Rochester Senior Abby Rawling Honored as MHSAA Scholar-Athlete

Abigail Rawling, a senior, is among 13 student athletes from Class A schools in Michigan to receive a $1,000 scholarship from the Michigan High School Athletic Association.

Rawling will play her third season of varsity soccer this spring and also played two varsity seasons of basketball and two sub-varsity seasons of volleyball.

She was selected as captain of the basketball and soccer teams and made her league’s scholar athlete list each of her varsity seasons.

Rawling is also a three-year member of the National Honor Society and has earned her school’s perfect attendance award, as well as honors in pre-calculus and German.

She tutors at-risk students and mentors freshmen; she will attend Michigan State University’s Eli Broad School of Business, where she plans to major in accounting with a minor in sociology.

“The lessons of self-control and courtesy, even when angry or frustrated, develop the skills to become a person of character," wrote Rawling in her application essay. "The simple things, like a handshake or a verbal ‘good job’ allow opponents and teammates to respect the effort put forth by both sides.

"The same thing is true everywhere, including school or work. The lessons of good sportsmanship are meant to be carried on into life beyond athletics.”

Other Class A girls finalists for the Scholar-Athlete Award were: Maria Lepore of Rochester High and Alexa Giovanatti, Hannah Lee and Alex Taylor of

Abigail Rawling (second from left) of Rochester High School and Dana Schrauben (second from right) of Lake Orion High School were honored as recipients of Michigan High School Athletic Association Scholar-Athlete Awards at the 2012 MHSAA Boys Basketball Finals at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing on March 24.  Shown with them are: (far left) Jim Robinson, executive vice-president of Farm Bureau Insurance; and  John E. "Jack" Roberts, executive director of the MHSAA. Rawling and Schrauben each will receive a $1,000 scholarship from Farm Bureau Insurance to be used at the institution of higher learning they attend this fall. Farm Bureau Insurance awarded 32 scholarships, proportionately by school classification to students with a 3.50 or higher (on a 4.0 scale) grade point average who have previously lettered in at least one sport in which postseason competition is sponsored by the MHSAA. (Photos by Terry McNamara. Individual photos also are attached.)            

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,600 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition.  No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools.  Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract approximately 1.6 million spectators each year.