Scholars and Athletes 2016: Class B
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 8, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Michigan High School Athletic Association has selected eight student-athletes from Class B member schools to receive scholarships through the Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award program.
Farm Bureau Insurance, in its 27th 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 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.
Each of the scholarship recipients will be honored at halftime ceremonies of the Class C Boys Basketball Final game March 26 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: Lindsey Carlson, Charlotte; Spencer Keoleian, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood; Josef Philipp, Hillsdale; Paiton Plutchak, Menominee; Austin Thompson, Onsted; Kate Tobin, Grosse Ile; Trevor Trierweiler, Portland; and Katherine Williams, Grosse Ile.
Overviews of the scholarship recipients of the Class B Scholar-Athlete Award follow. A quote from each recipient's essay also is included:
Lindsey Carlson, Charlotte
Ran four seasons of varsity cross country and will play fourth season of varsity soccer this spring. Earned all-state honors in cross country as both a freshman and sophomore and earned league and Regional championships in addition to a top-10 finish at the MHSAA Finals and top-50 Finals finishes all four seasons. Served as captain of both of her teams. Serving as president in her third year on student council and also as president of student cheering section after helping create it as a junior. Participating in fourth year of Fellowship of Christian Athletes and her church youth group, and has served as a camp counselor, mentor and as a Junior Rotarian for her local club. Also played two years in the school band, attaining first chair and earning awards for saxophone solo and ensemble. Will attend Eastern Illinois University and study dietetics.
Essay Quote: “Sportsmanship is an admirable habit that will last a lifetime. … A caring, sportsmanlike action can go a long way, and the relationships and satisfaction made from it means much more than a temporary place in a race and a medal around the neck.”
Paiton Plutchak, Menominee
Played two seasons of varsity tennis and ran three seasons of varsity track and field and one of varsity cross country. Earned four league and one MHSAA Finals championship as a hurdler and sprinter, and earned all-Upper Peninsula honors playing No. 1 doubles in tennis. Served as team captain of both of those teams during 2015. Also has participated on a statewide level in forensics and as part of the Business Professionals of America state leadership conference. Served as BPA chapter president and National Honor Society chapter president, and is serving as her student council’s secretary. Participating for fourth year on local Healthy Youth Coalition, third as part of the local teen court and earned a Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizens Award; also participated as a delegate at the American Legion Auxiliary Girls State conference. Will attend Central Michigan University and study business.
Essay Quote: “High school athletics have tested my character and sportsmanship. … Sportsmanship is being humble, helpful and complimentary. I learned that if others try to bring you down, you need to stand tall and fight back with compliments and hard work. The most peaceful way to get back at someone is with success and compliments.”
Kate Tobin, Grosse Ile
Played four seasons of varsity volleyball, four of varsity basketball and will play third of varsity soccer this spring. Earned all-league and all-state honors in all three sports and has served as captain of both the volleyball (two seasons) and basketball teams. Participating on student council – and has held multiple leadership positions – for fourth year, and as part of National Honor Society for third after earning early induction into the latter. Also participates with her local Rotary Interact Club and has mentored freshman students and worked as a helper at a local elementary school. Also is serving as a referee for the local youth basketball league for the fourth year. Will attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and study elementary education.
Essay Quote: “What makes sportsmanship so important is that it’s a legacy that will never die. Athletes can make their choice on whether or not they want to carry on the tradition, but all those who are a part of this legacy know that no one will ever be great without it. You can always be a great athlete, but your greatness is derived from sportsmanship.”
Katherine Williams, Grosse Ile
Played four seasons of varsity golf and will play her third of varsity soccer this spring; also played two seasons of subvarsity basketball. Played in four MHSAA Golf Finals and on the Lower Peninsula Division 4 champion team as a sophomore. Earned all-league and academic all-state honors in golf and served as that team’s captain, and also played on a league champion soccer team. Participating in third year of National Honor Society and has served as president, and also is in third year on student council. Plays in her school’s marching and symphonic bands and is the clarinet section leader, and has earned solo, ensemble and symphonic awards of excellence. Also has participated in a number of theatrical performances. Founded three service projects that have benefited her community’s needy and cancer research and awareness. Is undecided where she will attend college but intends to study advertising and communications.
Essay Quote: “Personally, athletics aren’t my everything. I do not live, breathe and sleep sports. I can experience the same “take the field” adrenaline in a marching band uniform or performing on stage. However, sportsmanship did help me fit in with the diehard … and that is why I believe an emphasis on integrity and kindness is so crucial in athletics.”
Spencer Keoleian, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Participating in his fourth season of swimming and diving and will play his second season of varsity lacrosse this spring; also played junior varsity football as a freshman. Qualified for MHSAA Swimming & Diving Finals his first three seasons and contributed to team’s first and second team Finals championships. Earned all-state recognition in two events and is serving as captain this winter. Also contributed to last season’s lacrosse MHSAA Finals title. Led retreats and participated in community outreach for four years as part of Bridge the Divide and co-founded Horizons Upward Bound Swim program to teach swimming to urban youth. Received University of Michigan’s Youth and Community Program Youth Leadership and Social Justice Schools and Communities certification. Selected by faculty to sit on school’s Conduct Review Disciplinary Board and participated in student government. Will attend Cornell University and study operations management and research engineering.
Essay Quote: “I thought this was the best feeling anyone could feel in athletics, the genuine happiness felt by one teammate for another who had done so well. However, as time passed, I realize there was more to it than just that. … I realized sportsmanship is not necessarily limited to organized athletics, but encompasses all forms of friendly competition.”
Josef Philipp, Hillsdale
Played four seasons of varsity football and soccer, is playing his third of varsity basketball and will play his fourth of varsity golf this spring. Owns school records for extra points and field goals and helped football team to the playoffs every season; contributed to league, District and Regional championships over three sports. Served as captain of soccer, basketball and golf teams and earned all-league honors in soccer and golf and all-state special and honorable mention in football. Selected for National Honor Society and has participated in a variety of volunteer services including as a board member of the school’s Freshman Mentor Program, Future Corps and as founding member and treasurer of Interact Club created for community work. Will attend Hillsdale College and study biochemistry.
Essay Quote: “Everyone wants to win. The question is how far does a participant, team or coach push to gain that win? Good sportsmanship needs to be taught to young people early as part of the game. It’s a culture that a coach, team, school and community must create. Good sportsmanship is also sometimes difficult to maintain, as it only takes one student, coach or fan to ruin a healthy culture.”
Austin Thompson, Onsted
Played two seasons of varsity football, is playing his second of varsity basketball, and will play his second of varsity golf and participate in his fourth of varsity track and field this spring. Qualified for MHSAA Finals for pole vault as a junior and helped basketball team to a league title last season and the track and field team to a league title in 2014. Earned sportsmanship and scholar-athlete awards from the Lenawee County Athletic Association. Captained football team in the fall. Holds top spot academically in his class with a 4.20 grade-point average and has served as his class president four years; also won the Tri-County Science Fair. Participating in fourth year of Fellowship of Christian Athletes and third of National Honor Society. Participated in a number of service projects including as a blood drive coordinator. Will attend University of Michigan or the University of Detroit Mercy and study actuarial mathematics.
Essay Quote: “I now know that sportsmanship off the field is a very powerful thing. Our opposing players were respecting us. They were showing appropriate and polite behavior. They were gracious with our loss and there to help us when we were down. The heartfelt gratitude our team showed in return formed strong bonds between many players.”
Trevor Trierweiler, Portland
Played two years of varsity tennis, is playing his second of varsity basketball and will play his third of varsity baseball this spring; also played two seasons of subvarsity football. Earned all-state honors for tennis in setting school single-season record for wins at No. 1 doubles, and earned all-league honors in baseball; also earned academic all-league honors in all three of his varsity sports. Served as captain of baseball team last season. Also serves as a member of the MHSAA Student Advisory Council. Participating in National Honor Society for third year and his school’s Captains Club for second. Earned academic letter for honors all four years; holds a 3.98 grade-point average. Volunteers as part of sport and non-sport service projects including “No More Sidelines” helping to provide sports opportunities to children and young adults with special needs. Will attend Kalamazoo College and study engineering.
Essay Quote: “Sportsmanship is not something that we are born with. Sportsmanship is a way to react/behave that we are taught through family, competition and athletics in general. Sometimes that idea of good sportsmanship gets lost in translation from emotions to behavior. … However, the display of good sportsmanship can help change the entire atmosphere around a team/school/community.”
Other Class B girls finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were: Erin Isola, Allegan; Greta Wilker, Belding; Keri Frahm, Frankenmuth; Alexis LaChappa, Harrison; Camryn A. Klein, Ionia; Fallon Gates, Manistee; Abigail Ufkes, Marshall; Erica Lynn Schwegman, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep; Elizabeth Swartz, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep; Amanda Pohl, Portland; Claudia Raines, Saginaw Swan Valley; and Brenna James, Sault Ste. Marie.
Other Class B boys finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were: Geoffrey Richard Pisani, Big Rapids; Nicolas Arons, Chelsea; Brendan Spangler, Coldwater; Evan Ciancio, Comstock Park; Ryan Mangulabnan, Dearborn Divine Child; Kyle Gavulic, Goodrich; Caleb E. Doane, Grant; Adam Kopp, Grosse Ile; Blake Willison, Grosse Ile; Justin Carlson, Hastings; Austin Davis, Onsted; and David Arnst, Ovid-Elsie.
The Class C and D scholarship award recipients were announced Feb. 2, and the Class A honorees will be announced Feb. 16.
Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan was founded in 1949 by Michigan farmers who wanted an insurance company that worked as hard as they did. Those values still guide the company today and are a big reason why it is known as Michigan’s Insurance Company, dedicated to protecting the farms, families, and businesses of this great state. Farm Bureau Insurance agents across Michigan provide a full range of insurance services—life, home, auto, farm, business, retirement, Lake Estate®, and more—protecting nearly 500,000 Michigan policyholders.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,400 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.
Record-Setting Coach, Championship Program Leader Selected for 2024 WISL Awards
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 23, 2024
On the basketball court, no woman in Michigan high school history has led her team to more victories than Bloomfield Hills Marian’s Mary Cicerone. And few schools have stacked more championships over the last decade than Ann Arbor Pioneer under the guidance of athletic director Eve Claar.
To celebrate those accomplishments, and more significantly their impacts on thousands of students over decades in those leadership positions, Cicerone and Claar have been named the 37th and 38th recipients of the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Women In Sports Leadership Award.
Each year, the Representative Council considers the achievements of women coaches, officials and athletic administrators affiliated with the MHSAA who show exemplary leadership capabilities and positive contributions to athletics. Cicerone and Claar will receive their awards during this year’s WISL Conference, Feb. 4-5 at the Crowne Plaza Lansing West.
Cicerone retired from coaching the Bloomfield Hills Marian girls basketball team after the 2021-22 season with a record of 707-233 since taking over the program in 1983 – making her the fourth-winningest coach in MHSAA girls basketball history, and the winningest woman to lead a program.
She guided the Mustangs to six Finals championships, in Class A in 1988, 1992, 1996 and 1998 and back-to-back in Division 1 in 2014 and 2015. Her teams also won 19 Catholic High School League Central division championships, 20 overall CHSL League titles and reached the MHSAA Semifinals seven times, also finishing Class A runner-up in 1997.
“Mary Cicerone is a legend because she’s won hundreds of games and many championships, and those measurables of her success speak for themselves,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “But her commitment to her teams, her sport, and leadership in women’s athletics as a whole contributed just as significantly to her tremendous legacy.”
In addition to receiving several local and statewide coaching awards over the years, Cicerone has been inducted into Halls of Fame by the University of Detroit Mercy (2007) as a player and as a coach by the Catholic High School League (1998), Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (2017) and Marian (2022).
She has served as an officer for the Catholic League Women’s Coaches Association and in 2009 received the CHSL’s Ed Lauer Person of the Year Award.
“Being a young girl wanting to play all kinds of activities, we never had much opportunity and I participated in whatever I was able and just felt like that was something that was important to me, my friends and everybody I was associated with was always part of the same group,” Cicerone said. “I felt like (advocating for women’s sports) was something I should do because it was so important for me, and I appreciated everything everybody did for me and my friends to be able to play.
“It’s not something I needed to do – just something I wanted to do. I stepped into that role, cherished it, worked really hard at it, and hopefully made great memories – for me, for sure – and for others.”
Claar is in her 21st year as an athletic director, and over the last decade has guided one of the state’s largest athletic programs in terms of both programs and student-athletes, with 36 varsity teams and nearly 1,110 participants. The Pioneers have had ample local and statewide success during her tenure, including claiming 16 MHSAA Finals championships across seven sports over the last eight school years (including this one). Most recently, Pioneer tied for most Finals championships among Lower Peninsula schools in 2020-21 with four, were second in 2021-22 with four more, and last school year tied for most in the Lower Peninsula again with three titles.
Claar began in athletic administration as Pioneer’s assistant director from 2003-06, and she became athletic director at Bloomfield Hills Lahser at the start of the 2006-07 school year. She took over the program at Ypsilanti Lincoln as athletic director in 2009 before returning to Pioneer in 2012.
“Eve Claar continues to show the way for her programs to succeed on the field while keeping in mind the big picture of what’s important in school sports,” Uyl said. “She’s invested in providing the best experiences for Pioneer’s student-athletes, and athletes competing throughout the Southeastern Conference, while also providing support to AD colleagues and coaches who look to her for leadership and expertise.”
Claar has served as the Southeastern Conference secretary since 2009 and is the league’s sport director for softball and field hockey. She has been president of the Michigan Field Hockey League since 2018 and has served on several MHSAA sport and site selection committees and as part of the MHSAA/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award selection committee. Before becoming an athletic director, Claar worked five years in the Detroit Pistons/Detroit Shock community relations department.
She was named a Regional Athletic Director of the Year in 2019 by the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA). In 2021, she helped found the Southeastern Conference’s Women in Sports Leadership Conference for student-athletes from the league’s 14 schools.
“I started with (longtime Pioneer AD) Lorin Cartwright before me, and she was always a mentor for me. I’ve always had female leaders and mentors whether in sports for high school, over to Pioneer, with the Shock with Nancy Lieberman – I’ve been around amazing female leaders,” Claar said. “I feel at this point, 21 years into doing this, now it’s upon me to do the same. I’ve been honored when I’ve had other athletic directors reach out, other female ADs ask for support, and I’ve been able to give the support that (my mentors) gave me.”
Cicerone is a 1978 graduate of Coopersville High School, where she was a basketball all-stater and ran track, and she then starred on the basketball court at Detroit Mercy, leading the Titans to three Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) state titles and graduating as Mercy’s all-time career assists leader while earning a bachelor’s degree in education. She won the 1982 President’s Award as U-D’s most outstanding female student-athlete.
She taught primarily physical education at Marian beginning with the 1983-84 school year through her retirement 39 years later, and also coached track & field for a season at the start of her teaching career.
Claar is a 1991 graduate of North Farmington High School and earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Central Michigan University and master’s from Detroit Mercy. She received a teaching certificate from Wayne State University and education leadership certificate from Eastern Michigan University, and earned her certified athletic administrator (CAA) designation in 2008. Claar played basketball, volleyball and softball at North Farmington and was a BCAM Miss Basketball Award finalist in 1990. She continued as a standout at CMU, finishing her playing career in 1995, and remains among the most accomplished 3-point shooters in program history. She also served as a graduate assistant women’s basketball coach at U-D for two seasons.
More than 800 participants – mostly female high school student-athletes from across the state – have registered to attend this year’s sold-out WISL Conference, the 26th in the series that remains the first, largest and longest-running program of its type in the country.
The opening address Feb. 4 will be presented by Cathy George, the all-time winningest volleyball coach in Michigan State University history and the first head coach of the newly-created Grand Rapids Rise professional volleyball franchise. Current MSU volleyball coach Leah Johnson will speak during the morning’s general session Feb. 5 on the conference’s theme “Share the Vision” – she finished her second season leading the Spartans in the fall after coaching Illinois State University from 2017-21 and taking ISU to the NCAA Tournament her last four seasons before leaving for East Lansing.
Several workshops will be offered over the two days, with topics including coaching, teaching and learning leadership; sports nutrition and performance, and empowerment and goal-setting. Presenters are accomplished in their fields and represent a wide range of backgrounds in sport. A complete itinerary is available on the WISL page.
The first Women In Sports Leadership Award was presented in 1990.
Past recipients
1990 – Carol Seavoy, L’Anse
1991 – Diane Laffey, Harper Woods
1992 – Patricia Ashby, Scotts
1993 – Jo Lake, Grosse Pointe
1994 – Brenda Gatlin, Detroit
1995 – Jane Bennett, Ann Arbor
1996 – Cheryl Amos-Helmicki, Huntington Woods
1997 – Delores L. Elswick, Detroit
1998 – Karen S. Leinaar, Delton
1999 – Kathy McGee, Flint
2000 – Pat Richardson, Grass Lake
2001 – Suzanne Martin, East Lansing
2002 – Susan Barthold, Kentwood
2003 – Nancy Clark, Flint
2004 – Kathy Vruggink Westdorp, Grand Rapids
2005 – Barbara Redding, Capac
2006 – Melanie Miller, Lansing
2007 – Jan Sander, Warren Woods
2008 – Jane Bos, Grand Rapids
2009 – Gail Ganakas, Flint; Deb VanKuiken, Holly
2010 – Gina Mazzolini, Lansing
2011 – Ellen Pugh, West Branch; Patti Tibaldi, Traverse City
2012 – Janet Gillette, Comstock Park
2013 – Barbara Beckett, Traverse City
2014 – Teri Reyburn, DeWitt
2015 – Jean LaClair, Bronson
2016 – Betty Wroubel, Pontiac
2017 – Dottie Davis, Ann Arbor
2018 – Meg Seng, Ann Arbor
2019 – Kris Isom, Adrian
2020 – Nikki Norris, East Lansing
2021 – Dorene Ingalls, St. Ignace
2022 – Lori Hyman, Livonia
2023 – Laurie Glass, Leland
PHOTOS Bloomfield Hills Marian coach Mary Cicerone, left, huddles with her team during an MHSAA Finals weekend, and Ann Arbor Pioneer athletic director Eve Claar welcomes John and Jim Harbaugh into the school's Pioneer Hall of Fame. (Claar photo courtesy of Ann Arbor Public Schools.)