By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
Dowagiac senior Andrew Cuthbert has been named a finalist for the Michigan High School Athletic Association 2006-07 Scholar-Athlete Award.
The finalists were released by the MHSAA on Monday.
Cuthbert, who earned Academic All-State honors in soccer this past fall, is a Class B boys selection.
Brandywine's Matt Duckett was a named a finalist in Class C.
Also selected in Class B were Shane Sinda, Capac; Bradford Witt, Flint Powers Catholic; Benjamin Williams, Freeland; Joseph Malone, Grosse Ile; Kurt Bjorkman, Kingsford; Daren Quillman, Ludington; Jason Thompson, Ludington; Adam DeWolf, Marshall; Jordan Schreuder, Otsego; Derek Welmers, Standish-Sterling; Kyle Schmidt, Standish-Sterling; Austin Brown, Sturgis; Tyler McCoy, Tawas Area; Thomas Brady, Three Rivers; and Timothy Kramer, Wayland Union.
A total of 120 finalists were selected by the MHSAA.
To be eligible for the award, a student must have a GPA of 3.50 or better and had previously won a varsity letter in at least one sport. They must also respond to a series of essay questions, have two letters of recommendation and write a 500-word essay.
The program, which recognizes student-athletes, was founded in 1989. A total of 32 students will be honored from MHSAA member schools, which compete in at least one post season tournament.
A total of 2,205 students applied this year for the $1,000 scholarships, which are underwritten by Farm Bureau Insurance.
The scholarships are disbursed proportionately by school classification. Class A will receive 12 scholarships, while Class B will award eight scholarships. Class C will receive six scholarships and Class D four scholarships.
Scholarships will be divided equally between male and female athletes in each class. Two at-large scholarships will be awarded from any classification.
Member schools are allowed to submit as many applications as their classification allows. In other words, Dowagiac was able to submit up to eight applications.
A total of 13 schools had more than one finalists this year. Okemos led the way with four finalists, while 12 other schools had two finalists.
According to the MHSAA, multi-sport participation was again popular among the applicants. In fact, the average was 2.53 among the finalists and 2.02 among all applicants.
The MHSAA also reports that all 28 sports in which it sponsors post-season tournaments are represented among its finalists.
A 82-member panel that consists of coaches, counselors, faculty members, administrators and board members selected the finalists.
The 32 scholarships will be selected in early February.
The Class C and D winners will be announced on Feb. 13, while the Class B winners will be announced on Feb. 20. The Class A winners will be announced on Feb. 27. The scholarship winners will be honored at halftime of the Class C basketball finals at the Breslin Center on the campus on Michigan State University on March 24.