Scholars and Athletes 2013: Classes C, D
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 5, 2013
Eleven student-athletes from Michigan High School Athletic Association Class C and D member schools have been selected to receive scholarships through its Scholar-Athlete Award program.
Farm Bureau Insurance, in its 24th year of sponsoring the award, will give a $1,000 college scholarship to 32 individuals who represent their member school 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.
Each of the scholarship recipients will be honored at halftime ceremonies of the Class C Boys Basketball Final game March 23 at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing. Commemorative medallions will be given to other finalists in recognition of their accomplishments.
The Class C Scholar-Athlete Award honorees are: Kylei Ratkowski, Bronson; Grace Smith, Kalamazoo Hackett; Nicole Winter, Watervliet; Jesse Anderson, Union City; Ashwin Fujii, Ann Arbor Greenhills; Connor Lockman, Royal Oak Shrine.
The Class D Scholar-Athlete Award scholarship recipients are: Elyse Kathleen Lisznyai, Hillsdale Academy; Elena Victoria Luce, Mason County Eastern; Charles Barchett, Watervliet Grace Christian; Chip A. Blood, Hillsdale Academy; Francisco Jay Noyola, Lansing Christian.
Overviews of the scholarship recipients of the Class C Scholar-Athlete Award follow. A quote from each recipient's essay is also included:
Kylei Ratkowski, Bronson. Three-time letterwinner in volleyball and basketball, serving as team captain in both sports. Also won a letter in track and field. Was all-conference and all-area in volleyball as a senior, and also a third-team all-state selection. Was Homecoming Queen in 2012. Class treasurer throughout high school and served for four years on student council, the last two years as vice president. Active in National Honor Society, Varsity Club and 4-H; and served as an officer in all three groups. Volunteers to instruct and officiate in youth girls volleyball and basketball and to work with a local food pantry and visit shut-ins. Plans medical studies at the University of Notre Dame or Michigan State University.
Essay Quote: “Athletics is about more than winning, it is about creating winners with the right attitude. It is about developing athletes that genuinely care about their opponents and do the right thing when put to the test. Sportsmanship is essential to educational athletics and we as athletes and fan of athletics need to do all we can to insure sportsmanship remains a significant part of every game.”
Grace Smith, Kalamazoo Hackett. Will earn her fourth varsity letter in soccer this spring, and also won three varsity letters in basketball. Was captain of basketball team this year, and most valuable of soccer team last spring. An Academic All-State honoree twice in both sports. Has also won all-district and all-league awards twice in soccer. Three-year member of National Honor Society, Student Athletic Advisory Board and Quiz Bowl team at her school. Was president of Student Athletic Advisory Board as a Senior, and Quiz Bowl team was a state finalist last year. Editor of student newspaper and Synthesis Literary Magazine. Has volunteered with Salvation Army, Vacation Bible School and Habitat for Humanity. Plans biology or pre-medical studies in college.
Essay Quote: “We both desperately wanted to win, but we saw the other person was more important than the outcome of the game. We did whatever we could to help our team win, but we did not do it out of hatred for our opponent. When the game was over, our friendship and mutual respect was still intact.”
Nicole Winter, Watervliet. Will earn 15 varsity letters in four different sports – four each in volleyball, basketball and softball; and three in track and field. A team captain and most valuable player in volleyball and basketball; and has earned all-conference honors in all four sports. Will finish basketball career as school record holder in assists and three-point field goals, and will likely top the 1,000-point mark in scoring. Also won Academic All-State award as a junior in basketball. President of school’s Student Council and vice president of the National Honor Society, and was also a class officer three times. Editor of school yearbook and member of newspaper staff; won an award for outstanding achieve as editor of the press association at Girls State. Will attend either Calvin College or Hope College to study communications, English or history.
Essay Quote: “No one will win every game; therefore, it is critical to learn how to conduct yourself after wins and losses. Losing is one of the toughest events to go through, but you learn more from one loss than from one hundred wins.”
Jesse Anderson, Union City. A four-year performer in both cross country and track and field. Helped track team to last three Big Eight Conference titles, and second place finishes at MHSAA Finals. Won all-conference honors as part of two relay teams and in two individual events. Was most valuable on 2012 cross country team. President of his class for three consecutive years, and vice president of National Honor Society. Active as a volunteer with local Red Cross and March of Dimes, and a member of his church youth group and 4-H. Served as editor of school yearbook. Won DAR Good Citizen Award and was twice selected as school Student of the Month. Plans medical studies at Grand Valley State University.
Essay Quote: “To truly know what sportsmanship is, you must be put in situations where being a good sportsman is not the easiest thing to do and making, at times, the unpopular choice to do what is right instead of what is easy.”
Ashwin Fujii, Ann Arbor Greenhills. A team captain in cross country and track and field, winning four varsity letters in both sports. Won All-State honors in cross country as a Junior, and as also an Academic All-State honoree. League champion in 3,200-meter run in track. Also a three-time letterwinner in swimming, where he holds several school records. On the Student Council for four years, elected president as a Senior. Was on the Chess Team and part of the Green Initiative Group for two years. Served as a volunteer swimming coach for kids recovering from cancer therapy. A National Merit Scholar Semifinalists, and a two-time Greenhills School Academic Scholar honoree. Will attend the University of Michigan and study engineering.
Essay Quote: “Just as competing with sportsmanship will make you better, competing without it will do nothing but make you dirtier and more disrespectful. Competitors lacking sportsmanship might win at first, but they won’t improve.”
Connor Lockman, Royal Oak Shrine. Will earn his fourth letter in track and field this Spring to go with four letters in soccer and one letter in cross country. Has served as a team captain in cross country and track and field. An all-league performer in all three sports, was league 800-meter champion the past two years. Has participated in the MHSAA Finals in both cross country and track. Was academic all-state and track team most valuable in 2012. Other school activity involvement includes National Honor Society, Ski Club, Backstage Tech Crew, the Winners Circle leadership forum, and a leader in Kairos. Has also been a youth soccer coach and referee. Will attend Michigan State University to study pre-law.
Essay Quote: “Sportsmanship is turning for the finish line with one hundred meters left and not giving up. Running toward the pain because you are the anchor of your 3,200-meter relay. Second place would not matter that much for you because you have three more opportunities at a championship. Your teammates may not though. You run towards the pain for your teammates and that is true sportsmanship.”
Other Class C girls finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were: Alyssa R. Briolat, Ubly; Kara Craig, Schoolcraft; Lindsey Dopheide, Lawton; Margaret Elizabeth Durbin, Boyne City; Macayla Geiner, Hart; Natalie Perry, Sand Creek; Theresa Pickell, Reese; Abigail Radomsky, Kalamazoo Hackett; and Faith Schroeder, Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary.
Other Class C boys finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were: Brian Christopher Aldrich, Kalamazoo Hackett; Kenner Broullire, Manistique; Jesse Corbat, Breckenridge; Parker Eldred, Blanchard Montabella; Zachary A. Kerr, Saugatuck; Mike O'Brien, Maple City-Glen Lake; Elliott Rains, Sand Creek; Quinton Rice, Marcellus; and Luke Schaffner, Clinton.
Overviews of the scholarship recipients of the Class D Scholar-Athlete Award follow. A quote from each recipient's essay is also included:
Elyse Kathleen Lisznyai, Hillsdale Academy. Will earn 16 varsity letters in high school career in basketball, cross country, golf and track. Began high school competition in eighth grade because of school’s small enrollment, and won all-state honors in cross country and track in 2008-09. Ran leg of winning 3,200-relay at MHSAA L.P. Division 4 Track & Field Finals in 2010, was part of two medaling relays in 2012. Played in Division 4 Golf Finals five straight years, and finished sixth individually in 2012. Captained golf and track teams. Participated throughout high school in 4-H, Student Council, Drama Club, Chamber Choir and in church youth group. Student Council and National Honor Society officer. Plans to study pre-law at the University of Michigan.
Essay Quote: “As an athlete in the MHSAA, I have dedicated myself to a level of integrity and honesty that manifests itself in my behavior on the field and in the classroom. While I made this commitment as a sportsman, it had taken roots much deeper than in the athletic arena, before I was even old enough to participate in sports. This devotion to the protection of that which is true, good, and beautiful was taught to me as a child by my parents, solidified as a student at Hillsdale Academy, and perpetuated always by a firm belief in God.”
Elena Victoria Luce, Mason County Eastern. Lettered in five sports – basketball, volleyball, softball, soccer and cross country – earning 17 letters. Captained basketball, soccer and volleyball squads; and was all conference in those sports, as well as softball. Academic all-state selection in basketball, and winner of 2012 BCAM Three-Point Shooter’s Challenge at MHSAA Basketball Finals. Class president through middle school and high school. Active in Varsity Club, National Honor Society, Quiz Bowl and yearbook editor. Has been a religious education at her church, and volunteered with the Special Olympics and AYSO Soccer. She plans to pursue a degree in accounting or business in college.
Essay Quote: “Sportsmanship allows our athletic activities to maintain a competitive level, yet, we are still able to remain respectful to our opponents, and we can maintain our dignity. Nobody wants to feel degraded or put down in anything they do, and sports are supposed to be fun and enjoyable. Sportsmanship is important because it allows all of these things to be possible, and displaying these characteristics allows teams and athletics to be successful in anything they do.”
Charles Barchett, Watervliet Grace Christian. Team captain in all three of his sports – baseball, basketball and soccer. All-conference performer in baseball and soccer. Won team most valuable honors in soccer as a goalie and set school single season record for saves in 2012. Academic all-state honoree in baseball. Participated in 4-H and Buddies In Christ throughout high school. Also took part in drama, National Honor Society and Student Council. Volunteers with the Berrien County Youth Fair, his school cafeteria and as statistician for boys basketball team. Plans to attend Bradley University.
Essay Quote: “Actions speak louder than words, and my actions on the field or court exemplify my personal leadership and integrity. In my mind, that leaves me with two options: play with sportsmanship or don’t play at all.”
Chip A. Blood, Hillsdale Academy. Played varsity basketball, golf and soccer throughout high school and lettered in basketball and golf as eighth grader due to school’s small enrollment, earning 14 letters. Team captain, leading scorer and all-conference in all three sports. Has played in MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals in each of the past four years, placing third in 2010 and eighth in 2012. Four-year participant in Knights of Columbus Squires, Student Council, Drama Club and as volunteer with Salvation Army. Played French Horn in school band, participated in National Honor Society and various church activities. Will study economics at the University of Notre Dame.
Essay Quote: “In my participation in athletics, one trait has always been deemed most valuable in a competitor: sportsmanship. Every organization seems to champion this virtue. However, it begs the question: what defines sportsmanship, and why does it matter…four years of high school have answered the question for me, and I have had the pleasure of seeing true sportsmanship exemplified.”
Francisco Jay Noyola, Lansing Christian. Won all-state honors in soccer, and also participated in basketball and golf. Team captain in golf and soccer, and won all-conference awards in both. Has made mission trips to Guatemala the past three years and Mexico this year with schoolmates, helping build soccer fields. Member of National Honor Society, Sexually Mature Aware Responsible Team (SMART), Science Olympiad, and is active with church youth group. Plans to attend Hope College and study engineering.
Essay Quote: “Sportsmanship affects the game and the team. Knowing how to handle my emotions has made me a better sport, and having teammates who are good sports makes the game more fun. Sportsmanship is an essential part of educational athletics because it makes sports worth playing.
Other Class D girls finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were: Anna Marie Couture, Posen; Sarah Cullip, St. Ignace; Erica LeClaire, Dollar Bay; Christina Smith, Gaylord St. Mary; Kari L. Steenwyk, Ellsworth; and Krysta M. VanDamme, Rock-Mid Peninsula.
Other Class D boys finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were: Brett Branstrom, Rock-Mid Peninsula; Matthew R. Katz, Tekonsha; Alexander G. Knight, Lake Linden-Hubbell; Joseph Samuel Paquette, Munising; and Hunter Selby, Genesee Christian.
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 Class B scholarship award recipients will be announced on February 12, and the Class A honorees will be announced on February 19.
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Jackson's Imprint on MHSAA Stretches 45 Years, Across 4 Executive Directors
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 5, 2022
First impressions can be significant, as many a saying goes. And Karen Brown unknowingly provided one in 1978 that helped affect the course of athletics in this state over the next 40-plus years.
A Michigan State University student named Karen Leinaar had shown up at the Michigan High School Athletic Association for a meeting about a 5K road race she was planning that was unrelated to the MHSAA except that the building provided a good meeting place – and Brown, just a year out of high school, was the first person to greet her at the old Trowbridge Road headquarters.
Seeing someone her age immediately made Leinaar more comfortable. She ended up returning to that office several times over the years, registering as an MHSAA game official while still an MSU student and then starting a career in 1982 that has included nearly 40 years as a high school athletic director and two decades of shaping policy as part of the MHSAA Representative Council.
That’s the kind of impact that’s emanated from Karen Jackson, formerly Brown, and over the last 45 years as assistant to four of the five executive directors during the MHSAA’s 98-year history. Jackson finished that run with her retirement Friday.
“She was always one that would welcome you, and whether you walked into the office or called on the phone, she always had an answer that would calm you down or provide you with the information you needed,” said Leinaar, who currently is serving as interim athletic director at Frankfort High School in addition to her duties as executive director of the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.
“I remember initially calling and needing something from Mr. Norris – it was always Mr. Norris – and she could answer the question,” Leinaar added, referring to retired MHSAA executive director Vern Norris, who served in that role from 1978-86. “You didn’t want to talk to scary Mr. Norris – Vern was a wonderful man, but he was like the superintendent or principal. Karen always had the answer. … It was always that smile that made you feel like you were more than welcomed, wanted in the office, and everything is going to be OK.”
Jackson began at the MHSAA in June 1977, two days before her graduation from long ago-closed Harry Hill High School in Lansing.
Her high school sports career amounted to about half a season on the Hill varsity volleyball team as a sophomore before she had to switch gears to begin working for the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce as part of a school co-op program.
Jackson graduated as a co-valedictorian of Hill’s Class of 1977. Despite her academic standing, she hadn’t received much guidance at school on the possibility of college. But she had a job offer from the Chamber – and also had heard from grade-school friend Deborah Norris (Vern’s daughter) about an opening at the MHSAA.
The MHSAA was offering more money, and Jackson was hoping to buy a car – and so at 18, she became the secretary for executive director Allen W. Bush.
The title has changed over the years, from secretary to the executive director, to executive assistant, to senior executive assistant. The MHSAA’s administrative processes obviously have changed, mostly because of technology, from everything done on paper and through the mail to just about everything conducted digitally over the internet.
But many of Jackson’s most important duties at the end of her tenure resembled those she was hired to carry out nearly half a century ago.
Setting Exemplary Expectations
Bush retired a year after Jackson began, and she then assisted Norris for his eight as executive director. She served with Jack Roberts through his 32 years as executive director from 1986-2018 and then for these first 3½ under current director Mark Uyl.
She was considered the “baby” of the MHSAA staff during her first 12 years, until she turned 30 and her support staff teammates declared she wasn’t the baby anymore during a Christmas party serenade. Just about 33 years later, she’s leaving as one of two people left who worked in the old offices before the MHSAA moved to another East Lansing headquarters at Ramblewood Drive in 1996.
School sports happen thanks to a Karen Jackson or two in every community -- people who provide the unseen support that makes these programs possible every day.
For the last 45 years, she’s provided a consistent anchor for service to 1,500 schools and millions of student-athletes across Michigan.
“She’s shaped so much of what we’ve done,” said MHSAA assistant director Kathy Vruggink Westdorp, who joined the staff during the 2003-04 school year after more than two decades working for Grand Rapids-area schools. “Her service to schools was imperative to what she was doing, and it was a valuable part for our membership. Hers was such a dedicated service, such an exemplary service – finding solutions, to do what’s needed.”
There are file cabinets and libraries and hard drives at the MHSAA office, the contents of which are known by only a handful of people on Earth – and Jackson perhaps the most as she did most of the sorting and maintaining of those files over the years.
For a 1996 Lansing State Journal feature on the MHSAA’s support staff, Jackson (then Yonkers) explained “there are always new challenges, new issues and controversies. It never gets boring. In the past 19 years, we’ve slowly shifted from dealing with athletic administrators, principals and superintendents to dealing with legislators, attorneys and courts.”
The last 25 years has seen much of the work swing back to providing service directly to schools. And Jackson’s mind has become part MHSAA library and part card catalog of where to find those few snippets she might not recall immediately from the last half century.
“I guess what I’m proud of is being able to find things, to know where to find things and how to find things that other people don’t,” Jackson said. “Yes, the technology has changed everything. … We used to have more schools – they used to have 40-some Detroit public schools – and there was a whole era of (litigation), but it’s calmed down now.
“I liked what I did, and it kept me on my toes – that’s for sure.”
The MHSAA is rooted in its responsibilities as a championship and eligibility rules maker, and Jackson was involved in just about every communication in those areas during her time. Tournament changes are made at Representative Council meetings, and she’s reported the minutes for at least 150 of those, including piles of special sessions as the MHSAA managed sports through the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligibility waivers are requested at Executive Committee meetings, and she’s prepared somewhere north of 505 sets of minutes for those monthly sessions even as those agendas have grown in content substantially over the years.
Then there’s all of the correspondence from those four executive directors – all with the initials “kb” or “kj” to go with “AWB” or “VLN” or “JER” and “MU.” She also was in charge of MHSAA election ballots for 35 years, served as the lead organizer of cooperative programs, helped with football tickets for a time and briefly was part of the program-selling crew at early Football Finals at the Pontiac Silverdome.
“I think I’m pretty lucky, being on the Council and Executive Committee, that I’ve been able to work with her a lot. And most athletic directors, they may not even know who she is because they may not have contact with her or do anything with her – but she’s obviously been the unsung hero of that office,” said Vic Michaels, who serves as director of physical education & athletics for the Archdiocese of Detroit and has served on the Representative Council since 2003.
“She just does so much that you don’t really know about, especially with the Council. Whenever I need anything, Karen’s the one I call. She is the history, really. She’s the keeper of that.”
Unprecedented & 'Never to be Replicated'
A longtime co-worker of Jackson, Shirley Hytinen, retired in 1998 after just a few months more than 43 years. She too had worked for four executive directors, as she began in 1955 during the Charles E. Forsythe era.
Jackson surpassed Hytinen’s tenure a few years into Uyl’s, and can readily recall some of what stood out from all four directors she’s assisted.
Bush was “really stern” – he had served in the U.S. Marines – and she said he didn’t smile much until the day he announced his retirement, when it was “like a switch turned. He was smiling and happy and joking around.”
Norris was “the sweetest guy in the world.” Jackson had bought her first house in her mid-20s and was preparing to move in with only her dad and his motor home to assist, when Norris showed up to help at 7:30 a.m. that morning to provide another set of hands.
Roberts is known by Michigan administrators and national colleagues for his writing, and Jackson said jokingly she still “cringes” when she sees a yellow legal pad. She was an important proofreader and spent the majority of her career serving with her desk just a few paces away from that of the recent National Federation Hall of Fame selection, and she attended his induction this past summer and San Antonio.
Roberts pointed out that during the 1980s, the MHSAA would conduct nine Executive Committee meetings, each averaging fewer than 10 requests for waivers. By the end of his 32 years, there were 11 Executive Committee meetings annually – with approximately 50 waiver requests presented on average. Still, he and Jackson were able to process the meeting minutes and continue to distribute those decisions within 24 hours.
“Over the more than three decades that Karen and I worked together at the MHSAA, the work became increasingly more voluminous and complicated – and Karen kept finding ways to increase our efficiency and maximize our output,” Roberts said.
Like Norris when Bush was executive director, Uyl had been part of the MHSAA staff under Roberts since 2004 before eventually moving into the corner office. After those first 15 years together, Uyl knew what a valuable person he had just a few yards away to assist in his transition, and “he just says to do this” and allows his staff to run with it, which Jackson enjoyed.
Her duties have been shifted confidently, mostly to Jamie VanDerMoere, another longtime administrative assistant who is best-known to Michigan school sports people for her leadership with the annual wrestling championship tournaments.
Jackson recently was married to Jim Jackson, and they have plans as they close in on their first anniversary – they’re hoping to travel to Italy at some point and also The Masters in Augusta, Ga., next spring. “I’m not going to miss coming to work every day, but the people,” Karen Jackson said.
And many in school sports across Michigan, although they may not realize it, will miss the contributions Jackson has made to their community over the decades including the context she’s provided as thousands of decisions have been made.
“Not only her understanding of our regulations and the processes of our regulations, but understanding why we have those things in place – when someone does something 45 years, you get a lot of historical context,” Uyl said. “What’s made her so effective is understanding the why – and that to me is something that’s almost impossible to replace.
“When an organization has been around 98 years with only five directors, it says something to have worked for four out of the five. That will never be replicated again.”
PHOTOS (Top) From top left, Karen Jackson has been a mainstay of the MHSAA for decades – serving membership, working with administrators like Randy Allen and Gina Mazzolini or serving as assistant to executive directors like Jack Roberts (right) and Vern Norris. (Middle) Jackson, sitting fourth from left, was the “baby” of the MHSAA staff after joining when she was 18. (Below) Jackson and husband Jim have plans to travel in retirement. (MHSAA archives.)