LANSING – Whiteford senior Ryin Ruddy has been selected for the Michigan High School Athletic Association/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Ahlete scholarship.

Ruddy, who has committed to play college football at Hillsdale College, was one of the 10 recipients announced today by the MHSAA.

Students applying for the Scholar-Athlete Award must be carrying at least a 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale) grade-point average and have previously won a letter in a varsity sport in which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors a postseason tournament. Other requirements for the applicants were to show active participation in other school and community activities and produce an essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.

Ruddy played four seasons of varsity football and is currently playing his third season of varsity basketball. He intends to play both track and field and baseball in the spring.

A two-time football All-State recipient, he played on the 2022 Division 8 state champion football team. In track and field last year he earned all-state honors in four events.

In addition, he was academic all-state in football and track also league scholar athlete honors in all four sports, and was named a National Football Foundation scholar athlete. Served as football team captain. Serving fourth year on student council and participating in second year of National Honor Society. Has participated throughout high school in FFA (Future Farmers of America) and Compelled Youth, and also will participate in spring musical for fourth time. At Hillsdale College he plans to study biochemistry.

From his essay on sportsmanship:

“Sportsmanship is about exercising self-control. This includes curbing emotions, controlling one’s tongue, and keeping negative body language in check. Sportsmanship is obviously about saying ‘good game,’ but it is also about respecting yourself, regimenting your life, and having the self-discipline to put yourself into a position to succeed in everything you do. Even when a loss is inevitable, great sportsmanship is about being genuinely happy when someone else succeeds, looking a competitor in the eye and congratulating them on a job well done.”

Farm Bureau Insurance, in its 35^th year of sponsoring the award, will give $2,000 college scholarships to 32 individuals who represent their member schools in at least one sport in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament. The first 30 scholarships are awarded proportionately by school classification and the number of student-athletes involved in those classes; also, there are two at-large honorees who can come from any classification.

The scholarship recipients will be recognized March 16 during the MHSAA Boys Basketball Finals at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.