many as informative, realistic, factual, loud and from the heart. Bush is a graduate of Lansing Sexton High School and also earned a Master's degree from Western Michigan University in 1972. "You can't help but take something away from an Al Bush presentation," said John E. "Jack" Roberts, executive director of the MHSAA. "There are few people who have the depth of knowledge about high school sports and the law that Al Bush has, and no one who does a better job of communicating that to our coaches and administrators. It's an honor to present him with the award bearing his father's name." He was nominated for the award by Escanaba High School.

Gary Shook - If there's been a moment illustrating the excitement and emotion of high school athletics, Gary Shook has captured it on film as one of the state's top action photographers. Among his classic shots are the game-tieing basket in the 1996 Class D Girls Basketball Finals, when Janet Russman made a layup off a deflected full-court pass to send the game to overtime and an eventual win for Portland St. Patrick; the courtwide emotion following a buzzer-beating game-winning shot by Ben Verbeek of Grandville Calvin Christian in the 1994 Class C Boys Basketball Finals; and Michigan's version of "The Catch," the eight-frame, had-to-see-it-to-believe-it flea-flicker reception by Stacey Starr of Muskegon Reeths-Puffer for the game-winning score in the 1992 Class A Football finale.

In addition to being the photographer of MHSAA championships for over 15 years, Shook is also a renowned photographer locally with high schools and Western Michigan University, and on the NASCAR circuit. He also has been honored for his years of service to high school in youth hockey in the greater Kalamazoo area, and his community service work. "Gary's love for high school sports is genuine, and his feeling for our games is captured in his incredible photographic work," said Roberts. "Gary endeared himself to the school sports community with his great camera skills, and his affection for coaches, players, administrators and officials. His service to school sports typifies what the Bush Award stands for." He was nominated for the award by Otsego High School.

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,200 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 approximately 1.6 million spectators each year.