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#BOTF IV: Powers Face New Challengers
January 12, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Perennial powers are beginning to emerge as the MHSAA Student Advisory Council embarks again on its quest to reward Michigan's top high school student cheering section. Reigning champion Beaverton is back for Battle of the Fans IV, while 2013 champion Buchanan is a finalist for the third straight year.
But more than half of this season's hopefuls applied to the contest for the first time – and Dowagiac, St. Johns and Yale impressed enough to earn their shots at joining the elite by claiming the 2015 championship banner.
Those five finalists have been selected for this year's BOTF contest, which will again recognize the top student cheering section from among member schools with the winner crowned in February and then recognized in March during Boys Basketball Finals weekend at Michigan State University's Breslin Center.
Battle of the Fans IV, organized by MHSAA staff and its 16-member Student Advisory Council, will reward the cheering section that best creates the positive and festive atmosphere made possible when students show enthusiasm, togetherness and sportsmanship while rooting for their team. MHSAA staff and Student Advisory Council members will visit all five finalists for home boys basketball games during the second half of this regular season, with coverage and video from those visits and the announcement of the winner all to be published on MHSAA Second Half.
Schools were invited in December to submit short videos, via YouTube, of their cheering sections in action. The winner will be announced Feb. 20, and video of all five sections will be played on the Breslin Center HD scoreboard during the Finals in March. The champion also will be recognized during the Boys Semifinals on March 27.
The 21 applicants for BOTF IV were the second most in the four-year history of the event.
“We are thrilled to see the excitement students have generated at each and every one of the schools that chose to participate in Battle of the Fans IV,” said Andy Frushour, MHSAA director of brand management and advisor to the Student Advisory Council. “All should be proud of their entries, and more importantly, proud of the positive impact they’re having on their schools and communities.”
Video submissions included explanations on how each section met the following contest criteria: positive sportsmanship, student body participation, school spirit, originality of cheers, organization of the group, student section leadership and overall fun.
Click the links below to see the videos submitted by the finalists:
Beaverton - Buchanan - Dowagiac - St. Johns - Yale
The finalists were chosen by the Student Advisory Council, and the winner will be selected by another Advisory Council vote based in part on activity on the MHSAA’s social media sites. All social media postings regarding Battle of the Fans IV should include the hashtag #BOTF. The MHSAA will post throughout the finalists tour on its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram sites and Snapchat feed.
Finalists will be visited for the following home basketball games:
Jan. 16: Gladwin at Beaverton
Jan. 23: Almont at Yale
Jan. 30: Niles Brandywine at Buchanan
Feb. 6: Haslett at St. Johns
Feb. 13: Edwardsburg at Dowagiac
Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard, Frankenmuth, Frankfort, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix and Marysville, listed here in alphabetical order, rounded out the top 10 in the vote to select the finalists. Frankenmuth was the inaugural BOTF champion in 2012, Gabriel Richard was a finalist in 2013, and Frankfort was a finalist in 2014.
Those three and Loy Norrix also were joined among return applicants by Bay City John Glenn, Grand Rapids Christian, Reese and Vandercook Lake. Cedar Springs, Clinton Township Chippewa Valley, Fairview, Grant, Ida, Marysville, Munising and South Lyon joined Dowagiac, St. Johns and Yale among those that applied for the first time. Click to view all applications on YouTube.
The contest is sponsored in part by the United Dairy Industry of Michigan, which promotes Michigan's locally-produced dairy products and nutrition education.
Rules plus links to last year’s coverage of the contest can be found on the BOTF page of the MHSAA site.
The Student Advisory Council is made up of eight seniors and eight juniors who each serve two-year terms. The Council acts as the voice of Michigan's student-athletes; it serves as a student sounding board for the MHSAA's Representative Council, assists in planning Sportsmanship Summits, Captains Clinics and other student leadership events; participates in a yearly focus group about the state of high schools sports for Michigan State University's Institute for the Study of Youth Sports and assists with medal ceremonies at MHSAA championship events.
PHOTOS: MHSAA Battle of the Fans finalists cheer on their teams, clockwise from top left: Buchanan, Dowagiac, Yale, St. Johns and Beaverton.
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2021 Scholar-Athlete Finalists Announced
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 19, 2021
The 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Awards for the 2020-21 school year, presented by Farm Bureau Insurance, have been announced.
The program, in its 32nd year, has recognized student-athletes since the 1989-90 school year and again this winter 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 Awards and will present a $1,000 scholarship to each recipient. Since the beginning of the program, 832 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, two scholarships will be awarded at-large to minority recipients, regardless of school size.
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. Traverse City Central has four finalists this year while Hillsdale Academy has three. Fifteen schools each have two finalists: Adrian Lenawee Christian, Ann Arbor Greenhills, Bad Axe, Clare, Dollar Bay, Grand Haven, Grosse Pointe North, Grosse Pointe South, Holland West Ottawa, Lapeer, Leland, Montague, Mount Pleasant, Newaygo and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep.
Multiple-sport participation remains the norm among applicants. The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 2.858. There are 74 three-plus sport participants in the finalists field, and all but one of the 28 sports in which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments are represented.
Of 418 schools which submitted applicants, 12 submitted the maximum allowed. This year, 1,356 applications were received. All applicants will be presented with certificates commemorating their achievement. Additional Scholar-Athlete information, including a complete list of scholarship nominees, can be found on the MHSAA Website.
The applications were judged by a 72-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 Feb. 9, Class B scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 16 and Class A scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 23. All announcements will be made on the MHSAA Website.
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 a 500-word essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.
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 1,500 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.
2020-21 Scholar-Athlete Award Finalists
GIRLS CLASS A
Sadie Freisthler, Ann Arbor Pioneer
Laura O'Brien, Ann Arbor Skyline
Audrey DaDamio, Birmingham Seaholm
Samantha Yamin, Bloomfield Hills
Emily Song, Canton
Sadie Gerlach, Dearborn Edsel Ford
Tatiana Mason, Grand Ledge
Catelyn Gagnier, Grosse Pointe North
Madeline Kohler, Grosse Pointe North
Alexa Downey, Grosse Pointe South
Kennedy Dumas, Holland West Ottawa
Alyssa M. Karner, Holland West Ottawa
Michaela Castle, Ionia
Jane C. Heystek, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix
Charity Dundas, Lapeer
Emma Muir, Lapeer
Addison Bruwer, Lowell
Grace Ann Whipple, Mason
Iris Hwang, Mount Pleasant
Zoe Ziegler, Okemos
Sarah Liederbach, Petoskey
Megan Lorenzo, Rochester
Regina Duerst, Saline
Katherine Potter, South Lyon
BOYS CLASS A
Michael Kim, Ann Arbor Huron
Charles Frank, Dearborn
Matthew Kozma, Detroit Catholic Central
Lawrence Gilliam, Detroit U-D Jesuit
Grant Uyl, DeWitt
Thomas MacDonald, Grand Haven
Michael MacDonald, Grand Haven
Jacob Harris, Grosse Pointe South
Kyle Hamlin, Hartland
Kameron Karp, Marquette
Chase R Mahabir, Midland
Caleb Qiu, Midland Dow
Daniel Forsythe, Mount Pleasant
Alex Mooney, Orchard Lake St. Mary's
Aidan Eichman, Portage Central
Jack Eiden, Portage Northern
Liam Smith, Rockford
Troy Pratley, St. Joseph
Brendan Evert, Sterling Heights
Ryan Royston, Traverse City Central
Drew Seabase, Traverse City Central
Ethan Vander Roest, Traverse City Central
Maxwell Werner, Traverse City Central
Jonathan Holland, Walled Lake Western
GIRLS CLASS B
Katie DeVlaminck, Buchanan
London Eldridge, Central Montcalm
Andrea Kowalski, Chelsea
Riley Schroeder, Clare
Bailey Taylor, Clare
Caitlin Mullen, Grand Rapids Catholic Central
Katelyn Moore, Grayling
Jordyn Disbrow, Kalkaska
Katie Acker, Lake Odessa Lakewood
Allison R. Hall, Montague
Kendall Mathis, Newaygo
Elena Schwegman, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
Rachel Joslyn, Saginaw Swan Valley
Haleigh Knowles, Sault Ste. Marie
Illyanna Marie Taylor, Three Rivers
Anna Gerardy, Yale
BOYS CLASS B
Dillon Dennison, Alma
Dhilan Nagaraju, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Ryan Tang, Detroit Country Day
Ryan Atkinson, Dundee
Brock Holek, Durand
Jackson Hoover, Edwardsburg
Wilson Bragg, Gladwin
Stuart Hamilton, Lansing Catholic
Drew Collins, Montague
Hudson Alexander Harkness, Newaygo
Cade M. Vota, Niles
Ian Burke, Ortonville Brandon
Nickolai J. Emde, Plainwell
Cole Bennett, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
Jack Parker, Spring Lake
Zachary Huitema, Tawas
GIRLS CLASS C
Makayla Harris, Ann Arbor Greenhills
Avery McNally, Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart
Meagan Lasky, Bronson
Hannah Penfold, Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker
Reese Martin, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett
Elizabeth M. Williams, Ishpeming Westwood
Kenzie Bowers, Kent City
Grace Graham, Laingsburg
Mahrle Siddall, Maple City Glen Lake
Hope Johnson, North Muskegon
Sophia Rayes, Oscoda
Grace Kalb, Petersburg Summerfield
BOYS CLASS C
Jameson Chesser, Adrian Lenawee Christian
Brennan Griffith, Adrian Lenawee Christian
Zachary Stephenson, Alcona
Finn Feldeisen, Ann Arbor Greenhills
Nicholas Errer, Bad Axe
Micah Gordon, Bad Axe
Braxton Lamey, Ithaca
Trayton Wenzlaff, Kingston
Caden Kienitz, Munising
Drew Kohlmann, New Lothrop
Jeffrey Vanholla, Norway
David Jahnke, Saginaw Valley Lutheran
GIRLS CLASS D
Aubrie Sparks, Boyne Falls
Molly Myllyoja, Dollar Bay
Elise Besonen, Ewen-Trout Creek
Kiera Welden, Hillsdale Academy
Mollie Zaleski, Kinde North Huron
Olivia Lowe, Leland
Sophia Stowe, Northport
Josephine Gusa, Ubly
BOYS CLASS D
Jacob M. Werner, Bay City All Saints
Connor LeClaire, Dollar Bay
Jack Kaplan, Dryden
Jäeger Griswold, Ellsworth
Quincy Thayer, Frankfort
Christian Gossage, Hillsdale Academy
Nicholas Treloar, Hillsdale Academy
Wyatt Sirrine, Leland