Rep Council Wrap-up: Spring 2020
May 8, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The addition of seeding at the Regional level in ice hockey and adjustments to provide byes for top-seeded teams in basketball and soccer were among the most notable actions taken by the Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association during its annual Spring Meeting on May 4.
The Spring Meeting of the 19-member legislative body of the Association’s more than 1,500 member schools is generally the busiest of its three sessions each year. The Council considered 32 committee proposals and dealt with a variety of eligibility rule, postseason tournament and operational issues. As with the Council’s Winter Meeting in March, the Spring Meeting was conducted remotely to keep with social distancing required by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Beginning with the 2020-21 school year, ice hockey will employ a seeding process to place the top two teams in every Regional on opposite sides of that bracket, guaranteeing those two teams could not play each other before the Regional championship game. The two teams are to be seeded in each Regional using the Michigan Power Rating computer formula based on regular-season results against other MHSAA Tournament-eligible teams and opponents’ strength of schedule, the same system used in basketball and soccer and as one of multiple methods to seed in boys lacrosse. (Games against out-of-state or non-MHSAA opponents do not count in the MPR formula.) The MHSAA will draw all ice hockey brackets 15 days before the start of Regional play. The addition of hockey seeding was proposed by the MHSAA Hockey Committee.
The Council also adopted a change to seeding to take affect for hockey, basketball and soccer to provide any existing byes to the #1, and then #2 seed, in that order, if multiple byes are part of a bracket. The draw process then will continue to place the remaining teams on the bracket based on a randomly-selected order determined earlier in the season.
Similar rules changes in football and basketball approved by the Council and recommended by the MHSAA committees for those respective sports aim to create more opportunities, especially for programs struggling to field teams at multiple levels. In football, while an athlete may still play only four quarters in one day, that athlete may play in up to five quarters per week. In basketball, an athlete may compete in up to five quarters per day, during no more than three dates per week and 20 dates per team or individual. Both changes will allow athletes to contribute to both varsity and subvarsity teams simultaneously, potentially bolstering numbers and opportunities to retain those squads.
The Council also took action on a number of MHSAA Handbook regulations requiring adjustment because of the COVID-19 pandemic and disruption it has caused to Michigan high school athletics. Notably, the Council voted to waive the 2020-21 pre-participation physical exam requirement for athletes who received one during the 2019-20 school year, although they are still required to fill out and sign the MHSAA Annual Sports Health Questionnaire. The Council also authorized schools to make decisions on multiple summer matters, including an opportunity for athletic directors to request a waiver from the MHSAA to wear school competition uniforms during events that are school-sponsored and designed to recognize graduating 12th-graders. Additionally, the Council voted to give schools the opportunity to waive the annually-required week-long period of no summer activity, if they choose to do so.
Here is a summary of other notable actions taken by the Representative Council at the Spring Meeting, which will take effect during the 2020-21 school year unless noted. Additionally, three sport changes were approved by the Council during its Winter meeting in March and not yet publicized; those too are noted below.
Regulations
• The Council approved a change allowing teams in sports governed by MHSAA summer competition limits – basketball, football, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer and girls volleyball – to participate against all opponents present at out-of-state summer events. MHSAA member schools must continue to abide by the MHSAA travel limit – traveling only to events that are hosted either in bordering states/provinces (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Ontario and Wisconsin) or within 300 miles one way. MHSAA member schools now may participate at those events against out-of-state teams that exceed the travel limit by traveling more than 300 miles to the event site.
Sport Matters
• In baseball, the Council approved a Baseball Committee recommendation to adopt a suspended-game policy stating that any game called before it reaches regulation, or when the score is tied, is suspended with play to pick up at a later time from that point. However, if both schools agree, a game called prior to regulation may be replayed in its entirety.
• Also in baseball, during its Winter meeting, the Council approved a Baseball Committee recommendation renaming the “Super Regional” level of the MHSAA Tournament as the “Quarterfinal” level – with trophies and medals to be presented to both Regional champions after the day’s Regional Finals are completed and before the day’s Quarterfinal matching up those two teams. The Council also adopted at the Winter meeting a tournament schedule that during even-numbered years will see Semifinals for Divisions 2 and 4 played on Thursday and Divisions 1 and 3 on Friday. The Semifinal schedule will flip during odd-numbered years.
• The Council approved a series of Girls Competitive Cheer Committee recommendations. High school athletes now are allowed to transition to stunts or loads from the flatback position. Also at the high school level, bases will be allowed to rotate or move while a flyer is in the inverted position (in a static inversion), and to provide for the allowance of additional flairs at the point of static inversion.
• Also in cheer, the Council approved a Committee recommendation requiring three safety judges (instead of two) and five panel judges at MHSAA Regional events.
• In football, the Council approved a Football Committee recommendation extending the running clock when a team leads its opponent by 50 points to both the first and second halves of a game; the 50-point running clock stops only for player injuries and previously was employed only during the second half. The 35-point running clock employed during the second half, with stoppages also for penalty enforcement, scoring plays and called timeouts, will remain in effect if the differential dips below 50 and until it reaches 50 points again.
• Also in football, the Council approved a Committee recommendation allowing schools 15 summer dates of non-mandatory contact with an unlimited number of players (wearing helmets only). Schools may use these dates as they see fit, but of these 15 only seven dates may be used for 7-on-7 competition against other teams. This also eliminates the previous allowance for a camp.
• The Council approved another change in hockey to improve safety, adopting a Hockey Committee recommendation requiring all members of a coaching staff to wear HECC-certified helmets while on the ice for practices or games.
• In alpine skiing, the Council approved a Ski Committee recommendation that will allow athletes who qualify for an MHSAA Final in one discipline (giant slalom or slalom) during Regional racing to compete in both disciplines at the Finals level.
• In soccer, the Council approved a recommendation from the Soccer Committee to allow girls soccer athletes to compete in scrimmages at a maximum of two college ID camps during the spring girls soccer season, when these ID events generally take place.
• A pair of changes were adopted for swimming & diving, one affecting each group of athletes. The Council approved a Swimming & Diving Committee recommendation allowing swimmers to wear caps reading “State Team” during both regular-season and postseason competition. For diving, the Council approved a Committee recommendation to designate the number of qualifiers from each Lower Peninsula Regional to be in proportion to the number of entries at those respective Regionals in each division. This will allow Regionals with larger numbers of participants to contribute more Finals qualifiers, while eliminating the possibility that a Regional could send all entrants to the Finals regardless of performance because only 12 participate at that site. Each division will continue to advance 36 divers total to the MHSAA Finals.
• In tennis, the Council approved a Tennis Committee recommendation to play the MHSAA Final two-day tournament on Friday and Saturday unless there is a conflict with the host facility. In that case, that specific Final would be scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
• During its Winter meeting, the Council approved a Classification Committee recommendation that adds girls and boys tennis to the group of sports that schools may play as cooperative programs – with Executive Committee approval – if their combined enrollments do not exceed 3,500 students. The Council will reexamine this allowance after its first two years.
Junior High/Middle Schools
• The Council approved a Junior High/Middle School Committee recommendation to conduct MHSAA-sponsored cross country Regional meets for junior high/middle school athletes at eight sites across the state, based on “zones” currently designated by the MHSAA. These Regional meets will begin with the 2021-22 school year.
• The Council also approved a Girls Competitive Cheer Committee recommendation to allow junior high/middle school teams to participate in three competitions per week (instead of two) as long as one of the three is conducted on a non-school day or a day not followed by school.
Officials
• The Council approved a series of recommendations from the Officials Review Committee. Of particular note, coaches and athletes ejected from competition now are required to complete an online sportsmanship course from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) before returning to competition.
The Council also discussed various other topics, including possibilities for presentation during this fall’s Update Meeting statewide tour, and took action to clarify Handbook language regarding a few eligibility scenarios. The Association’s $11.5 million budget for the 2020-21 school year also was approved.
The Representative Council is the 19-member legislative body of the MHSAA. All but five are elected by member schools. Four members are appointed by the Council to facilitate representation of females and minorities, and the 19th position is occupied by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee.
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.
Scholars & Athletes 2017: Class B
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 13, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The MHSAA has selected nine student-athletes from Class B member schools to receive scholarships through the MHSAA-Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award program.
Farm Bureau Insurance, in its 28th year of sponsoring the award, will give $1,000 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 which 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.
Each of the scholarship recipients will be honored at halftime ceremonies of the Class C Boys Basketball Final game March 25 at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing. Commemorative medallions will be given to the finalists in recognition of their accomplishments.
The Class B Scholar-Athlete Award honorees are: Michael Bian, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood; Morgan Colling, Houghton; Jasmine Harper, Clare; Sasha Hartje, Detroit Country Day; Brayden Huddleston, Benzonia Benzie Central; Adam Kozinski, Edwardsburg; Tait Morrissey, Big Rapids; Kim Anh Nguyen, Wyoming Kelloggsville; and Emma Nowak, Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard.
Overviews of the scholarship recipients of the Class B Scholar-Athlete Award follow. A quote from each recipient's essay also is included:
Morgan Colling
Houghton
Played four years of varsity basketball and ran two years each of varsity cross country and track & field, plus played two seasons of subvarsity volleyball. Qualified for the MHSAA Finals twice in both cross country and track and earned all-league recognition in basketball while helping that team to three league and two District titles during her first three seasons. Served as cross country and basketball captain. Participating in second year of National Honor Society and third of student government and key club. Serving as service project coordinator chair for NHS and vice president for key club, and has volunteered with Salvation Army and Copper Country Humane Society all four years of high school. Participated two years in Junior State of America and studied during the summer of 2016 in Hiroshima, Japan, after winning a Japan-America Friendship Scholarship. Will study microbiology at California Polytechnic State University.
Essay Quote: “When my vision cleared and I saw the winning team, overjoyed and grinning ear-to-ear, something inside me mended. I recognized the look on their faces; I had seen it many times before on my own teammates. It was then that I realized that the only difference between my team, and theirs, was our uniforms. As fellow basketball players, we shared the same passion, determination and yearning for success.”
Jasmine Harper
Clare
Ran four year of varsity cross country and will run her fourth of track & field, and has broken a total of four school records while earning a combined 10 all-state honors in those sports. Selected as the top academic all-state cross country athlete in Lower Peninsula Division 3 as a junior and capped her career this past fall by finishing ninth at the MHSAA Final in that division. Served as captain of both teams and ran for Michigan at the 2016 Mid-East Meet of Champions. Participated two years each in National Honor Society and student government, as her class president both years of the latter. Also participated in marching and symphonic band all four years of high school and theater for three years; earned 10 state merit awards and two national fourth-place finishes from the National Youth Ministries’ National Fine Arts Festival. Also served in leadership roles in her local Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Will attend Spring Arbor University and study elementary education.
Essay Quote: “I was the conference champion my freshman year of cross country, but illness and injuries prevented me from keeping that title the next three years. I experienced what it was like to have a younger teammate beat me. But, I was reminded to treat everyone the same, whether I won or lost.”
Sasha Hartje
Detroit Country Day
Played three seasons of varsity volleyball and will pay her fourth of tennis and second of soccer this spring. Won Lower Peninsula Division 3 championship at No. 1 singles in 2016 after finishing runner-up in 2015, also leading Country Day to the team title. Earned all-state honors in tennis three times and all-region honorable mention in volleyball; served as captain of both teams and earned her school’s Scholar Athlete Award in 2016. Also plays ice hockey and was part of the 2014 bantam major national championship team, and serves as captain of her Little Caesars AAA hockey club. Serves as president of her school’s Current Events Club and lead instructor and coordinator for “Skate to be Great” in addition to volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Will attend Emory University in Georgia and major in pre-medical studies.
Essay Quote: “Over the years, these lessons I have been taught on the tennis court have rounded out not only my athletic education, but more importantly, my life. The lessons of sportsmanship and fair play on the field of battle, in the classroom or outside of both sports and school are always the same and carry the true measure of success.”
Kim Anh Nguyen
Wyoming Kelloggsville
Participated in varsity competitive cheer for three seasons, played two of varsity tennis and one of varsity volleyball. Earned all-conference honors in cheer as a sophomore and junior while helping her teams to league titles both seasons; served as captain of cheer and junior varsity volleyball teams. Participating in fourth year of student government and third of National Honor Society and is serving as president both of her class and NHS chapter. Also has participated in marching band four years including as drum major and for three years on her school’s Athletic Leadership Council. Will attend University of Michigan and study biochemistry.
Essay Quote: “When I am in a gym full of teams from all over the state, I see girls of different backgrounds, all wearing different uniforms. Despite this, we are unified by the same adrenaline that pumps through our veins as we approach an empty mat and staring faces. We are bound by the same passion and breathe as one before we perform. This sense of unity would not be possible without sportsmanship, for it creates memories that extend beyond titles and trophies.”
Emma Nowak
Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard
Played three seasons of varsity volleyball and will play her fourth of softball; also played freshman basketball. Started as setter of the volleyball team that finished 42-0 and won the Class B title in 2015 and three District and two Regional titles overall during her time on varsity; also expects to start at shortstop for her fourth season and helped her team to its first Detroit Catholic League title in 2015. Earned all-league honors in both sports, all-District in softball and all-Region in volleyball, and captained teams in all three of her high school sports and club volleyball. Participating in second year of National Honor Society and serves or has served in leadership positions for a number of efforts in her school and church including Be Love Revolution and as part of the Pine Hills Camp service team. Carries a 3.97 grade-point average and has earned multiple academic awards. Remains undecided on where she will attend college but intends to pursue studies in the medical field.
Essay Quote: “I have always been taught to compete hard, while respecting my opponent. What I have come to learn is you can also befriend your opponent and still compete every bit as hard … and that sportsmanship in athletics can lead to friendships and memories that I will always cherish.”
Michael Bian
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Played four seasons of varsity tennis, winning an individual Lower Peninsula Division 3 championship at No. 1 doubles in the fall after finishing runner-up at No. 3 singles twice; helped Cranbrook Kingswood to MHSAA team titles in both 2015 and 2016 and served as captain as a senior. Earned all-state recognition the last three seasons and his team earned all-academic honors as well the last three years. Also has participated on robotics and quiz bowl teams the last four years, helping robotics team to a state championship and VEX World Championship qualification three times. Serving as vice president of senior class while in fourth year of student government and is co-founder and president of his school’s philosophy club; also has been president of robotics and quiz bowl teams and of his school’s Future Business Leaders & Economists and Science & Engineering clubs. Named National Consumers League LifeSmarts state champion and ranked as ninth-best debater at 2016 state finals. Remains undecided where he will attend college, but intends to study philosophy, economics or political science.
Essay Quote: “One of the greatest myths we hear about sportsmanship is that it is purely altruistic – that those who engage in it have nothing to gain. On the contrary, those who display sportsmanship gain important virtues.”
Brayden Huddleston
Benzonia Benzie Central
Ran four seasons of cross country, will run his fourth of track & field and played two seasons of varsity basketball. Earned all-state honors all four years of cross country, finishing seventh in Lower Peninsula Division 3 as a senior, and helped that team to two MHSAA championships. Also earned all-state five times in track and helped the basketball team to a District title, and has captained all three teams. Participating in second year of both National Honor Society and National Technological Honors Society; named “Student of the Year” at Traverse City’s Manufacturing Technology Academy. Serves as vice president of Interact Club which has raised more than $10,000 toward polio and multiple sclerosis research and has participated in “Back the Track” foundation that has raised more than $140,000. Will attend Bradley University and study mechanical engineering.
Essay Quote: “One of my biggest role models was a runner from another team. I remember watching, as a freshman, him dominate the field. It wasn’t how fast he ran or the distance he put on the second-place kid that made him stick out to me. … He was modest, never wanting to talk about himself. He had a way of making you feel just as fast or (like you had) the same potential as he did. At these realizations, I aspired to model my athletic career after him.”
Adam Kozinski
Edwardsburg
Played three seasons of varsity soccer and basketball and will play his third of varsity golf; also played a season of varsity tennis. Earned all-league honors in basketball and tennis and academic all-state in basketball and soccer while his team earned academic all-state in golf. Helped his basketball team to two District titles and has served as a captain of the soccer, basketball and golf teams. Serves as secretary of his National Honor Society chapter and as a committee chairperson for Students Against Destructive Decisions. Assisted in NHS fundraising of more than $30,000 for “Operation Christmas” event to benefit less-fortunate families and represented his school at a Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership conference. Has volunteered at a local food pantry and churches and serves as Sunday morning head chef at University of Notre Dame’s Corby Hall, where he prepares meals for priests. Will attend Central Michigan University and study business.
Essay Quote: “Having an opportunity to play varsity sports since my freshman year, I have experienced a variety of ways senior and junior teammates treat underclassmen. Throughout the years, I have observed seniors that are very positive and uplifting to underclassmen, but then some other senior teammates are negative. … I decided when I was a senior, I would try to be the most positive and encouraging teammate on the team.”
Tait Morrissey
Big Rapids
Played four seasons of varsity tennis, two of varsity basketball and will play his fourth of varsity golf this spring. Earned all-conference honors in golf his first three seasons and helped that team to league, District and Regional championships and a third-place MHSAA Finals finish last season. Also helped his basketball team to league, District and Regional titles and a Class B Semifinal berth in 2016. Earned academic all-state honors in tennis his last two seasons; served as captain of that team and will serve as golf captain this spring. Serving second year as his class’ vice president and also has served as a representative for Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Mecosta County Youth Advisory Council and his schools “Climate Crew” and in a number of leadership roles including as patrol leader of his Boy Scout troop. Participating in National Honor Society, key club, Students Against Destructive Decisions and attended American Legion Boys State in 2016. Also is a member of the Boy Scouts’ Order of the Arrow honor society. Will attend Alma College and major in pre-medical studies.
Essay Quote: “Although high school athletics are highly competitive, and emotions tend to run high, standard values such as sportsmanship are necessary in order to embrace and give meaning to the event. In turn, athletes learn integrity, ethics and values.”
Other Class B girls finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were: Michel Faliski, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood; Madeline Filiatraut, Dearborn Divine Child; Noelle Kraus, Edwardsburg; Peyton Rellinger, Gladwin; Lindsey Shearer, Gladwin; Erika Freyhof, Hamilton; Haley Heldt, Midland Bullock Creek; Megan Aalberts, Otsego; Raechel K. McKiernan, Richmond; Kylie Hutchinson, Shepherd; and Gabrielle Smith, Yale.
Other Class B boys finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were: Michael J. Gussert, Cadillac; Christopher A. Roush, Chelsea; Collin Lieber, Croswell-Lexington; Evan Latham, Dearborn Divine Child; 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; and Cade Smeznik, Yale.
The Class C and D scholarship award recipients were announced Feb. 7, and the Class A honorees will be announced Feb. 21.
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