EAST LANSING — Seven students from local Catholic or CHSL-affiliated high schools are among 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Awards for the 2019-20 school year, presented by Farm Bureau Insurance.
The boys finalists include DJ Dixon, Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice; Jack Fairman, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood; and Caleb White, Novi Detroit Catholic Central.
The girls finalists are Eleanor Kwartowitz, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood; Kayla Moore, Madison Heights Bishop Foley; Katherine Topoleski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep; and Grace Tylutki, Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central.
The program, in its 31st 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 MHSAA sponsors a postseason tournament.
Selection of the 32 scholarship recipients will take place in early February.
Farm Bureau Insurance underwrites the Scholar-Athlete Awards and will present a $1,000 scholarship to each recipient at a ceremony during halftime of the MHSAA Division 3 boys basketball final, March 28, at the Michigan State University Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.
Since the beginning of the program, 800 scholarships have been awarded.
Some 424 schools submitted 1,493 applications. The applications were judged by a 66-member committee of school coaches, counselors, faculty members, administrators and board members from MHSAA member schools.
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.
Multiple-sport participation remains the norm among applicants. The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 2.5. There are 86 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.
Some information courtesy of the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
