2017 Scholar-Athlete Finalists Announced
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 20, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Awards for the 2016-17 school year, presented by Farm Bureau Insurance, have been announced.
The program, celebrating its 28th anniversary, has recognized student-athletes since the 1989-90 school year and again this winter will honor 32 individuals from MHSAA member schools who participate in at least one sport in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament.
Farm Bureau Insurance underwrites the Scholar-Athlete Awards and will present a $1,000 scholarship to each recipient. Since the beginning of the program, 704 scholarships have been awarded.
Scholarships will be presented proportionately by school classification, with 12 scholarships to be awarded to Class A student-athletes, six female and six male; eight scholarships will be awarded to Class B student-athletes, four female and four male; six scholarships will be awarded to Class C student-athletes, three female and three male; and four scholarships will be awarded to Class D student-athletes, two female and two male. In addition, two scholarships will be awarded at-large to minority recipients, regardless of school size.
Every MHSAA member high school could submit as many applications as there are scholarships available in its classification, and could have more than one finalist. New Boston Huron has three finalists this year. Seventeen schools each have two finalists: Blissfield, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, Coldwater, Dearborn Divine Child, Detroit Catholic Central, Edwardsburg, Gladwin, Greenville, Ishpeming, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep, Midland Dow, Pewamo-Westphalia, Saline, Sault Ste. Marie, Sturgis, Watervliet and Yale.
Multiple-sport participation remains the norm among applicants. The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 2.63, while the average of the application pool was 2.18. There are 72 three-plus sport participants in the finalists field, and all but one of the 28 sports in which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments are represented.
Of 409 schools which submitted applicants, 52 submitted the maximum allowed. This year, 1,515 applications were received. All applicants will be presented with certificates commemorating their achievement. Additional Scholar-Athlete information, including a complete list of scholarship nominees, can be found on the Scholar-Athlete page of the MHSAA Website.
The applications were judged by a 70-member committee of school coaches, counselors, faculty members, administrators and board members from MHSAA member schools. Selection of the 32 scholarship recipients will take place in early February. Class C and D scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 7, Class B scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 14 and Class A scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 21. All announcements will be made on the MHSAA Website.
To honor the 32 Scholar-Athlete Award recipients, a ceremony will take place during halftime of the Class C Boys Basketball Final, March 25, at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.
To be eligible for the award, students must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 (on a 4.0 scale) and previously have won a varsity letter in at least one sport in which the MHSAA sponsors a postseason tournament. Students also were asked to respond to a series of short essay questions, submit two letters of recommendation and a 500-word essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.
Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan was founded in 1949 by Michigan farmers who wanted an insurance company that worked as hard as they did. Those values still guide the company today and are a big reason why it is known as Michigan’s Insurance Company, dedicated to protecting the farms, families, and businesses of this great state. Farm Bureau Insurance agents across Michigan provide a full range of insurance services—life, home, auto, farm, business, retirement, Lake Estate®, and more—protecting nearly 500,000 Michigan policyholders.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,400 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.
2016-17 Scholar-Athlete Award Finalists
BOYS CLASS A
Trevor Roznowski, Alpena
Jordan George-Nwogu, Ann Arbor Pioneer
Nathan Jones, Battle Creek Lakeview
Jonah Kamoo, Birmingham Groves
Ben Williams, Birmingham Seaholm
Andrew R Twiford, Byron Center
Eric Bach, Coldwater
Kameron Miller, Coldwater
CJ Baird, Detroit Catholic Central
Jackson Ross, Detroit Catholic Central
Justin Beemer, Fenton
Steven Stine, Fraser
Dominic LaJoie, Gaylord
Drew VanAndel, Grand Haven
Michael Gumbko, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern
Connor K Fischer, Grandville
Michael Visscher, Holland
Tyler Opdycke, Livonia Churchill
Varun R Shanker, Midland Dow
Gary R O'Brien III, Riverview
Aidan Carichner, Saline
Connor Bryant Meehan, Saline
Matthew J Polzin, Sturgis
Andrew Long, White Lake Lakeland
GIRLS CLASS A
Kaitlyn Coons, Cedar Springs
Lindsay Duca, East Grand Rapids
Sarah Kurpiers, Farmington Hills Mercy
Jocelyn Prinz, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central
Paige Hallock, Greenville
Landon Kemp, Greenville
Amber Nicole Manitowabi-Huebner, Marquette
Alex Wilkinson, Middleville Thornapple Kellogg
Caroline Szabo, Midland Dow
Jordan Walker, Muskegon Mona Shores
Emma Streveler, New Baltimore Anchor Bay
Alexa Scroggie, New Boston Huron
Elizabeth Stockert, New Boston Huron
Allissa Wight, New Boston Huron
Katelyn Jones, Owosso
Jalynn Byers, Petoskey
Mackenzie Carano, Pinckney
Sydney Asuncion, Rochester
Allyson Faulkner, Rockford
Harmony Groves, Sturgis
Maggie Dutmers, Traverse City Central
Hunter Kehoe, Traverse City West
Nikki Sorgi, Utica Ford
Aubrey Fetzer, Warren Cousino
BOYS CLASS B
Brayden Huddleston, Benzie Central
Tait Morrissey, Big Rapids
Michael Bian, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Michael J Gussert, Cadillac
Christopher A Roush, Chelsea
Collin Lieber, Croswell-Lexington
Evan Latham, Dearborn Divine Child
Adam Kozinski, Edwardsburg
Patrick Johns, Marine City
Richard Dominick Reo III, Paw Paw
Brendan Gered Fraser, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
Ryley Alaspa, Sault Ste. Marie
Ryan Sanderson, Sault Ste. Marie
Josef Hissom, Spring Lake
Andrew D Marten, Tecumseh
Cade Smeznik, Yale
GIRLS CLASS B
Emma Nowak, Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard
Michel Faliski, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Jasmine Harper, Clare
Madeline Filiatraut, Dearborn Divine Child
Sasha Hartje, Detroit Country Day
Noelle Kraus, Edwardsburg
Peyton Rellinger, Gladwin
Lindsey Shearer, Gladwin
Erika Freyhof, Hamilton
Morgan Colling, Houghton
Haley Heldt, Midland Bullock Creek
Megan Aalberts, Otsego
Raechel K McKiernan, Richmond
Kylie Hutchinson, Shepherd
Kim Anh Nguyen, Wyoming Kelloggsville
Gabrielle Smith, Yale
BOYS CLASS C
Clark Brady, Bad Axe
Spencer Fisher, Blissfield
Jonathan Lutchka, Grass Lake
Sam Bailey, Harbor Springs
Ashok Ravindran, Ishpeming
Joe Rigling, Leroy Pine River
Alexander Dixon, Madison Heights Bishop Foley Catholic
Jacob Shoop, Mason County Central
Bryce J Thelen, Pewamo-Westphalia
Nicholas Hammond, Riverview Gabriel Richard
Tyler Brant, Watervliet
Cameron Rendo, Watervliet
GIRLS CLASS C
Kelsey Wyman, Blissfield
Madeline Wu, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett
Khora Swanson, Ishpeming
Hope Baldwin, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep
Quinn Epkey, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep
Keilene Renae Elmer, Lincoln Alcona
Bailey Downs, Munising
Maysa Sitar, Newberry
Mary Hoopes, North Muskegon
Brenna Wirth, Pewamo-Westphalia
Sidney Linck, Ravenna
Madison Bryce, St. Charles
BOYS CLASS D
Jacob Single, Adrian Lenawee Christian
Jacob Martin, Athens
Richard Steffan, Auburn Hills Oakland Christian
Elijah Newton, Central Lake
Jace Feldpausch, Fowler
Brian A Price, Mio
Nicholas Morgenstern, Muskegon Catholic Central
Seth Polfus, Powers North Central
GIRLS CLASS D
Rachel Hiveley, Au Gres-Sims
Allyson Richards, Fruitport Calvary Christian
Alexa Destrampe, Lake Linden-Hubbell
Jade Sibley, Marcellus
Mary Leighton, Mendon
Alexis McConnell, Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart
Grace Alvesteffer, Pentwater
Rhiley Hubert, Rapid River
Charlotte 'Flight Club' Shows it can Soar
February 15, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
CHARLOTTE – The time was right last winter. Charlotte’s student body was ready to take flight. All it needed were leaders to show the way.
And a few snow days to prepare for lift off.
The beginnings of the school’s student cheering section were that humble. But the community also was that ready. Over just more than a year, Charlotte’s “Flight Club” has risen from nonexistent to a finalist for this year’s MHSAA “Battle of the Fans,” and while helping to re-igniting the community’s fervor for its sports teams.
An “ugly green poster,” a snow day meeting and some savvy marketing transformed a group of 20 students into a section of hundreds that holds down a corner of bleachers at basketball games, has brought back student involvement at football games and last week took a spirit bus to the competitive cheer team’s league meet while others stayed home to back the wrestlers in their District Tournament.
“Our school is just the right size where it’s like 800 best friends,” senior Bryce Johnson said. “All the people watching the games know the athletes, so you’re going for friends, not because of a sport.”
Charlotte was the final stop on this year’s BOTF finalists tour, which also has included visits to Yale, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian, Traverse City West and Munising. The public may vote for its favorite on the MHSAA’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram sites beginning Tuesday and ending Thursday afternoon, with the MHSAA Student Advisory Council taking that vote into consideration when selecting the champion – which will be named Feb. 19 on Second Half.
The formation of Flight Club got a nudge from current math teacher and boys basketball coach Tyler Bartolacci played for the Orioles and graduated from the school in 2007.
Carlson and senior Anna Skrip were students of his last year, when Bartolacci began to hint at the start of basketball season that it would be nice to see more of a student presence in Charlotte’s gym.
Slowly, things started to take off. Carrying what Skrip called “an ugly green poster that said ‘Pep Club’ on it,” seniors spent a lunch hour last winter gathering names of students who were interested in creating a student section. It was a pretty simple start.
The next step came in mid-January during a series of snow days. Five of those now-graduated seniors, plus senior Lindsey Carlson and Skrip, answered a group text and showed up at the school on one of the days off and started hatching what the section might look like. They had a list of goals – chiefly figuring out how to get students to show up, how to get them to be “loud and crazy,” and how to do it all while maintaining sportsmanship.
They decided the first task would be naming the section. They collected 75 nominations from the student body, and an all-school vote made Flight Club the clear choice.
They then circled a Jan. 27 boys basketball game against Parma Western as the official kick off, and were happy with the turnout during a 51-48 win. But Johnson – who was on the basketball team last season – said the Feb. 27 game at Coldwater, attended by about 45 Charlotte students, showed the Flight Club’s potential. “They were with us the whole game, every big play, turnover; it was just insane,” Johnson said. “That’s when people were like, we’re actually quite good at this.”
The boys basketball team ended up making a run to the Regional Finals, hosting that tournament on its home floor. The Orioles lost to eventual Class B champion Wyoming Godwin Heights – but the Flight Club had arrived.
“It wasn’t too hard. You told your close friends, and friends would tell other friends, and the word would spread,” Skrip said. “Getting people to participate at the game was really the hardest. And then … they found out that it was actually fun to do things.”
The fever caught, and not just in the hallways. Over the last year, Charlotte has added a new overhead scoreboard and another section of bleachers to “The Dome” at the cost of a reported $55,000 raised by the community.
“People in the community are still here who witnessed the (school’s) greatness of the (19)80s, 90s. And (now that) we’re finally getting back to that point, the whole community is rallying,” Johnson said. “Every game now, if you drive down the main stretch of downtown, all the orange flags are up in the buildings.”
The momentum of last winter carried over into this fall. The varsity football team finished only 2-7, but senior Tyler Bandy said he could feel the difference from his classmates in the stands, even when his team was behind.
Still, the section leaders – “flight attendants” – came into this winter wondering if interest would remain strong. This time they planned to go big immediately with the boys team’s first home game Dec. 11 against Jackson Lumen Christi. Charlotte won 75-52 – and the place was packed.
“We didn’t know what to expect because of our history going against Lumen. They beat us at everything,” Carlson said. “It was amazing to see people just keep coming in. People were standing around because there weren’t enough seats. It definitely helped our team push past them, and we just dominated.”
The halls were alive the next Monday. Johnson heard classmates talking about how they were going to attend every game this season, how they’d had so much fun. Although Carlson, Bandy, Johnson, Skrip and junior Jess Ramos are among those considered leaders because they lead the cheers on game nights, they’ve received plenty of input – and assistance – from other students, including 25 who spent Thursday evening decorating the school in advance of the BOTF visit.
“We kinda became a marketing team,” Johnson said of the last year’s work.
“We’re going to start a business,” Carlson added. “How to amp up your student section.”
Part of the process has been continuing education, like “Flight School” videos the leaders put out over the last few weeks to keep classmates organized and fill them in on plans for upcoming games.
The camaraderie has allowed for special moments as well. For a Feb. 2 game against Mason, Flight Club leaders saw that the Bulldogs student section would be having a “Storm Out” for junior Storm Miller, who is fighting a rare form of cancer. Without letting it be known outside of the section, the Flight Club came together and wore blue that night – in honor of Miller – and passed buckets around at halftime to collect money for a GoFundMe account that assists in paying for treatments.
Battle of the Fans has become another of those special experiences. The flight attendants had no idea about it until Bartolacci introduced the idea to Bandy during the fall. Carlson’s immediate thought was this was something the Flight Club had become – and the time was now to get out the good word. It’s been a logical next step for an effort that has taken off more than she and her classmates could’ve ever hoped.
“Last year, we knew we loved our sports, and they’re getting really good,” Carlson said. “Our participation wasn’t as big, so (we thought) let’s amp up our student section, support our teams – get them better, get us better.”
“The goal is always to support our athletes and have fun,” Johnson added. “But we actually have a goal now to support our athletes and have so much fun that we can hang a (BOTF) banner at the end of the season.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Charlotte's Flight Club waves its orange shirts after the boys basketball team's first basket Friday against Parma Western. (Middle) Students row the "Flightanic" off the floor. (Below) Flight Club members hold a section-sized banner before tip off. (Photos by Teresa Johns.)