Performance of the Week: Sault Ste. Marie's Gabe Litzner
September 6, 2024
Gabe Litzner ♦ Sault Ste. Marie
Junior ♦ Cross Country
Litzner entered this season as the back-to-back Upper Peninsula Division 1 champion, and he's extending his dominance to the Lower Peninsula as well. He's run, and won, two races downstate already this fall including the Aug. 28 East Jordan Invitational, when he finished first among Division 1, 2 and 3 competitors with a time of 15:26.7 – only 1.3 seconds off his winning Finals time from a year ago.
That time also was nearly 53 seconds faster than the field at East Jordan as Sault Ste. Marie finished second in the D1-3 race to Traverse City St. Francis. A week earlier, Litzner won the Birch Run Invitational by nearly 34 seconds against a field that included teams from all four Lower Peninsula divisions. He'll be running later this fall to become the ninth three-time UP Finals champion. He's also the reigning UPD1 track & field champion in the 3,200, where he set the meet record of 9:35.63, and was on the winning 3,200 relay as a freshman.
@mhsaasports 🏃♂️➡️POW: Gabe Litzner #crosscountry #SaultSteMarie #invitational #winner #part1 #highschoolsports #tiktalk #interview #performanceoftheweek #mistudentaid #fyp #MHSAA ♬ original sound - MHSAA
@mhsaasports 🏃♂️➡️POW: Gabe Litzner #tiktalk #questiontime #part2 #greenbaypackers #jordan #cornhole #butterfinger #emoji #performanceoftheweek #mistudentaid #fyp #MHSAA ♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys - Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey
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Previous 2024-25 honorees
Aug. 30: Grace Slocum, Traverse City St. Francis golf - Report
PHOTOS courtesy of the Sault Ste. Marie athletic department.
MHSAA Student Advisory Council Names Members from Class of 2024
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 9, 2022
Eight student-athletes who will be juniors at their schools during the 2022-23 academic year have been selected to serve two-year terms on the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Student Advisory Council.
The Student Advisory Council is a 16-member group which provides feedback on issues impacting educational athletics from a student’s perspective, and also is involved in the operation of Association championship events and other programming. Members of the Student Advisory Council serve for two years, beginning as juniors. Eight new members are selected annually to serve on the SAC, with nominations made by MHSAA member schools. The incoming juniors will join the group of eight seniors-to-be appointed a year ago.
Selected to begin serving on the Student Advisory Council in 2022-23 are: Kannon Duffing, Manchester; Claire Gorno, Gaylord; M'Khi Guy, Muskegon; Dawsen Lehew, Marcellus; Christian Sanders, Detroit Renaissance; Ben Sytsma, Grand Rapids Christian; Madeline Werner, Bay City All Saints; and DaNia Womack, Dearborn Advanced Tech Academy.
Those eight new members were selected from 115 applicants. That applicant total was the second-most ever, with the last three years featuring the three highest totals.
The first Student Advisory Council was formed for the 2006-07 school year. With the addition of this class beginning this summer, members will have represented 129 schools from 48 leagues plus independent schools that do not play in a league. Combined, the new appointees have participated in nine MHSAA sports, and seven will be the first SAC members from their respective schools.
The Student Advisory Council generally meets seven times each school year, and once more for a 24-hour leadership camp. In addition to assisting in the promotion of the educational value of interscholastic athletics, the Council discusses issues dealing with the 4 S’s of educational athletics: scholarship, sportsmanship, safety (including health and nutrition) and the sensible scope of athletic programs. There also is a fifth S discussed by the group – student leadership.
This school year, the Council selected the 2021-22 “Battle of the Fans X” champion, handed out championship trophies at Finals events, continued discussions about COVID-related issues and provided feedback to the MHSAA Representative Council on proposed rule changes.
The new additions to the SAC will join the Class of 2023 members who were selected a year ago: Sam Gibson, Plainwell; Brady Leistra, East Grand Rapids; Caroline Li, Okemos; Sam Matias, Lansing Catholic; Zar'ria Mitchell, Saginaw Heritage; Carney Salo, Escanaba; Brandon Thompson, Petersburg Summerfield; and Keira Tolmie, Clarkston.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 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 more than 1.4 million spectators each year.