Finalists announced for 2006-07 Scholar-Athlete Award

Published 10:04 am Tuesday, January 30, 2007

By Staff
EAST LANSING – The 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Award for the 2006-07 school year have been announced.
Brandywine's Matthew Duckett is among the finalists in Class C. Dowagiac's Andrew Cuthbert is the only other area finalist.
The program, which has been recognizing student-athletes since the 1989-90 school year, will honor 32 individuals from MHSAA member schools who participate in at least one sport in which the Association sponsors a post-season tournament. Farm Bureau Insurance underwrites the Scholar-Athlete Award, and will present a $1,000 scholarship to each recipient. This year, 2,205 applications were received from 492 schools.
Every MHSAA member high school could submit as many applications as there are scholarships available in their classification, and could have more than one finalist. Thirteen schools had two or more finalists this year. Okemos has four finalists; while Ann Arbor Pioneer, Dearborn, Grand Ledge, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, Grosse Ile, Iron Mountain, Ludington, Mackinaw City, Pittsford, St. Johns, Standish-Sterling and Troy Athens each have two finalists.
Multiple-sport participation is again the norm for this year's applicants, and even more so for the finalists. The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 2.53, while the average of the application pool was 2.02. All of the 28 sports in which the MHSAA sponsors post-season tournaments are represented in the finalist field.
The applications were judged by an 82-member committee of school coaches, counselors, faculty members, administrators and board members from MHSAA member schools, from which the 120 finalists were selected. The selection of the 32 scholarship recipients will take place in early February. Class C and D scholarship recipients will be announced on Feb. 13; Class B scholarship recipients will be announced on Feb. 20; and Class A scholarship recipients will be announced on Feb. 27. All announcements will be made on the MHSAA Web Site.
To honor the 32 Scholar-Athlete Award recipients, a ceremony will take place during halftime of the Class C Boys Basketball Finals at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing on March 24.
To be eligible for the award, students must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 (on a 4.0 scale), and have previously won a varsity letter in at least one sport in which the MHSAA sponsors a post-season tournament. Students were also asked to respond to a series of short essay questions, submit two letters of recommendation and submit a 500-word essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.
2006-07 MHSAA Scholar-Athlete Award Finalists
Class A Girls
Jessica Konal, Berkley
Alina Gatowski, Birmingham Groves
Alessa Cekauskas, Birmingham Seaholm
Nicole Naidoo, Brighton
Chelsea Selden, Canton
Annie Hakim, Clinton Township Chippewa Valley
Kerry Brennan, Dearborn
Jennifer Pisani, Farmington Hills Mercy
Taylor Hicks, Fraser
Chelsea Read, Grand Ledge
Bianca Cilla, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central
Helena Herberg, Jackson Northwest
Kristin Kingma, Mattawan
Ankita Mohanty, Mt. Pleasant
Rachel Lebovic, North Farmington
Kimberly Rustem, Okemos
Rachel Rideout, Okemos
Chelsey Quinlan, Plymouth
Joanna Halls, Rochester Adams
Emily Martin, South Lyon
Margeaux Leighton, Temperance Bedford
Erica Olson, Traverse City West
Leslie Russell, Warren Cousino
Jennifer Hittle, White Lake Lakeland
Class A Boys
Bentley Goenka, Ann Arbor Pioneer
Will Heininger, Ann Arbor Pioneer
Cullen Salada, Battle Creek Lakeview
Joseph Jakcsy, Dearborn
David Galiyas, Detroit Catholic Central
Alexander Ralston, Fenton
Joshua Cupp, Fenton
Matthew Fitzgibbon, Garden City
Nicholas Ballou, Grand Ledge
Neil Delaney, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central
Jeffrey Koelzer, Grand Rapids Northview
Alexander Davenport, Grosse Pointe North
Alistair Smith, Kalamazoo Central
John Gundry, Lansing Waverly
Daniel Martin, Livonia Churchill
Luke Knochel, Livonia Stevenson
Anthony Schiro, Okemos
Seth Meyer, Okemos
Michael Harden, St. Johns
Tyler Dickenson, St. Johns
Charles Mouch, Troy Athens
Ryan Schell, Troy Athens
Zachary Ciochetto, Utica Ford
James Ciennik, Waterford Mott
Class B Girls
Alexandria Henry, Alma
Marissa Ash, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood
Larissa Kimmer, Durand
Hilary Braseth, East Grand Rapids
Allison Assaly, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Eastern
Shaziah Singh, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern
Abby Gaskell, Grand Rapids South
Christian
Emily Goyert, Grosse Ile
Jennifer Fuller, Hemlock
Katherine Lovinger, Hillsdale
Katelyn Preisel, Imlay City
Ashley Thoebald, Kingsford
Lisa Tobiczyk, Marysville
Christine Dempsey, Portland
Jane Sielski, Spring Lake
Katelyn Brundige, Vicksburg
Class B Boys
Shane Sinda, Capac
Andrew Cuthbert, Dowagiac
Bradford Witt, Flint Powers Catholic
Benjamin Williams, Freeland
Joseph Malone, Grosse Ile
Kurt Bjorkman, Kingsford
Darren Quillan, 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
Timothy Kramer, Wayland Union
Class C Girls
Ciera Stevick, Addison
Cecilia Kovach, Gobles
Hilary Beauchamp, Iron Mountain
Megan Boddy, Iron Mountain
Jessica Holmes, Leroy Pine River
Kayla Thompson, Marlette
Allyson Karaba, North Muskegon
Jenna Urban, Saginaw Nouvel
Alyse Gonzales, St. Charles
Tori Beattie, St. Louis
Shelby LaBuhn, Ubly
Katie Rayl, Unionville-Sebewaing
Class C Boys
Joshua Fracassi, Athens
Trent Herman, Bronson
Jacob Wimmer, Charlevoix
Ryan Klenke, Clare
Wesley Messing, Deckerville
Riley Ford, Harbor Springs
Ben Halbower, Holton
Joseph Holcomb, Homer
William Birch, Kalamazoo Hackett
Matthew Duckett, Niles Brandywine
Daniel Olsen, St. Ignace
Kristopher Marin, Suttons Bay
Class D Girls
Emily Feldhake, Cedarville
Sabrina Graham, Climax-Scotts
Samantha Danbert, Ellsworth
Brenda Sisung, Fowler
Kayla Horetski, Kinde-North Huron
Cassie Giacobassi, Litchfield
Elizabeth Sikkenga, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian
Kala Belson, Pittsford
Class D Boys
Ryan Boden, Adrian Lenawee Christian
Joseph Rexroat, Lake Leelanau St Mary
Chase Closs, Mackinaw City
Spencer McFarland, Mackinaw City
David Kilpela, Painesdale-Jeffers
Reggie Kehoe, Pittsford
Aaron Fletcher, Walkerville
Matthew Boersen, Wyoming Tri-unity Christian