Scholar-Athlete Awards Finalists Named
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 25, 2012
The 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Award for the 2011-12 school year -- including three each from three schools -- have been announced.
The program, which has been recognizing student-athletes since the 1989-90 school year, 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 Award, and will present a $1,000 scholarship to each recipient. Since the beginning of the program, 544 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, there also will be two at-large honorees which also are part of the general judging process, may come from any classification, and are designated by their school at the time of entry.
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. Marlette, Northville and Rochester Adams each have three finalists this year, while 20 schools have two: Bay City Central, Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice, Birmingham Groves, Dearborn, Delton Kellogg, East Lansing, Frankfort, Hillsdale Academy, Hopkins, Jenison, Kinde-North Huron, Midland, Midland Dow, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, Rochester, Spring Lake, Springport, Tecumseh, White Lake Lakeland and Williamston.
Multiple-sport participation remains the norm among applicants. The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 2.58, while the average of the application pool was 2.13 – both within a tenth of last year’s rates in those categories. There are 66 three-plus sport participants in the finalist field, and all but three of the 28 sports in which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments are represented.
Of 386 schools which submitted applicants, 51 submitted the maximum allowed. This year, 1,636 applications were received. All will be presented with certificates commemorating their achievement. Additional Scholar-Athlete information, including a complete list of scholarship nominees, can be found on this MHSAA Website link.
The applications were judged by a 62-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 on February 7; Class B scholarship recipients will be announced on February 14, and Class A scholarship recipients will be announced on February 21. All announcements will be made on the MHSAA Web site.
To honor the 32 Scholar-Athlete Award recipients, a ceremony will take place during halftime of the Class C Boys Basketball Final, March 24 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 submit a 500-word essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.
Farm Bureau Insurance, one of Michigan's major insurers, has a statewide force of more than 400 agents serving more than 380,000 Michigan policyholders. Besides providing life, home, auto, farm, business and retirement insurance, the company also sponsors life-saving, real-time Doppler weather tracking systems in several Michigan communities.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,600 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 approximately 1.6 million spectators each year.
2011-12 Scholar-Athlete Award Finalists
BOYS CLASS A
Matthew Alexander Beem, Traverse City West
Brendon Clover, White Lake Lakeland
Ryan Denison, Dearborn
Saeed El Saghir, Bay City Central
Steven Alexander Fox, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central
Christopher Robert Hagan, East Lansing
Alexander Hassan, Ann Arbor Huron
Joshua M. Heinze, Plymouth
Knute Hoffman, Midland
Hunter Holtrop, Okemos
Josh Hoogendoorn, Jenison
Nick Iacobellis, DeWitt
Jeremy Kozler, Livonia Stevenson
Conrad Arthur Lather, Midland Dow
Alec Latta, Northville
Gabriel Martinez, Livonia Franklin
Robert Paul, Bay City Central
Andrew Poterala, Northville
Nick Rao, Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice
Christopher Sesi, Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice
Blaine Stannard, Birmingham Groves
Alex Taylor, Rochester Adams
Daniel Tzou, Midland Dow
Garret Zuk, White Lake Lakeland
GIRLS CLASS A
Kelsey Adamski, Richland Gull Lake
Ellery Alexander, Caledonia
Kortnie L. Bush, Southgate Anderson
Jaymie Dyer, Hartland
Bethany Easom, Saline
Yara Nidal Fakhoury, Dearborn
Heather Smith, Farmington Hills Mercy
Amanda Marie Fodera, Fraser
Alexa Giovanatti, Rochester Adams
Morgan Hawver, Grand Haven
Hannah Marie Howarth, Gibraltar Carlson
Kelsey Kerin, St Clair
Hannah Lee, Rochester Adams
Maria Lepore, Rochester
Kelly Lunghamer, Birmingham Marian
Nicole McDermott, Mason
Gina Marie McNamara, Northville
Katelyn Alexandra Pekala, Midland
Abigail Rawling, Rochester
Dana Schrauben, Lake Orion
Alexis Stanton, Jenison
Alexandra Trecha, East Lansing
Jessica Turner, Birmingham Groves
Abigail Wilson, Trenton
BOYS CLASS B
Jordan S. Daley, Grand Rapids Christian
Griffin Dean, Grayling
Nathaniel P. Gaynor, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
Mason E. Geno, Essexville Garber
Jeffrey John Gregory, Kingsford
Nathaniel Ferris Iveson, Middleville Thornapple Kellogg
Andrew Kelley, Allegan
Nathan Kossey, Tecumseh
Joseph Longstreet, Hastings
Dan Macalka, Comstock Park
Dillon McCarthy, Whitehall
Jacob Mineau, Marysville
Nick Huston Parnell, Spring Lake
Caleb Pung, Portland
Craig Zebell, Dowagiac
Alan Zhen, Livonia Clarenceville
GIRLS CLASS B
Sara Marie Barron, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
Kathryn MacDermid Bollman, Williamston
Julie Buursma, Holland Christian
Kristin Gilbert, Hopkins
Hannah Grischke, Williamston
Sarah Hartley, Birch Run
Emily Kendro, Spring Lake
Nathalie Kenny, Manistee
Keara Kilbane, Hopkins
Laurin Masnari, Three Rivers
Erin Moser, Midland Bullock Creek
Rachel Neumann, Flint Powers Catholic
Brianne Nowak-Scott, Tecumseh
Emily Oren, Hamilton
Miranda Scott, Charlotte
Kaitlyn Stevens, Ovid-Elsie
BOYS CLASS C
Zachary French, Ishpeming Westwood
Dakota M. Hard, Quincy
Jonathan Andrew Harper, Clare
Ryan Hook, Delton Kellogg
Kolby Lange, Marlette
Trevor Lewis, Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker
Gregory Long, Sand Creek
Sean McBrayer, Unionville-Sebewaing
David Powers, Jr., Michigan Center
Benjamin Rebertus, Negaunee
Dirk E. Stoneman, Breckenridge
Ryan Watson, Delton Kellogg
GIRLS CLASS C
Brandy Bowers, Springport
Cayla Broton, Hesperia
Emily Crick, East Jordan
Lauren Dietrich, Gobles
Megan Kangas, Norway
Rachel Leightner, Springport
Lena Madison, New Buffalo
Rachel McEwen, Marlette
Karley Sauder, Marlette
Elyse Ann Louise Starck, Morley-Stanwood
Kelcey Stauffer, Sandusky
Isabella Yzerman, Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart
BOYS CLASS D
Evan Chalker, Buckley
Evan Dhyse, Kinde-North Huron
Seth Kintigh, Jackson Christian
Timothy Logghe, Peck
Joseph Nugent, Frankfort
Adam Plumstead, Frankfort
Sabeek Pradhan, Hillsdale Academy
Benjamin Ross, Lawrence
GIRLS CLASS D
Haley Buckey, Caseville
Kelsey Butcher, Morrice
Quinnlin Daily, Kingston
Natalija Galens, Watervliet Grace Christian
Haley Moore, Kinde-North Huron
Margaret Aileen Ryan, Hillsdale Academy
Jamie Lyn Seppanen, Eben Junction Superior Central
Alexandria Whitman, Fulton
Robichaud 3-Sport Legend Wheatley Selected to National High School Hall of Fame
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 11, 2024
The playing career of 1991 Dearborn Heights Robichaud graduate Tyrone Wheatley remains one of the most storied in Michigan high school sports history. His prestige gained during that early stage of his athletic stardom has been recognized nationally as well, as Wheatley was one of 12 honorees announced today as this year’s inductees into the National High School Hall of Fame by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
Wheatley – who grew up in Inkster and is currently the head football coach at Wayne State University – will be inducted as one of 11 honorees selected for the 41st Hall of Fame class at a ceremony during the NFHS summer meeting July 1 in Boston. The rest of the class is made up of three more athletes, four coaches, two former state association administrators and a game official. Wheatley was nominated by the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
Wheatley will become the Hall of Fame’s 10th inductee from Michigan, joining the MHSAA’s first full-time Executive Director Charles E. Forsythe (inducted 1983), River Rouge boys basketball coach Lofton Greene (1986), Warren Regina athletic director, softball and basketball coach Diane Laffey (2000), Fennville basketball and baseball standout Richie Jordan (2001), Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett boys and girls tennis coach Bob Wood (2005), Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook hockey standout Jim Johnson (2007), Owosso football, basketball and baseball all-stater Brad Van Pelt (2011); Vermontville Maple Valley baseball national record holder Ken Beardslee (2016) and retired MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts (2022).
To the greater public, Wheatley surely is best known as a star running back for University of Michigan who went on to play 10 seasons in the NFL for the New York Giants and Oakland Raiders. However, he is arguably most glorified in Michigan high school athletics for his accomplishments on the track, where as a junior in 1990 he became the first (of still only two) athletes to win four individual events at an MHSAA Lower Peninsula Finals – placing first in the 100 and 200-meter dashes, 110-meter hurdles and long jump. He led Robichaud to the Class B team title that day, scoring 40 of its 49 points. Wheatley completed his high school career in 1991 with three more Class B individual track & field championships and nine total over his final three seasons; he was injured in the 100 during that senior-year meet and could not run his final race to attempt another four-title day.
Wheatley’s meet records of 13.7 seconds in the 100 at the 1991 LP Class B Final and 23-10¾ in long jump in 1989 still stood when the four-Class track & field format was retired after the 1999 season. He also remains the only athlete to win the 100 three times at the prestigious Mehock Relays in Mansfield, Ohio, also finishing first in the 110 hurdles and 200 and runner-up in the long jump at that meet in 1991.
Wheatley was similarly accomplished on the high school football field, leading his team to a state championship in 1990 and earning a Parade All-America honor. Over three varsity seasons total he ran for a combined 4,257 yards and 67 touchdowns, including 2,010 yards and 33 scores on 208 carries as a senior in 1990 – the latter despite playing quarterback half of that season (and throwing five touchdown passes). He played quarterback, running back, defensive back, punter, kicker and returned kicks, and he scored 252 points over 13 games as a senior and 484 over 38 career games.
Wheatley also was a standout on the basketball court for Robichaud, averaging 14 points and 16 rebounds per game as a senior in earning all-state recognition in that sport as well.
“My city where I come from, Inkster, means the world to me. I grew up in an incredible era of sports in Michigan (with successful University of Michigan and Detroit pro teams) … but if you ask me who my idols were, they were the guys I grew up with playing on the playground,” Wheatley said. “After you come from a basketball game where you see Jarvis Walker drop 30, or Earl Jones running the last 200 of a race backwards … you hear people talk about them, you hear their reverence about them, and I just wanted to be put in the conversation of the best to come out of Inkster, forget the state. I can tell you this for sure: I’m not the best athlete to come out of Inkster, just the person who got the recognition. And my foundation was built watching, taking notes, preparing, working out and just trying to be one of the guys.
“(Robichaud was) the step. Because without Robichaud … Michigan, the NFL, me coming back to coach, it doesn’t happen,” Wheatley said. “Without the Robert Yaucks (his football coach at Robichaud), the Coach (Leit) Jones (his Robichaud track coach), the Coach (Mercer) Brysons, the (coach) Wade Cooks, the (coach Jeff) Flounorys, the Millie Hursins (his academic advisor) of the world, this doesn’t happen. Without my high school teammates, none of this happens. So it’s not just a step. What’s the saying – the first impression is the lasting and best impression? Robichaud was it.”
Wheatley returned to Robichaud as its varsity football coach in 2007 and led that team to a 9-2 record and the MHSAA Playoffs for the first time since 1994 – after Robichaud had finished 0-9 the previous season. He has served as an assistant football coach at four college programs including U-M and Syracuse, and with the Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars and Denver Broncos.
He also served as Morgan State University's head coach from 2019-21 and just completed his first season as head coach at Wayne State, which finished 3-8 – an improvement of two wins from 2022 and the program’s best record since 2019.
Wheatley graduated from University of Michigan in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. He and wife Kimberly have five children: Tyrone Jr., Terius, Tyrique, Tiana and Tamari. Tyrone Jr., an offensive tackle, played this past season for the New England Patriots.
“Many of us who grew up in Michigan grew up as fans of Tyrone Wheatley because of what he accomplished at the college level – but his legendary story begins at Dearborn Heights Robichaud, where his outsized athletic ability was on full display in every sport he played,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “Michigan has produced several professional athletes in a variety of sports and nearly 50 Olympians in track & field alone, and what Tyrone Wheatley achieved as a high school athlete remains a standard few have approached. We are ecstatic that he will deservedly take his place among the all-time elite high school athletes nationally as well.”
The National High School Hall of Fame was started in 1982 by the NFHS. The 11 individuals were chosen after a two-level selection process involving a screening committee composed of active high school state association administrators, coaches and officials, and a final selection committee composed of coaches, former athletes, state association officials, media representatives and educational leaders. Nominations were made through NFHS member associations. Also chosen for this class were athletes Joe Mauer (Minnesota), Takeo Spikes (Georgia) and Dot Ford Burrow (Mississippi); sport coaches Paula Kirkland (South Carolina), Gary Rankin (Tennessee), Roy Snyder (Pennsylvania) and Ronald Vincent (North Carolina); former state association administrators Mike Colbrese (Washington) and Marie Ishida (California), and baseball/football game official David Core (Oklahoma).
For more on this year’s Hall of Fame class, visit the NFHS Website.
PHOTO Tyrone Wheatley crosses the finish line first during one of his nine MHSAA Finals track & field championship victories. (MHSAA file photo.)