Students Named Finalists for 2012 Scholar Athlete Award

The 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Award for the 2011-12 school year have been announced, and has two students on the list.

Both Garret Zuk and Brendon Clover made the cut Tuesday when the MHSAA made the announcement.

According to the organization, 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 postseason tournament. Farm Bureau Insurance underwrites the Scholar-Athlete Award, and will present a $1,000 scholarship to each recipient. Since the beginning of the program, 544 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. Lakeland is classified as a Class A school.

"Multiple-sport participation remains the norm among applicants," The MHSAA stated in a press release. "The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 2.58, while the average of the application pool was 2.13 – both within a tenth of last year’s rates in those categories."

The applications were judged by a 62-member committee of school coaches, counselors, faculty members, administrators and board members from MHSAA member schools, according to the release.

Class A scholarship recipients will be announced on February 21. 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 Final, March 24 at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.

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 submit a 500-word essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.