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Hockey Penalties Toughened for 2014-15

December 4, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Seasons are underway for teams participating in 12 winter sports for which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors postseason tournaments, with stronger penalties for excessive contact in ice hockey highlighting rules changes taking effect with the beginning of competition.

Eight sports including ice hockey began play during the final two weeks of November, with the remaining four sports beginning competition over the next 10 days – Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming and Diving on Dec. 6, Boys Basketball on December 8 and Boys and Girls Skiing on Dec. 13. Upper Peninsula Girls and Boys Bowling teams began competition on Nov. 29, and Lower Peninsula teams may begin Dec. 6.

Changes to ice hockey penalties resulting from opponents being forced into the boards continue a focus on improving safety by establishing different levels of severity based on the flagrance and violence of the offending act. 

Any excessive contact – including checking, cross-checking, elbowing, charging or tripping – that causes an opponent to be thrown violently into the boards will receive a 5-minute major penalty; previously this boarding infraction resulted only in a 2-minute minor penalty unless the contact was flagrant. If the flagrant or violent check causes a player to crash headfirst into the boards, a 5-minute major will be assessed as well as either a 10-minute misconduct or game disqualification depending on the severity of the offending check. Players disqualified from ice hockey games are not allowed to play in the next two games as well. 

A 5-minute major penalty also will be assessed to any player who pushes, charges, cross-checks or body-checks an opponent from behind in open ice. Previously, this excessive contact came with a 2-minute minor penalty and 10-minute misconduct. 

A handful of notable rules changes also go into effect for girls and boys basketball:

  • Intentional fouls were redefined to include excessive contact with any opposing player – not just the shooter – while the ball is live or until an airborne shooter returns to the floor. All excessive contact committed by any player will be ruled intentional.

  • Also, additions to the definition of personal foul were added to eliminate excessive contact on ball handlers outside of the lane area. The following additions constitute a foul when committed against the ball handler/dribbler: placing two hands (fronts or backs of hands) on the player, placing an extended arm bar (forearm away from the body) on the player, placing and keeping a hand on the player, and contacting the player more than once with the same hand or alternating hands.

  • The rule for players releasing to the lane on a free throw attempt was changed to its previous version; a player occupying a marked lane space again may enter the lane on the release of the ball by the free throw shooter. Players behind the free throw line extended and 3-point arc behind the free throw line must wait until the free throw attempt touches the ring or backboard or has ended (touches the floor) before entering the lane. This was the rule prior to the 1994-95 season.

  • Players may wear arm sleeves, knee sleeves, lower leg sleeves and tights, but all sleeves and tights must be black, white, beige or the predominant color of the team’s uniform. All team members wearing sleeves or tights must wear the same color. Knee braces do not count as part of this uniform regulation.

    • A significant change for wrestling affects team tournaments stretching multiple days, including the MHSAA Finals, for which weigh-ins are conducted each day. An athlete must weigh in at the same weight both days in order to continue competing after the first day of the tournament. Previously, an athlete could compete at whatever weight he or she weighed in at on the first day and then the new weight, if different, on the second day. Beginning this season, that wrestler may not compete the subsequent days of the team event if he or she weighs in at a different weight after the first day. 

    The 2014-15 Winter campaign culminates with postseason tournaments beginning with the Upper Peninsula Girls and Boys Swimming & Diving Finals on Feb. 21, and wraps up with the Boys Basketball Finals on March 28. Here is a complete list of winter tournament dates: 

    Boys Basketball
    Districts – March 9, 11 & 13
    Regionals – March 16 & 18
    Quarterfinals – March 24
    Semifinals – March 26-27
    Finals – March 28 

    Girls Basketball
    Districts – March 2, 4 & 6
    Regionals – March 10 & 12
    Quarterfinals – March 17
    Semifinals – March 19-20
    Finals – March 21

    Bowling
    Team Regionals – Feb. 27
    Singles Regionals – Feb. 28
    Team Finals – March 6
    Singles Finals – March 7 

    Girls Competitive Cheer
    Districts – Feb. 20-21
    Regionals – Feb. 28
    Finals: March 6-7 

    Girls Gymnastics
    Regionals – March 7
    Team Finals – March 13
    Individual Finals – March 14 

    Ice Hockey
    Pre-Regionals – March 2-6
    Regional Finals – March 7
    Quarterfinals – March 10-11
    Semifinals – March 12-13
    Finals – March 14 

    Skiing
    Regionals – Feb. 9-13
    Finals – Feb. 23 

    Swimming & Diving
    U.P. Girls & Boys Finals – Feb. 21
    L.P. Boys Diving Regionals – March 5
    L.P. Boys Finals – March 13-14 

    Wrestling
    Team Districts – Feb. 11-12
    Individual Districts – Feb. 14
    Team Regionals – Feb. 18
    Individual Regionals – Feb. 21
    Team Quarterfinals – Feb. 27
    Team Semifinals & Finals – Feb. 28
    Individual Finals – March 5-7

    Scholar-Athlete Awards

    2022 Scholar-Athlete Finalists Announced

    By Geoff Kimmerly
    MHSAA.com senior editor

    January 19, 2022

    The 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Awards for the 2021-22 school year, presented by Farm Bureau Insurance, have been announced.

    The program, in its 33rd year, 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 $2,000 scholarship to each recipient. Since the beginning of the program, 864 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 awarded to Class B student-athletes, four female and four male; six scholarships awarded to Class C student-athletes, three female and three male; and four scholarships 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. Brownstown Woodhaven, Freeland and St. Johns have three finalists this year. Nineteen schools have two finalists: Ann Arbor Pioneer, Detroit Catholic Central, Fenton, Fowler, Frankenmuth, Hillsdale Academy, Holland, Holland West Ottawa, Kingsford, Livonia Churchill, Livonia Franklin, McBain Northern Michigan Christian, Montague, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, Ortonville Brandon, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek, Saline, Traverse City West and White Lake Lakeland.

    Multiple-sport participation remains the norm among applicants. The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 2.91. There are 81 three-plus sport participants in the finalists field, and all but two of the 28 sports in which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments are represented.

    Of 407 schools which submitted applicants, 26 submitted the maximum allowed. This year, 1,434 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 MHSAA Website.

    The applications were judged by a 58-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. 8, Class B scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 15 and Class A scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 22. All announcements will be made on the MHSAA Website.

    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 1,500 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.

    2021-22 Scholar-Athlete Award Finalists

    GIRLS CLASS A
    Cookie Estelleh Baugh, Ann Arbor Pioneer
    Amelia Weyhing, Ann Arbor Pioneer
    Piper Barnhart, Brownstown Woodhaven
    Sophia Lustig, Brownstown Woodhaven
    Madison Hissong, Fraser
    Brooke Myers, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern
    Ana Todesco, Grosse Pointe North
    Sonya Konon, Harrison Township L'Anse Creuse
    Greta VanZetten, Holland
    Elzien Zomer, Holland
    Natalie Blake, Holland West Ottawa
    Ella Spooner, Holland West Ottawa
    Abigail Lueck, Livonia Churchill
    Samantha Provenzano, Livonia Franklin
    Erica Molnar, Livonia Stevenson
    Laura Leiti, Midland Dow
    Alexandria Stacy French, Richland Gull Lake
    Ella DeGraw, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
    Kiera Hall, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
    Kate Meinecke, Royal Oak
    Alexis Maloney, St. Johns
    Sara Schermerhorn, Traverse City West
    Hannah DiGiovanni, Troy Athens
    Maeve Spicer, White Lake Lakeland

    BOYS CLASS A
    Nathan Pawlowicz, Battle Creek Lakeview
    Brady Wright, Birmingham Seaholm
    Nathan Jerore, Brownstown Woodhaven
    Colin Pearson, Caledonia
    Joseph Marano, Dearborn Edsel Ford
    Conner Bell, Detroit Catholic Central
    Neil Zhu, Detroit Catholic Central
    Chase Gibson, Fenton
    Nick Temple, Fenton
    Ben Taylor, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central
    Ross VanBlois, Grandville
    Owen Swisher, Livonia Churchill
    James Oberman, Livonia Franklin
    Colin Koot, Mason
    Klay Grant, Muskegon Reeths-Puffer
    John Bungart, Orchard Lake St Mary's
    Thomas Randall, Orchard Lake St Mary's
    William Goelz, Petoskey
    Blake Coy, Saline
    Amod Talekar, Saline
    Kaden Keller, St. Johns
    Jake Lasceski, St. Johns
    Ethan Tennant, Temperance Bedford
    Michael T. Schermerhorn, Traverse City West
    Caiden Carlson, White Lake Lakeland

    GIRLS CLASS B
    Elise Rose Johnson, Benzie Central
    Sydni Mudge, Birch Run
    Claire Thomson, Clawson
    Faith Breinager, Frankenmuth
    Emma Kerkau, Frankenmuth
    Sophia Argyle, Freeland
    Whitney Farrell, Freeland
    Haley Zerlaut, Fremont
    Maggie Duba, Grand Rapids West Catholic
    Magdalaina Menghini, Kingsford
    Claire Meacham, Montague
    Mallory Moore, Ortonville Brandon
    Paige Thwing, Ortonville Brandon
    Alina Stanczak, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
    Ashley Bower, Portland
    Rylee Tolson, Stockbridge

    BOYS CLASS B
    Zachary Elmouchi, Ada Forest Hills Eastern
    Thomas Hamann, Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard
    Jeff Ren, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
    Jace DeRosia, Chelsea
    Jared Hanson, Escanaba
    Liam Anderson, Essexville Garber
    Alex Duley, Freeland
    Jack Rellinger, Grand Rapids Catholic Central
    Curtis Knapp, Jonesville
    Michael A. Meneguzzo, Kingsford
    Seth Thompson, Manistee
    Jerome Korten, Marshall
    Cale Coppess, Montague
    Bennett Blase Hitzelberger, Richmond
    Joseph Hayes, Shelby
    Derek Distelrath, St. Clair

    GIRLS CLASS C
    Haley Anne Newland, Bad Axe
    Karly Smith, Beal City
    Isabel Contreras-Spencer, Grass Lake
    Gillian Kuehnle, Hartford
    Gabrielle Carey, Iron Mountain
    Jillian Koski, Ishpeming Westwood
    Jordan Fox, Lake City
    Isabel Henige, New Lothrop
    Trinity Kolka, Sanford Meridian
    Anna McPherson, Saranac
    Ryann Locke, Springport
    Korah Honig, St. Louis

    BOYS CLASS C
    Mert Oral, Ann Arbor Greenhills
    Dylan David Reisig, Bridgman
    Cole Garrison Stone, Carson City-Crystal
    Samuel Peterson, Charlevoix
    Ryan Doty, Clinton
    Jack Davis, Holland Black River
    Jack Hollebeek, Grandville Calvin Christian 
    Isaac Backman, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep
    Ty Ruddy, Ottawa Lake Whiteford
    Joshua M. Fairbanks, Roscommon
    Jonah Cerone, Royal Oak Shrine Catholic
    Alex Tanner, Whitmore Lake

    GIRLS CLASS D
    Ashton Hord, Felch North Dickinson
    Mia Riley, Fowler
    Tara Townsend, Frankfort
    Alaina Roush, Harbor Springs Harbor Light Christian
    Anna Roberts, Hillsdale Academy
    Meredith VanDerWeide, Hillsdale Academy
    Skylar Wiesen, Leland
    Megan Bennett, McBain Northern Michigan Christian

    BOYS CLASS D
    Cole Robinson, Bellaire
    Jack Matrella, Bessemer
    Brayden M. Steenwyk, Ellsworth
    Jacob Rademacher, Fowler
    Eli Shoup, Mason County Eastern
    Jonas P. Lanser, McBain Northern Michigan Christian
    Samuel Paga, Petoskey St. Michael Academy
    Ashton McNabb, Three Oaks River Valley