Johnson Served as Storyteller, Guardian
January 5, 2021
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Promoting the value – and values – of school-based sports.
No statement more completely, or succinctly, explains the mission of the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
Those words were sparked in the mind of John Johnson, and also might best describe his work for the MHSAA over more than three decades – which concluded with his retirement Dec. 18.
Johnson’s official title for most of his tenure was communications director, by which he designed and delivered the message of the MHSAA’s work. A more suitable title might have been “guardian” – Johnson in 1987 joined the then 62-year-old organization and became keeper and protector of all the MHSAA had been and was becoming under its recently-hired executive director, Jack Roberts.
More than 33 years later, “JJ” has stepped away as the pioneer in his field and having impacted multiple generations of Michigan high school and middle school athletes in ways that will continue. Whether as the coiner of memorable slogans, the voice explaining the nation’s first elaborate sportsmanship effort or detailing the MHSAA’s work for its schools during tougher times, or simply as the narrator passing on some of the good stories the bubble up from every season, Johnson daily worked to keep those who follow school sports in the know.
“Being the voice, and having to be the face a lot, is something that came with the territory – somebody had to be the storyteller. And while you can be prideful about that, the important thing is still the story,” Johnson said. “I’ve said it a lot: I was the lucky guy who got the job. Because the story was there to be told, the work was there to be done.”
Thousands upon thousands of times over the years, Johnson did that work with enthusiasm and grace. Most visibly, it came in front of a TV or radio microphone, or as quoted in your local newspaper and media nationwide. He has been the drive behind the MHSAA championship games watched annually on TV and online, and the messenger via various campaigns delivering the good news of why school sports are vital for kids and communities.
Serving as that storyteller, Johnson has never been one to tell much of his own. But there is no shortage of storytellers who have benefitted from Johnson’s wisdom and tutelage over the years – and we were enable to enlist a few to paint a more vivid picture as we recount at least a glance of what Johnson has meant to the MHSAA and its schools over these many years.
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“The measure of all of us is what we leave behind. Those with whom we’ve been in contact. Those we’ve lifted up along the way. And by that measure, we are witnessing the end of a spectacular career. I’ll take away from all the exchanges, the ready smile, the encyclopedic knowledge that JJ possessed and the sense of calm within the frenzy. It was invaluable to those who popped into his world only a few times a year. John Johnson has left very large shoes in East Lansing.”
– John Keating, longtime FOX Sports Detroit anchor and host for many MHSAA Football and Basketball Finals
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First and 1 of a Kind
Jack Roberts became the fourth full-time executive director of the MHSAA during the summer of 1986. He brought an emphasis on communication, and “communications director” became the first position he created in East Lansing.
Johnson in 1987 became that first communications specialist at the MHSAA, beginning a long last stop during a run in sports that Johnson began as a student at Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart, about an hour’s drive north of Lansing.
Johnson hadn’t played sports at Sacred Heart, but had taken part in just about every other way possible for a student. He was a team manager, statistician, student trainer, and picked up part-time sports writing work at the former Mt. Pleasant Daily Times. He wrote a series while still in high school on the creation of the MHSAA football playoffs, which were set to kick off in 1975, and that series was syndicated among the newspapers in the Daily Times’ chain. As a student, Johnson moved on to Michigan State University where he majored in journalism, and again he was published and syndicated by the Daily Times – this time for a series on how game officials were being trained by state associations, including the MHSAA.
That series foreshadowed the work he would take up a decade later – it closed with a piece on poor spectatorship toward officials. (Coincidentally, the collection of stories had been clipped and saved by the MHSAA executive director at the time, Vern Norris. The file found its way to Roberts, who eventually found out he had just hired the author.)
Also having served as a student assistant in the MSU sports information office, Johnson began his communications career at Albion College in 1978 as an assistant in the college relations office with responsibility for publicity for the college’s 17 athletic teams. (He didn’t graduate from MSU until 1979, but received two days off per week to get back to East Lansing for classes. He also served as a radio voice for Albion High games on the side.) Johnson moved on to brief stints in the news department with WITL Radio in Lansing and as an intern in the Office of Public Affairs at Ferris State University before landing with the Western Michigan University sports information department as an assistant director.
That led to a three-year stint as an assistant sports information director at Indiana University, where his responsibilities included serving as SID for coach Bobby Knight’s men’s basketball program. Johnson also assisted with press operations at the 1984 U.S. Olympic Basketball Trials hosted by IU. Johnson then left Indiana in January 1986 for a promotions position at Michigan Farm Bureau.
Six months later, his eventual journey to the MHSAA accelerated.
Roberts was hired during the summer of 1986, and not long after he asked MSU sports information director Nick Vista who had been his best student assistant of the past decade. The answer: John Johnson.
Johnson and Roberts met multiple times over the next many months, and Roberts made his choice.
“From the first moment I sat down with Jack Roberts, I knew I wanted to be here,” Johnson said. “The way he talked so passionately about high school sports, and the values of high school sports. … I saw the opportunity to take Jack’s vision and run with it.”
The day before the announcement of Johnson’s hire was to be made, Roberts asked Johnson to come with him to Grand Rapids to watch South Christian basketball star Matt Steigenga (later of MSU and the NBA) – but Johnson couldn’t go because his wife Suzie had gone into labor with their first of two children.
But a little more than a month later, Johnson started at the MHSAA on April 1 – and that came with plenty of jokes on its own.
Yet while Johnson had to miss that trip to Grand Rapids, he and the executive director would get plenty of car time together – to the benefit of the MHSAA’s member schools. To introduce themselves to statewide media, Roberts and Johnson did a driving tour to visit all of them, touring their offices, talking to them about MHSAA initiatives and asking how Association staff could better assist the media in its work. Those drives also allowed them to dream up together “the kinds of things that were unveiled over time,” Roberts recalled.
“We talked so much those first 15 years, we could intuit each other’s thinking the last 15 years,” added Roberts, who retired from the MHSAA in 2018. “We didn’t spend nearly as much time together, but we didn’t need to.”
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“John Johnson has positively influenced so many more people than he knows and more than anyone realizes. It starts with the thousands and thousands of people who have been able to watch high school sports on the web throughout Michigan. Live-streaming of games has really come to the forefront due to the pandemic, but he was on top of this innovation nearly a decade ago when it was just in the early idea stage. He has been the person who orchestrated and led the countless schools across the state who started streaming their games in the past several years.
“JJ has also impacted numerous student journalists who wanted to learn the craft by covering high school games. He has always been SO supportive of these aspiring broadcasters and writers and reporters, affording them the opportunities to cover high school championships on the biggest stages, and treating those students the same as their professional peers. The students got to be on the turf at Ford Field and in the postgame press rooms, even if their school's team wasn't involved in the game! All they had to do was ask for credentials, and he granted them time and time again.
“JJ's influence also touched those of us who work for the MHSAA in a freelance fashion at various championship events. He has helped so many of us become better communicators, announcers, statisticians, and more. He was always willing to provide feedback & opportunities to learn, and he served as our leader who was always accessible morning, noon, and night. He pushed us to be our best every game, just as the athletes were trying to be their best. It's been my pleasure to work for him as a PA announcer for several years now, and I tried to be perfect every single time because I knew he was listening and because I wanted to do well for him.”
– Roger Smith, advisor for Lake Orion High School’s nationally award-winning School Broadcast Program and public address announcer for MHSAA Finals
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Telling the Story
In Roberts’ eyes, a few campaigns from his and Johnson’s time together stand out most.
• Promoting the Value – and Values of High School Sports. “I came in with “School Sports – the other half of education” but that wasn’t as good,” Roberts said. … (His words) caught our brand much better.”
• Good Sports are Winners. The MHSAA launched a sportsmanship initiative a few years into their tenures that was “unparalleled” nationally, per Roberts’ description. “Before sportsmanship was an 'in thing' to talk about, John and I were talking about it.” Johnson created all of the print and broadcast materials designed to promote improving sportsmanship, and his work helped make Michigan not just the leader but a voice nationally on the topic.
• Safer Than Ever. The campaign, stretching over much of the last decade, explained that high school football – for a variety of reasons – is safer than it has ever been. Johnson worked with the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association to build the messages and promote them at a time when injury fears were regularly headlining media coverage.
“John made our ideas visible and practical. People would put them together at the league level and school district level,” Roberts said.
“To narrow (his work) down to three is unfair to him because he did a thousand things.”
And in a number of roles. Johnson started as communications director, picking up along the way responsibilities in information technology, marketing, merchandising and more. Everything from daily media questions to maintaining the MHSAA record book (and serving on the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) national record book committee) fell onto Johnson’s desk, and just about any message read at any game by a public address announcer was his work. His final years were as “all things broadcasting” as Johnson served as the MHSAA’s first director of broadcast properties – an all-encompassing title that included all-encompassing responsibilities.
The MHSAA provides video broadcasts of nearly all of its MHSAA Finals – including football and basketball with FOX Sports Detroit – and Johnson has navigated the growth of those opportunities. Same with the MHSAA Network’s audio offerings during championship events, and his voice has been heard weekly during “This Week in High School Sports” which is aired as part of programming by more than 100 radio stations statewide.
The most significant advance under his guidance over the last two decades has been the School Broadcast Program, begun for MHSAA schools during the 2008-09 school year. The MHSAA relied on that knowledge in playing a leading role last decade in the formation of the NFHS Network – the nationwide digital home for live and on-demand high school events – and it’s not unusual for Michigan SBP schools to broadcast upwards of 500 events per week via the network.
“What people don’t necessarily know is John is the pioneer in this field,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “The way he shaped this job over the last 30 years has been extraordinary – and has become the model for the 49 other states.”
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“I’m sure that with me, JJ had to do things he never had done with anyone else – I was pregnant three straight schools years. The accommodations for me, even as just a female, it was kinda crazy especially in the 1980s. But when I was pregnant, I couldn’t walk up stairs, and he always would make special concessions for me, (like to) try to find bathrooms for me. There were so many media, and there always had to be exceptions, but he always had to take special care for me, and I’m so thankful for what he did. We laugh about that stuff all the time.
“I remember too, I had a tragedy in my family one year, and I know he was busy at the Finals, but he took me (aside), sat there and cried with me and talked with me. He took time out of his way. He treated me professionally, like everyone else. But as a person, he has such a gift to connect with people.”
– Jane Bos, longtime prep sports editor for the Grand Rapids Press and 2008 recipient of MHSAA Women In Sports Leadership Award
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More than Scratching the Surface
The work Johnson pioneered at the MHSAA goes on. Formerly a staff of one (with help from valuable volunteers including long-time postseason assistant Walter Dell) now includes a team of employees to handle the media relations, publications, broadcasting, marketing and other messaging needs.
While making the rules for school sports remains the top priority for the MHSAA, telling the story of their importance in students’ lives comes in a close second – and Johnson has written at least the first chapters of the book.
“It needed to be done; the Association had to take bigger steps into the communications world. And thanks to Jack Roberts, it did. I was the lucky guy who landed in the chair,” Johnson said.
But again, that is simply scratching the surface. We’ll end with longtime Detroit Free Press sportswriter Mick McCabe taking a last deep dive.
I first met John Johnson in the late fall of 1977.
He was a student at Michigan State and worked in the sports information office. I was a sports writer for the Detroit Free Press, covering MSU basketball, featuring JJ’s brother, Earvin.
Well, maybe Earvin and JJ weren’t exactly blood relatives, but they were both fun to be around and each had a profound effect on my life.
No, really.
When watching the Spartans back then you knew you were watching someone special, which is why they called him Magic.
No one ever used the word magic in describing JJ, but he was young and enthusiastic and sociable while he learned the tricks of the trade under the watchful eyes of Fred Stabley Sr. and Nick Vista, the absolute best sports information directors in the country.
That is why I knew JJ would be such a good fit at Albion College, which just so happened to be looking for an SID when JJ was graduating from MSU.
JJ was exactly what Albion needed and did an excellent job and soon JJ’s career was off and running.
Somewhere along the way JJ landed at Indiana University where Bob Knight learned to tolerate JJ. If you’ve ever met Knight and understand his relationship with other human beings, you know that is like saying JJ and Knight were besties.
That was reinforced in the spring of 1984 when I spent almost two weeks in Bloomington covering the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball trials and interacted with JJ on a daily basis.
In the spring of 1987 JJ accepted a job with the Michigan High School Athletic Association. It was a job that hadn’t existed before JJ came riding into town.
Jack Roberts was in his first year as the MHSAA’s executive director and JJ was one of his first hires. He was also one of his best.
JJ was hired as the MHSAA’s first communications director. Before JJ arrived the words “communication” and “MHSAA” had never been used together in the same sentence.
If a member of the media had a question for the MHSAA chances are good it would never be answered.
That changed the minute JJ was hired. If he didn’t know the answer, he got the answer for you. And if you needed to speak with someone about a particular question, JJ got you to that person.
It wasn’t JJ’s job to do our job for us, but the thing we didn’t want was for him or someone else from the MHSAA to get in the way of us doing our job.
Not only didn’t JJ get out of the way for us, he helped us and made our jobs easier with the way he ran communications for the MHSAA.
A few weeks ago, with JJ’s imminent retirement growing closer, someone asked me to describe the worst phone call I received from JJ, one in which he was irate with something negative I had written about the MHSAA.
Certainly, he assumed, over 34 years there had to be many such phone calls.
He was genuinely surprised to learn it never happened. Not even once.
JJ knew that the media has a job to do and his job didn’t require him to complain when something negative about the MHSAA was written. I’m certain it was a lesson he learned from Stabley and Vista, who operated the same way.
As far as I know, the only times JJ ever called a member of the media after a negative story was when the reporter had the facts wrong. His call just pointed out the errors and he left out the tongue lashing.
JJ was the consummate professional in doing his job and he did it better than anyone else.
There is no way I am going to describe JJ’s job performance at the MHSAA as magical, like Earvin’s, but it was pretty darn close.
PHOTOS: (Top) MHSAA Communications Director John Johnson kneels at midcourt at The Palace of Auburn Hills in 1990 having designed the floor for that year's Basketball Finals. (2) Johnson, middle, wears the headset during a playoff production. (3) Johnson, right, coordinated media, announcing and stat-keeping among other areas during MHSAA events at the Breslin Center. (4) Johnson, far left, stands with (from left) MHSAA public address announcers Roger Smith, Erik O. Furseth, Tony Coggins and Steve Miller during a Baseball/Softball Finals weekend. (5) Johnson walks the turf at Ford Field during a Football Finals. (Photos from MHSAA archives.)
Scholars & Athletes 2022: Class A
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 22, 2022
The Michigan High School Athletic Association has selected 13 student-athletes from Class A member schools to receive scholarships through the MHSAA/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award program.
Farm Bureau Insurance, in its 33rd year of sponsoring the award, will give $2,000 college scholarships to 32 individuals who represent their member schools in at least one sport in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament. The first 30 scholarships are awarded proportionately by school classification and the number of student-athletes involved in those classes; also, there are two at-large honorees who can come from any classification.
Students applying for the Scholar-Athlete Award must be carrying at least a 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale) grade-point average and have previously won a letter in a varsity sport in which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors a postseason tournament. Other requirements for the applicants were to show active participation in other school and community activities and produce an essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.
The 32 scholarship recipients will be recognized March 26 during the MHSAA Boys Basketball Finals at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.
The Class A Scholar-Athlete Award honorees are: Cookie Estelleh Baugh, Ann Arbor Pioneer; Ella DeGraw, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek; Alexis Maloney, St. Johns; Maeve Spicer, White Lake Lakeland; Ella Spooner, Holland West Ottawa; Greta VanZetten, Holland; Elzien Zomer, Holland; John Bungart, Orchard Lake St Mary's; William Goelz, Petoskey; Klay Grant, Muskegon Reeths-Puffer; Colin Koot, Mason; Brady Wright, Birmingham Seaholm; and Neil Zhu, Detroit Catholic Central.
Overviews of the scholarship recipients of the Class A Scholar-Athlete Award follow. A quote from each recipient's essay also is included:
(NOTE: If an athlete intended to play and was part of a spring sports team in 2020, that sport is counted among the athlete’s total although the season was canceled due to COVID-19.)
Cookie Estelleh Baugh, Ann Arbor Pioneer
Ran four years of varsity cross country and will participate in her fourth of track & field this spring. Helped cross country team to three straight Lower Peninsula Division 1 championships and finished fifth and 12th, respectively, in the individual standings her final two seasons. Also ran on LPD1 champion 3,200-meter relay last spring. Earned all-state academic honors seven times across her two sports and served as captain of both teams. Participating in fourth year of student council and third of National Honor Society. Serving first year as Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation board member trustee and also fourth year on foundation’s Youth Council. Participated for three years as part of school’s Positive Peer Influencer program and is participating in third year of Pioneer’s Restorative Justice Program. Will attend Michigan State University and study kinesiology.
Essay Quote: “Having begun playing competitive sports at age 3, I have experienced wins and losses, successes and failures. I have felt like the queen of the world, and I have wept like a baby into my pillow. With each experience I learned my why. … To demonstrate good sportsmanship is as much for myself, teammates, coaches, parents, and family; I owe it to them to lead by a positive example.”
Ella DeGraw, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
Participating in fourth season of competitive cheer and will play varsity tennis this spring after previously playing on junior varsity; also cheered four years with football sideline team. Helped competitive cheer team to Division 1 Finals championship as a freshman and is a four-year starter in all three rounds. Earned all-state recognition and twice made academic all-state team for cheer, and twice served as team captain for competitive and sideline teams. Participating in second year of National Honor Society and has served as officer and cabinet member. Also participating in third year of Spanish National Honor Society and as a senior officer. Serving fourth year and as leader of school’s Athletic Leadership Council, and serving fourth year in key club. Named Clinical Observer of the Year by Ascension St. John Children’s Hospital department of pediatrics. Will attend University of Michigan and study biology on a pre-medical track.
Essay Quote: “Sports have provided me with some of the best life skills I have ever learned. … Life is not always kind, bad outcomes happen regardless of effort and preparation, and all I can control is how I respond to those moments of adversity. Part of sportsmanship is dealing with adversity and not making excuses when the outcome doesn’t go your way.”
Alexis Maloney, St. Johns
Playing third season of varsity basketball and will play fourth of varsity tennis this spring; also played junior varsity volleyball as a freshman and sophomore. Earned all-conference and all-academic honors in basketball and tennis, helping tennis team to league championship and Regional runner-up finish. Served as captain for both varsity teams. Playing fourth year in marching band and third with symphonic band and has served as tenor drum and drumline section leader. Earned “1” competition ratings as part of both bands. Participating in fourth year on school’s Student Athletic Leadership Committee, and serving as social media director, and participating in second year of National Honor Society. Also participating in fourth years of school’s Compassion Club (serving on leadership board), Renaissance Club, Garden Club and church youth group. Will attend Trine University and study mechanical engineering.
Essay Quote: “When given the chance to congratulate, help, or support your opponent, do it. There will never be any negative backlash from the positivity you give to them, and know that makes you a better person. Sportsmanship is much like the golden rule; treat others the way you want to be treated. Take these lessons from the game and make them a part of your every day.”
Maeve Spicer, White Lake Lakeland
Competing in fourth season of varsity gymnastics and third of varsity competitive cheer. Also ran junior varsity cross country and participated in track & field as a freshman. Earned all-state in gymnastics finishing sixth on vault at MHSAA Finals as a junior and was conference all-around champion; also earned academic all-state recognition. Helped her Huron Valley United co-op gymnastics team to Regional title as a sophomore. Served as captain of gymnastics and cheer teams. Participating in second years of National Honor Society, Math Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society. Earned Individual Project Completion of Middle Years Programme as part of International Baccalaureate studies. Participating in second year of Peer Corps, and has organized three clothing drives for foster children as part of work for local center. Is undecided where she will attend college but intends to study international relations.
Essay Quote: “Sportsmanship is important because sports themselves are not simply about who is the best, rather what you can learn from them. I have learned valuable life lessons from my sports that I will carry with me throughout the rest of my life such as determination, perseverance, teamwork, integrity, and respect, along with so many others that have built up my character.”
Ella Spooner, Holland West Ottawa
Playing second season of varsity basketball and will play her fourth of varsity lacrosse this spring. Earned all-conference and individual academic all-state in lacrosse and helped basketball team to academic all-state honor. Named Michigan Youth Female Athlete of the Year at 2021 Meijer State Games. Will serve third season as lacrosse captain. Ranked first academically in class of 512 with 4.16 GPA, and participating in National Honor Society. Participating in third year of LINKS and second of Peer-to-Peer mentorship programs. Served as writer and editor of school’s newspaper and earned awards from Michigan Interscholastic Press Association and Scholastic. Served as assistant director for West Ottawa Broadcasting Network. Coached youth basketball and lacrosse, and volunteered in multiple other service efforts. Will attend Kalamazoo College and study biology on a pre-medical track.
Essay Quote: “Character is so important in life and can either drag you down or take you far. By teaching sportsmanship, it allows young athletes who are still growing and developing to build their character. Each part of being an excellent sportsman relates directly to more than just a sports game, but to the game of life itself.”
Greta VanZetten, Holland
Participated in four seasons of varsity swimming and will participate in fourth of track & field this spring. Earned all-conference in both sports and qualified 17 times for MHSAA Finals in swimming over four seasons. Served as co-captain of swim team as both junior and senior. Participating in second year of National Honor Society and voted head of school’s leadership pillar. Participating in second year of student senate and third year as part of school’s delegation to Youth in Government; also serving second year as part of Holland Youth Advisory Council’s environmental committee and as chairperson. Participating in third year of school choirs Vocal Dimensions and as president. Initiated Michigan Green School certification for Holland High and participating in third year with Students Helping Our Remarkable Earth club. Participating in second year of Academic WorldQuest and won regional competition and qualified for nationals as a junior. Is undecided where she will attend college but intends to double major in mathematics and gender and sexuality studies.
Essay Quote: “Sportsmanship is about wanting the best for your competitors, as well as yourself. When everyone competes at the best of their ability, sports become truly fun. Educational athletics expand beyond winning and achievement. Learning about humility, equity, confidence, and collaboration are all lessons found in sportsmanship and encouraged though high school sports.”
Elzien Zomer, Holland
Playing third season of varsity basketball, swam three seasons on varsity and will play second season of varsity soccer this spring; also played junior varsity volleyball as a freshman. Earned all-area honors in basketball and served as team captain for basketball (varsity and JV), co-captain for swimming & diving team and captain for junior varsity volleyball. Participating in second year of National Honor Society and as part of leadership pillar, and serving third year as class representative in student government. Serving as school representative to county’s Student Leaders Initiating Change coalition. Participating in fourth year in school’s be nice. club. Served as youth soccer official for three years and community pool lifeguard. Will attend University of Michigan-Dearborn and study either biomedical engineering or physical therapy.
Essay Quote: “Attitude and respect are always a choice, every day, every play. A positive mindset and an encouraging attitude build strong athletes, but also build good role models for life. … We don’t all have the same intensity for sportsmanship, but we each have the tools to build character on and off the court. For me, this is the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics. The goal is to teach growth and understanding so that we can choose to put them into practice in our own lives.”
John Bungart, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s
Wrestling fourth varsity season and will play fourth season of varsity lacrosse in the spring. Also will compete in fourth season on rowing team. Served as captain of both wrestling and lacrosse teams. Earned all-state in lacrosse and all-league and all-country in wrestling. Carrying 4.07 GPA and participating in second year of National Honor Society. Summited second and third-highest peaks in United States as part of Boy Scouts. Has volunteered in multiple volunteer community service efforts including as part of Forgotten Harvest throughout high school. Has served as lifeguard throughout high school. Also has participated in church youth group all four years. Will attend Kalamazoo College and study biochemistry.
Essay Quote: “We speak with our mouths, and we hear with our ears. We also talk with our hands and listen with our eyes. We share with our faces and understand it in our hearts. When any of these cogs in the wheel fail, it can lead to confusion, knee-jerk responses, and chaos in its wake. Communication and mutual respect are the (epitomes) of sportsmanship in educational athletics.”
William Goelz, Petoskey
Competing in fourth season of varsity skiing and played two seasons of varsity tennis. Also played two subvarsity seasons of lacrosse and ran cross country as a freshman. Helped ski team to two Division 2 Finals championships and a runner-up finish, and earned multiple all-state honors. Earned academic all-state in skiing and tennis, and served as ski team captain. Earned AP Scholar with Distinction and National Merit Scholarship commended scholar designations. Participating in second year of National Honor Society and third on district’s Student Advisory Council. Has served all four years as part of Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation Youth Advisory Committee, including as foundation officer and board liaison, and is serving as PHSACF director as a senior. Participating in third year of key club and as vice president. Completed University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Global Youth Program Business Leadership Academy. Is undecided on where he will attend college and his future course of study.
Essay Quote: “Decades from now, what I will remember are great times spent with great teammates, a sentiment held impossible if not for the utmost sportsmanship within myself and amongst athletes. Not only does sportsmanship in educational athletics spark lifelong memories, it also establishes a careful precedent for sociability and professionalism beyond high school.”
Klay Grant, Muskegon Reeths-Puffer
Ran four seasons of cross country and will participate in fourth of track & field this spring; also played varsity soccer as a freshman. Earned three Greater Muskegon cross country championships and finished eighth in Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final this past fall. Qualified for MHSAA Track & Field Finals in four events as a junior and earned all-conference. Served as captain of cross country and track teams. Served as student council freshman president and as trustee as a sophomore. Participating in third year of church’s children’s ministry and as student leader, and second year as church intern. Serving as student leader in third year participating on school’s IMPACT leadership team, and served as ambassador for Straight Talk About Tough Stuff coalition. Will attend Colorado Christian University and major in Biblical studies with an emphasis in languages.
Essay Quote: “I believe the integrity of sportsmanship is often downplayed. It is not only the heroic acts of sportsmanship in front of a big crowd, or when the cameras are on, but in the day-in-day-out monotony of relationships. I viewed this highly by encouraging each teammate after practices, telling them: "Nice job today, I'll see you tomorrow."
Colin Koot, Mason
Playing second season of varsity basketball and will play second of varsity baseball this spring, and played four seasons of varsity tennis. Helped tennis team qualify for MHSAA Finals all four seasons and earned all-conference in tennis and baseball. Helped baseball team to academic all-state award. Served as tennis team captain for three seasons. Participating in fourth year of Youth in Government and second as delegation leader, and received servant leadership award as sophomore. Participating in second year of National Honor Society. Participated in Future Farmers of America as a freshman and sophomore and won state championship in Greenhand Conduct of Meetings as a freshman and National Silver Award as a sophomore. Served as school newspaper sports editor-in-chief as a freshman and has umpired baseball throughout high school. Is undecided where he will attend college but intends to study biomedical engineering.
Essay Quote: “Overall, competitive sportsmanship is the most important facet of educational athletics. The ability for an individual to compete at a high level while maintaining good sportsmanship is crucial in transforming from a person who wins to a person who succeeds. Success is measured in many different ways, but a successful athlete understands that there is more to athletics than just the scoreboard.”
Brady Wright, Birmingham Seaholm
Competing in fourth season on varsity ski team and played four seasons of varsity tennis; also played junior varsity lacrosse as a freshman and sophomore. Reached MHSAA Finals flight semifinals as sophomore and junior. Earned all-state and all-state academic for tennis and all-region for ski, and earned multiple league Scholar-Athlete Awards for both sports. Served as team captain for both. Earned AP Scholar with Distinction and named National Merit Scholarship semifinalist. Earned perfect score on ACT. Participating in second year of National Honor Society and third of National Science Honor Society. Participated in Science Olympiad as competitor and coach and founded high school team, and earned county and state placings. Playing fourth years in school marching and concert bands and served as clarinet section leader. Is undecided where he will attend college but intends to study chemical engineering.
Essay Quote: “Ultimately, what I learned is that the game and the competition is more important than winning a match at any cost. I have seen kids who struggle with losing and will do anything to win. Honor and integrity get thrown out the window to avoid a loss. … It is important to me that I am honest with myself – I play sports to push myself in ways that academics cannot. Cheating the game does not help you improve or build character.”
Neil Zhu, Detroit Catholic Central
Will play fourth season of varsity golf this spring and has helped team to runner-up and fourth-place finishes at Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals. Earned all-state and is ranked among top players for his class in Michigan by American Junior Golf Association. Advanced to match play at Golf Association of Michigan 2021 Amateur Championship. Earned AP Scholar with Honor and National Merit Scholarship commended student designations. Participating in second year of National Honor Society tutoring program. Participating in fourth year of finance club and as vice president. Reached highest level of Michigan Music Teachers Association for piano and earned first and second-place finishes in state competition. Completed University of Michigan summer coding program. Volunteered in multiple community service efforts throughout high school. Served as youth leadership member for church as junior and senior. Will attend Swarthmore College (Pa.) and study computer science.
Essay Quote: “The sport of golf is a medium through which my accountability to my decisions and more importantly my accountability to my competitors and values is tested. Therefore, my integrity plays into the principle of accountability. Moreover, golf offers opportunities to meditate on choices which plays into the skill of decision making.”
Other Class A girls finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were: 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; Natalie Blake, 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; Kiera Hall, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek; Kate Meinecke, Royal Oak; Sara Schermerhorn, Traverse City West; and Hannah DiGiovanni, Troy Athens.
Other Class A boys finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were: Nathan Pawlowicz, Battle Creek Lakeview; Nathan Jerore, Brownstown Woodhaven; Colin Pearson, Caledonia; Joseph Marano, Dearborn Edsel Ford; Conner Bell, 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; Thomas Randall, Orchard Lake St Mary's; Blake Coy, Saline; Amod Talekar, Saline; Kaden Keller, St. Johns; Jake Lasceski, St. Johns; Ethan Tennant, Temperance Bedford; Michael T. Schermerhorn, Traverse City West; and Caiden Carlson, White Lake Lakeland.
The Class C and D scholarship award recipients were announced Feb. 8, and the Class B honorees were announced Feb. 15.
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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.