Two Lakeland Students Named Michigan Scholar-Athlete Winners

The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) announced the Class A winners of their scholarship-athlete awards Tuesday and Lakeland's two finalists, Brendon Clover and Garret Zuk were amongst the 32 winners.

It's an honor Lakeland Student Activities Director Scott Rolando said the district is proud of. In his latest Lakeland update Rolando wrote, "It is very rare that a school has two students nominated, and even more rare that a school has two winners. Congrats to Garret and Brendon from all of us here at Lakeland High School."

Both Zuk and Clover will receive a $1,000 college scholarship from Farm Bureau Insurance during a halftime ceremony at the Class C Boys Basketball Final game March 24 at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.

Clover, according to the release from MHSAA, is finishing his fourth season of varsity skiing and also competed in varsity cross country for four seasons and varsity track and field for two. He was recently named all-region for skiing and has served as team captain while also winning the Eagle of the Year award as his program’s most complete athlete.

In addition to athletics, Clover has attained the rank of Eagle Scout and is a member of the Order of the Arrow scouting honor society and a senior leader within his troop. He was named AP Scholar with honors and won the Lawrence Technological Award for excellence in science and math. Clover also participates in community and church volunteer efforts.

In the essay he wrote to win the MHSAA award, Clover stated, "Athletes are a unique breed of people, one whose determination and dedication are unmatched by any other group. We are loyal to ourselves, our teams, our friends, family and even our fiercest opponents. … Sportsmanship is the glue which holds athletes together as a community, and this is its most important function: to connect and encourage connection, between athletes of today, tomorrow and forever."

Zuk, according to the release, finished his fourth season of varsity cross country this fall by winning the MHSAA Division 1 Final, and has run varsity track and field since his freshman year of high school. He was named all-state in two events in track last spring and was a Regional champion, serving as team captain in both track and cross country.

Like Clover, Zuk is also involved in the Boy Scouts where he has achieved Life Rank. He is working toward becoming an Eagle Scout, and is a member of his school’s National Honor Society. Zuk also serves as his class’ student government secretary, and is a two-time state finalist as part of Lakeland’s Future Problem Solvers team.

In his winning essay on sportsmanship Zuk wrote, "The one thing that my coach preached to my cross country team this entire year, from the beginning of June until the beginning of November, was to be a class act. Whether we won, lost, tied or ended up anywhere in the middle, we were going to leave the course with our heads held high after making a good impression to all that were there."