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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 14, 2009 Sportsmanship Awards For Winter Tournament Announced; EAST LANSING, Mich. – May 14 – The recipients of the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Good Sports Are Winners! Awards for the winter sports season have been selected, a group of 261 teams representing over 250 schools which are being honored for displaying outstanding sportsmanship during selected postseason tournament competitions to receive awards ranging from framed certificates to commemorative banners and crystal trophies from the MEEMIC Insurance Company, the Association's corporate partner in sportsmanship efforts. The program is conducted in team sports, with schools being evaluated by tournament management at District, Regional and Final Round sites. This winter, a total of 254 different schools were selected in tournaments conducted in girls and boys basketball, girls competitive cheer, ice hockey and team dual wrestling. The program recognizes one school at each MHSAA tournament center at all levels of play for having met the highest sportsmanlike standards. Those schools will be presented framed certificates from the MEEMIC Insurance Company. Those teams will also be recognized through the publication of their names in the MHSAA Bulletin, the MHSAA Finals program series, and on the MHSAA Website. During the course of the school year, over 500 teams will be recognized in 13 activities for their sportsmanship efforts during MHSAA tournaments. At the Finals in those tournaments, the school judged to have met those standards is presented a crystal trophy and commemorative banner. Benton Harbor in girls basketball (Class A), McBain in boys basketball (Class C), East Kentwood in girls competitive cheer (Division 1), Big Rapids in ice hockey (Division 3), and Goodrich in team dual wrestling (Division 3)l were selected by the tournament management at their respective Finals for displaying the exemplary sportsmanship by their coaches, student-athletes and spectators. Presentation dates at each winning school will be announced at a future date. Benton Harbor was the champion in the Class A girls basketball tournament; McBain was a semifinalist in boys basketball; Colon placed third in cheer; Big Rapids was a finalist on the ice; and Goodrich was a title winner on the mat. This is the third time East Kentwood has been honored with the Finals award - previously being recognized in 1990 and 2007 in ice hockey. Big Rapids previously won a Finals award in ice hockey in 1993. In addition to the Finals award, East Kentwood was recognized in boys and girls basketball. Flint Powers Catholic and Rockford were recognized in the winter at four tournaments, and South Lyon in three. Thirty-three other schools -- Byron Center, Cass City, Durand, Genesee Christian, Grand Haven, Greenville, Hartland, Haslett, Hudson, Jackson Lumen Christi, Jonesville, Lansing Waverly, Livonia Franklin, Ludington, Marysville, Mendon, Mt. Pleasant, Negaunee, Ortonville-Brandon, Pewamo-Westphalia, Plymouth Christian, Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest, Romeo, Roseville, Saginaw Heritage, Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary, Shelby, St. Clair Shores Lakeview, St. Johns, Temperance Bedford, Vassar, Warren DeLaSalle and Warren Fitzgerald – received mention twice. Boys basketball led the way with 99 schools honored; followed by 64 teams in girls basketball; 51 in team dual wrestling; 26 in ice hockey; and 14 in girls competitive cheer. The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,600 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. MEEMIC Insurance Company, with headquarters in Auburn Hills, writes full coverage private passenger automobile protection and homeowners insurance for educational employees and their immediate families in the state of Michigan. MEEMIC was founded by teachers for teachers in 1950. Most representatives of the company are or were teachers themselves. MEEMIC's history of competitive pricing and a commitment to superior service has cultivated a tradition of teachers serving teachers and their families, the “MEEMIC Club.” The following is a list of Good Sports Are Winners! Award recipients as submitted by tournament managers for the winter sports season. 2008-09 Winter Good Sports Are Winners! Award Recipients
-0- Farm Bureau Insurance and MEEMIC Insurance are year-round MHSAA Corporate Partners |
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