And the 2015 BOTF Winner is ...
February 20, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Sydney Brooks always has taken pride in her town, even as classmates talked about how there was nothing to do in Dowagiac and how they couldn’t wait to leave when high school was done.
Turns out there’s a lot of fun to be had in her school’s corner of the southwestern Lower Peninsula, and it’s come full circle for the “Attack” – Dowagiac’s student section and this season’s MHSAA Battle of the Fans IV champion.
Dowagiac’s success was accomplished in steps – starting with the formation of the “Chieftain Heart” spirit club three years ago, then the establishment of a “Front Row Crew” last year to get the Attack in Battle of the Fans shape.
This winter, that heart beat stronger than ever, not just in the stands at high school basketball games, but throughout the entire community.
“Before, everybody thought we were just a normal small town. But when everybody comes together – from this whole experience, we’ve learned teamwork,” Brooks said. “The whole town learned to work together, become united. We learned how much it pays off to work together, how much hard work can pay off.
“We worked so hard, and the community worked so hard. We’ve accomplished so much. I’m so proud of Dowagiac.”
The Attack will accept its MHSAA championship banner during the 6 p.m. Class B Boys Basketball Semifinal on March 27 at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center. The other four finalists also will be invited to Breslin to receive rewards for this season’s achievement.
Dowagiac was chosen based on a vote by the MHSAA’s 16-member Student Advisory Council influenced by public vote on the MHSAA’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram sites. A total of 22,673 social media votes were received, with those results then equated against a school’s enrollment.
The Council based its vote on the following criteria: positive sportsmanship, student body participation, school spirit, originality of cheers, organization of the group, section leadership and overall fun.
Dowagiac and then Buchanan received the majority of public social media support, finishing among the top three in all four ways votes were accepted (Facebook likes and shares, Twitter re-tweets and Instagram likes). Some of the more interesting comments made on Second Half stories this week came from alumni of those schools, the oldest a graduate from 50 years ago.
Other numbers to consider from this season's contest: The application videos have been watched nearly 28,000 times, and the MHSAA-produced videos from our tour stops have more than 8,600 views. The stories on the five finalists plus Tuesday’s explanation of how to vote had been viewed 19,078 times as of 8:30 this morning.
This has been one of the coldest winters we can remember, but our Battle of the Fans finalists gave us warm welcomes the last five Friday nights. Here’s what we’ll remember most about each:
Showtime Award: Beaverton
What we saw: The reigning champion hosted the first stop on this season’s finalists tour and reminded us why it won BOTF III with a packed gym and an almost identical group of student leaders who keyed the section’s rise in 2013-14. The Bleacher Creatures put their focus this winter on adding more fun to breaks in play, and had something entertaining lined up for every timeout. Tradition runs deep for a student section that got its start in 1979, and the Creatures supply plenty of fun for the rest of the fans in addition to support for a pair of varsity basketball teams that are a combined 39-2.
Why we’re fans: Starting with the “Beaver Slide,” through the “Parting of the Red Sea” and a dunk into a mini hoop over 6-foot-8 athletic director Ryan Roberts, the Creatures always gave us something to watch. They do their part by amping up the party in the stands to go with the strong basketball being played on the floor. They’ve mastered the ability to bring together an entire student body and continue to set an example for creativity – their ideas no doubt will be picked up by other sections heading into 2015-16 and beyond.
Leave a Legacy Award: Buchanan
What we saw: The Herd made its third straight BOTF Finals and continues to be held in highest regard all over this state – and in some cases, by schools outside Michigan that have learned of Buchanan’s success in rallying students all the way to its elementary buildings. “The Woods” once again was filled for our visit, with students doing what has drawn admiration these last few years – cheering hard for their classmates on the floor and having a blast during breaks. The halftime rendition of “High School Musical” is an all-time highlight of the contest’s four-year history.
Why we’re fans: What more can be said? No section in Michigan has served as a stronger ambassador for how a strong student section can change the culture of not just a school, but an entire community. No other section in Michigan is referred to as often by schools trying to create the same. We see Buchanan’s influences on schools not only from their southwest corner, but all over the state. The Herd may not have won BOTF for a second time in three years, but Buchanan certainly has made its mark, again – and created something we hope continues for years to come.
Guts for Glory Award: St. Johns
What we saw: A new way for this school’s enthusiastic students to support their teams – and positive energy that’s just starting to boil. St. Johns was our largest finalist this season, and represented as such filling a corner of its gym to the top row for the 6 p.m. boys game and with most of the students staying for the start of the girls game played after. Despite a 12-point loss by the boys team, St. Johns fans stayed engaged throughout, with help from the band, cheerleaders and dance team – and showed us a few things we hadn’t seen before, including a nice take on the sport of curling and a full student body domino fall that started at center court.
Why we’re fans: We’ve heard a lot of transformation stories over the last four years, but St. Johns’ student leaders have had one of the tougher goes since forming their Student Athletic Leadership Committee three years ago. Athletic directors can take a lot of steps to get the ball rolling – and in this case, Chris Ervin sent leaders to the last two MHSAA Sportsmanship Summits and provided plenty of support. But the battle for a strong student cheering section is often won in a school’s hallways, where leaders must convince their classmates to buy in. St. Johns’ leaders considered giving up before a breakthrough this winter – and we’re glad they kept up the good fight.
Bring the Noise Award: Yale
What we saw: It’s more what we heard – a collective roar so loud it left a noticeable fuzziness in our ears when the game was done. More than 400 students whipped a quarter of Yale’s gym into a game-long frenzy that no doubt would make playing in front of Kohler’s Krazies (named in honor of boys basketball coach Garnett Kohler) a tougher task than merely trying to stand up to a team that is 15-1 this season. The Krazies added in some nice backflips and a superintendent-led roller coaster during breaks in play – but those and other sideshows were merely to keep the crowd’s attention and not meant to become the main event.
Why we’re fans: The sheer power of this section knocked us back – in a good way. The first fans for a varsity doubleheader began showing at 4:30 p.m. for a 6 p.m. opening tip, and that’s the kind of passion we’ll always cheer on. But the best part was learning how the Krazies, over only a few months this winter, have turned their student body into a tighter-knit community, and then extended that effort to the community of Yale as a whole by incorporating adults into their cheers and raising money to help out a few of the town’s less fortunate.
Battle of the Fans champion: Dowagiac
What we saw: Wow. The vision of hundreds of orange-clad Dowagiac fans bouncing back and forth as the school’s flag was waved is something we won’t forget. The Attack wore shirts printed with “Dowagiac United,” and there’s little that’s more impressive than watching a large group of fans organized and following its leaders en masse – while adding a ton to an already intense game atmosphere. Like BOTF’s champions past, Dowagiac’s section just looks like the fun place to be. The teachers are involved. The band is involved. The elementary schools made videos to join in the fun. The city office made a video showing its support. The Attack is certainly catchy – and we’ve bought in as well.
Why we’re fans: We appreciate how much work has been done to build school spirit over the last three years, and could feel the buzz immediately after walking in the front door. Dowagiac’s student leaders have been pounding on the door, figuratively speaking, and the student section this year is proof they finally pushed through. The sea of orange shirts was not an optical illusion Friday; the gym was filled to its 1,100 fan capacity, with the band and adults across from the students helping to form a blanket of “Dowagiac United” at the doors. And again, that’s not just a slogan; students from the “Front Row Crew” all the way to the top of the stands stayed engaged despite their team getting up by a big margin early, were impressively together on whatever chants the leaders started, and were joined by many of the adults as they enjoyed a booming soundtrack from the band and English teacher Dustin Cornelius, the Attack advisor and also game deejay. Students may have complained a few years ago about having nothing in town to do; now they’ve got plenty of opportunities, along with the rest of their community, to join in something special.
“It was never true that there is nothing to do in Dowagiac. People just didn’t believe there was, and didn’t want to believe there was,” Brooks said. “Now everybody knows there is something to do. We are a great town, and people care a lot about them in this town."
What we found in Dowagiac is what all of our BOTF champions have had in common: All four created atmospheres that anyone entering the gym would want to join.
In fact, that can be said about all five of this season’s BOTF finalists – and once again, clips from all five MHSAA tour stops will be shown on the main scoreboard during the Girls and Boys Basketball Finals in March at the Breslin Center.
We continue to cheer on these students sections as we learn how much their work has helped other schools transform not just their bleachers, but life in the hallways as well. During each of the last three Battles of the Fans, we’ve heard of how new sections learned from those that have competed before them, either at Sportsmanship Summits or by watching the videos from the first years of the contest. Buchanan and Beaverton can both enjoy assists on Dowagiac’s championship this winter – the Attack certainly gained input from their regional neighbor’s example, and leaders showed last year’s Beaverton video to the entire student body when getting this season’s section of the ground.
But in the end, Dowagiac’s leaders still had to take everything they’d learned not just from others but from their own experiences of trial and error to arrive at this point. This Battle of the Fans championship is one reward – but only a highlight from what an entire community can take pride in every game night.
Battle of the Fans IV is sponsored in part by Milk Means More.
Click to check out our stories and videos behind the finalists. Also, click to see student-produced videos from all sections that entered the contest. (Photo courtesy of Scott Rose.)
Scholars & Athletes 2017: Class C, D
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 6, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Michigan High School Athletic Association has selected 10 student-athletes from Class C and D 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 C Scholar-Athlete Award honorees are: Hope Baldwin, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep; Clark Brady, Bad Axe; Tyler Brant, Watervliet; Jacob Shoop, Scottville Mason County Central; Khora Swanson, Ishpeming; and Madeline Wu, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett.
The Class D Scholar-Athlete Award recipients are: Grace Alvesteffer, Pentwater; Mary Leighton, Mendon; Elijah Newton, Central Lake; and Seth Polfus, Powers North Central.
Overviews of the scholarship recipients of the Class C Scholar-Athlete Award follow. A quote from each recipient's essay also is included:
Hope Baldwin, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep
Played two years of varsity volleyball, three of basketball and will play her fourth of soccer this spring. Served as captain of her varsity volleyball and basketball teams and has earned some level of all-conference recognition in all three sports. Served as president of her junior class and is serving as vice president of the student body this school year; also serving as vice president of her National Honor Society chapter. Earned outstanding achievement awards in science, literature, math and Spanish at her school and National Spanish Exam honorifica three years. Also participated in Student Athletic Advisory Board three years and Student Leadership team the last two, as part of her school’s Respect Life Club and migrant ministry both for four years, and has logged more than 220 volunteer hours assisting a number of causes and projects. Will attend either University of Notre Dame or University of Michigan and study neuroscience or biology.
Essay Quote: “Of course everyone wishes to beat their rivals, but this desire to win should not negatively impact someone’s behavior – because athletics aim to build character, not to diminish it. … When athletes are able to put the importance of winning in perspective, it makes it clear how much more valuable the actual experience of competing is than the outcome.”
Khora Swanson, Ishpeming
Ran four seasons of varsity cross country and will run her fourth this spring of track & field; also played three seasons of varsity basketball. Became the first girl at her school to win an individual MHSAA Finals championship in cross country, taking first in Upper Peninsula Division 2 in 2015, and helped the Hematites to three team titles. Also has won six individual MHSAA Finals track championships and helped her team to two titles in that sport, and earned all-league and all-Upper Peninsula recognition in basketball. Served as captain of all three teams at least two seasons. Carries a 4.0 grade-point average and also participates in her school’s select chorus. Is serving her second year as student body vice president, youth advisory council president and key club secretary, and has volunteered both as a peer-to-peer and Special Olympics mentor. Will attend either Northern Michigan University or St. Norbert College (Wis.) and study education.
Essay Quote: “Choosing to exemplify outstanding sportsmanship will transfer to daily life as well as future life, when playing sports may not be routine anymore. … Learning the importance of a great attitude at a young age just may be the key to keeping competition healthy at all ages.”
Madeline Wu, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett
Ran four seasons of varsity cross country and will play her fourth season this spring of varsity soccer. Served as cross country captain in the fall and will serve as soccer captain this spring. Helped both teams to league and Regional titles and last year’s soccer team to the MHSAA Division 4 Final championship. Earned all-state recognition in soccer twice and made the MHSAA Finals in cross country all four seasons. Carries a 4.1 grade-point average and was a National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalist as a junior. Has participated in theater and acapella group all four years of high school and received numerous awards and ratings for piano; served as student music director for her theater troupe and acapella group leader the last two years. Also has served four years as a student commissioner and set a school record fundraising for the American Cancer Society’s Relay of Life. Will attend Princeton University and study educational policy.
Essay Quote: “My coaches have acted as role models for me, and I am now a role model for my fellow student athletes. Through practicing good sportsmanship, my team and I have become ambassadors that represent my school and the sport of cross country.”
Clark Brady, Bad Axe
Played three seasons of varsity football and basketball and will play his third of baseball this spring; also ran track as a freshman. Earned all-conference recognition in baseball and academic all-state also in that sport, and academic all-conference in basketball. Helped basketball team to league and District championships and baseball to a District title as well. During four years in student government has served as class president three years, fundraising president two years and student council president two years, and also serves as National Honor Society chapter secretary. Has received multiple academic awards, including the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists Award of Excellence. Served two years on Huron County Community Foundation Youth Advisory Council. Volunteered as tutor/mentor and church acolyte, and has served as a referee and umpire during all four years of high school. Will attend Oakland University and study pre-medicine.
Essay Quote: “I believe it is the job of us, the athletes, to be the example for future athletes by showing good sportsmanship so they too understand that by doing so they are building themselves to have good character. … If this lesson can be taught, athletes will look at sportsmanship as more of a great quality rather than being ‘overrated.’”
Tyler Brant, Watervliet
Played two seasons of varsity football and basketball and will play his third season of varsity baseball this spring. Set multiple school receiving records in earning all-state recognition in football and also has earned all-conference and academic all-state in baseball. Served as captain of all three teams. Is serving his second term as class co-president and also has served as class vice president. Participated on Watervliet’s leadership council for three years and is in his third of National Honor Society. Also is participating in his second year in the Whirlpool Engineering Apprenticeship Program and has led various group projects as part of that effort; earned a third place at the Michigan Industrial and Technology Education Society state competition in 2015. Will attend Trine University and study business administration.
Essay Quote: “The value I place on sportsmanship cannot be pinpointed to one specific person or game, but rather to a culmination of every practice and game experience throughout my life. I have been fortunate to have had numerous coaches who have always placed the qualities of sportsmanship – fairness, hard work and handing every situation with dignity – above winning or losing.”
Jacob Shoop, Scottville Mason County Central
Ran four seasons of varsity cross country and will participate in fourth of track & field, and also competed in four seasons of varsity wrestling. Qualified for MHSAA Finals in cross country and wrestling four times and won a Division 3 individual wrestling title as a senior; also had earned all-conference honors seven times over his three sports entering this winter and academic all-conference seven times as well. Served as captain of both the cross country and wrestling teams. Serves as an officer in the FreeSoil Friendly Farmers 4-H Club and also participates in National Honor Society. Has earned multiple academic awards and also multiple awards for showing animals; has taught area youth how to show animals as part of 4-H and students how to wrestle and referee the sport as a team leader for Mason County Central recreation wrestling. Will attend Grand View University (Iowa) and study either nursing or pre-chiropractic.
Essay Quote: “Scholar-athletes take the higher ground in all cases, whether academic or athletic, always looking for the best possible scenario for all involved. Sometimes it takes a lot of guidance before you reach the higher ground. … Everyone around me has been teaching me good sportsmanship since the day I started athletics.”
Other Class C girls finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were: Kelsey Wyman, Blissfield; Quinn Epkey, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep; Keilene Renae Elmer, Lincoln Alcona; Bailey Downs, Munising; Maysa Sitar, Newberry; Mary Hoopes, North Muskegon; Brenna Wirth, Pewamo-Westphalia; Sidney Linck, Ravenna; and Madison Bryce, St. Charles.
Other Class C boys finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were: Spencer Fisher, Blissfield; Jonathan Lutchka, Grass Lake; Sam Bailey, Harbor Springs; Ashok Ravindran, Ishpeming; Joseph Rigling, Leroy Pine River; Alexander Dixon, Madison Heights Bishop Foley Catholic; Bryce J Thelen, Pewamo-Westphalia; Nicholas Hammond, Riverview Gabriel Richard; and Cameron Rendo, Watervliet.
Overviews of the scholarship recipients of the Class D Scholar-Athlete Award follow. A quote from each recipient's essay also is included:
Grace Alvesteffer, Pentwater
Played two seasons of varsity volleyball, three of varsity basketball and will participate in a third season of varsity track & field this spring; she’s also cheerleading this winter and intends to play softball in the spring. Advanced to MHSAA Finals two seasons for shot put and earned all-conference honors twice in that event and once in discus. Served as basketball team captain and is currently her school’s student council president. Participating in third year of National Honor Society and third with The Oceana Prevention Partnership for Change, and is co-founder and president of Oceana County’s 4-H Teen Leadership & Fun Finders Club. Earned 4-H and county medals for community service, civic involvement and teen leadership and also has participated in a variety of volunteer efforts. Will attend West Shore Community College and then Ferris State University to study pre-mortuary science.
Essay Quote: “My time on the bench gave me a new perspective, and I realized that true team spirit and sportsmanship are demonstrated by the athlete who never sees a minute of playing time yet is faithfully there to support her teammates in practice, games, class and wherever needed.”
Mary Leighton, Mendon
Ran four years of varsity cross country, will run her fourth of track & field this spring and also played two full seasons of varsity basketball after moving up as a sophomore. Won the 100-meter hurdles and set the meet record in that event at last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals. Also earned all-state in the 300 hurdles and cross country and all-conference in all three sports. Served as team captain for varsity and junior varsity basketball teams. Serving as a class officer and member of student senate both for the fourth year and is participating in her second of National Honor Society, with leadership positions in both student government and NHS. Attended classes as a dual enrollee at Glen Oaks Community College for two years, making president’s honor roll both years; also has earned academic all-state in cross country and basketball. Will attend Indiana Institute of Technology and study either mechanical or chemical engineering.
Essay Quote: “Sportsmanship taught me that if I win, I should win humbly. And if I lose, I should do so gracefully. With this attitude, I can live life successfully and accept the results of life and move on to improve them.”
Elijah Newton, Central Lake
Played three seasons of varsity football and basketball and will play his fourth of varsity baseball, earning all-conference honors in football three seasons and basketball once. Served or will serve as team captain of all three teams as a junior and senior. Serving as student body and National Honor Society president as a senior and was class president as a freshman, sophomore and junior. Has participated for three years on quiz bowl and his school’s first robotics teams. Volunteered for four years for Big Brothers Big Sisters and Central Lake Pop Warner football and this year coordinated an American Red Cross blood drive. Earned Charlevoix-Emmet Drafting & Design Technology Award and Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizens Award. Will attend Michigan Technological University and study mechanical engineering.
Essay Quote: “Good play, coupled with great sportsmanship, is the true definition of a winner. However, when it’s all over and the bleachers have cleared, the ability to deal with the most difficult losses in a classy manner is far more important than any championship trophy.”
Seth Polfus, Powers North Central
Ran four years of varsity cross country, will play his fourth of baseball and is in his second season on the boys basketball team; also played varsity golf and participated in track & field as a freshman. Has contributed to MHSAA Finals champions in cross country and basketball. Earned cross country all-state honors three seasons and was his league’s individual champion in the fall; earned academic all-state as a junior. Served as team captain for cross country all four years and two years for his junior varsity basketball team. Serving his fourth year as class president and second as president of his school’s National Honor Society chapter, and was an American Legion Boys State representative as a junior. Participated in key club, quiz bowl and yearbook all for four years. Earned SAT national achievement award. Organized local 5K run/walk to raise cancer awareness. Will attend University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and major in exercise science with a minor in photography.
Essay Quote: “When a team has sportsmanship, (athletes) are learning more than just the athletic value of sports. They are learning a lesson about life. They are learning that one should treat others how one would want to be treated.”
Other Class D girls finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were: Rachel Hiveley, Au Gres-Sims; Allyson Richards, Fruitport Calvary Christian; Alexa Destrampe, Lake Linden-Hubbell; Jade Sibley, Marcellus; Alexis McConnell, Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart; and Rhiley Hubert, Rapid River.
Other Class D boys finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were: Jacob Single, Adrian Lenawee Christian; Jacob Martin, Athens; Richard Steffan, Auburn Hills Oakland Christian; Jace Feldpausch, Fowler; Brian A Price, Mio; and Nicholas Morgenstern, Muskegon Catholic Central.
The Class B scholarship award recipients will be announced Feb. 14, and the Class A honorees will be announced Feb. 21.
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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.