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SPORT

Academy Awards

Big Benefactors

JAMD announces sports honors
for 2005-2006.

U-M recognizes $1 million-plus
donors at posh dinner event.

Ann Arbor

Steve Stein
Special to the Jewish News

unior Noah Curhan and
sophomore Liz Traison
were named the Jewish
Academy of Metropolitan Detroit's
Athletes of the Year. Both play three
sports. For Curhan, it's basketball, soc-
cer and tennis. Traison plays basket-
ball, soccer and volleyball.
Junior Judy
Margolin
and sopho-
more Max
Eisenberg
are the Jewish
Academy's
Scholar-
Athletes of the
Year, and fresh-
Curhan
men Jessica
Curhan,
Jason Dovitz and Kendall
Maxbauer received the Athletic
Director's Awards. These awards are
given to freshmen or sophomores who
contribute to the success of the Jewish
Academy's athletic program.
Here are the honors for each
Academy sports team. The Most
Valuable Player
is listed first,
followed by the
Coach's Award
winner:
Boys teams
— base-
ball: Adam
Horwitz,
Michael
Traison
Goss; bas-
ketball: Levi
Stewart, Aaron Goss; junior
varsity basketball: Josh Chomet,
Jason Dovitz and Max Eisenberg;
cross country: Adam Baruch,
Adam Luger; golf: Alex Orman,
Josh Jacobson; soccer: Brandon
Borovoy, Coby Vardy; tennis:
Ryan Landau, Brandon Kappy.
Girls teams — basketball: Liz
Traison, Teddie Olender; cross
country: Sarah Baruch, Lauren
Kepes; soccer: Augusta Morrison,
Teddie Olender; tennis: Jenny
Beitner, Kelli Rosen; volleyball:
Maddie Weisberg, Liz Traison.

j

36

July 6 * 2006

iN

"Each coach determines the criteria
for his or her Coach's Award," said
Jewish Academy Athletic Director
Michael Sandweiss. "It could be
a Mr. Hustle-type honor or most
improved:'
Sandweiss named Kappy his Coach's
Award winner in boys tennis. Even
though Kappy didn't have a sparkling
record at No. 1 singles, he played with
determination and persistence against
every opponent's top player.

Softball Jam
There was a logjam at the top of
the most recent B'nai B'rith softball
standings, as of June 25. Leadership
I, Pisgah II and Zeiger were tied for
first place with 6-2 records, while
Brotherhood II and Impact II were
right behind the trio at 5-3.
The leaders were followed by Zager
Stone (3-4-1), Brotherhood I and
Pisgah I (3-5), Impact (1-6-1) and
Leadership II (1-7). The top six finish-
ers in the 10-team league will earn
playoff spots if they meet additional
qualifying standards.
League doubleheaders are played
each Sunday at Drake Community
Sports Park in West Bloomfield. The
champion will be crowned in mid-
August.

Little Ben
Ben Braun has guided the University
of California basketball team to six
20-win seasons since he became
coach in 1996. The Bears' 20-11
record, third place Pac-10 finish and
NCAA tournament appearance last
winter earned Braun a two-year con-
tract extension through 2011.
Braun is 186-121 in 10 seasons at
Cal. His team has played in the NCAA
tournament five times.
Before heading West, Braun coached
at Eastern Michigan University and
Siena Heights College. He's won 519
games in 29 seasons as a college
coach, ranking him 11th nationally
among active coaches. 111

T

he University
of Michigan
put on the
Ritz to honor its
summa cum laude
donors — Metro
Detroit families and
individuals who
have given $1 mil-
lion or more in their
lifetime. More than
200 people gathered at the Ritz Carlton
in Dearborn on June 6 for a special
donor recognition dinner and recep-
tion. Dozens of the honorees were from
Detroit's Jewish community.
"As far as the Jewish community is
concerned, there is a real culture of
philanthropy and there's a real respect
for higher education," said
Judy Malcomb, U-M's direc-
tor of communications. .
"The Jewish community is
incredibly generous."
The millions of dollars
given to the university help
fund research, buildings, •
student scholarships and
educational programs,
including many with Jewish
themes. Jean and Samuel
Frankel of Bloomfield Hills created a
center for Judaic studies in their name
along with the Frankel Institute for
Advanced Judaic Studies. Their gift,
establishing the Institute, was the larg-
est contribution ever for Judaic studies
at any university. Marla and Henry
Dorfman of Franklin funded the
UM-Dearborn's Voice/Vision Holocaust
Survivor Oral History Archive through
their family foundation.
"I am proud that the greater Detroit
area has more donors who have made
gifts of $1 million or
more than any region
in the country': said
Joel Tauber of West
Bloomfield. He chaired
the event and was also
honored, along with
his wife, Shelley.

Please send sports news to

Catherine and Fred Yaffe

sports@thejewishnews.com .

of Bloomfield Hills with

Susan Rogel of Avon,

Colo., originally from

Bloomfield Hills

Joel and Shelley Tauber with

Eleanor and Larry Jackier, all

of Bloomfield Hills

U-M's President Mary Sue Coleman
hosted the dinner and expressed her
gratitude. Several regents, deans and
faculty members also attended.
"These donors are making a huge
difference at the university and signifi-
cant things are happening
because of their involve-
ment," said Malcomb. "We're
very grateful."
Among the Jewish donors
honored at the Ritz were:
William Davidson, Jean
and Samuel Frankel,
Judy and Stanley
Frankel, Charlene and
David Handleman,
Maxine and Stuart
Frankel, Lois and Avern Cohn,
Judith and A. Alfred Taubman,
Marcia and Eugene Applebaum,
Edie and Donn Resnick, and
Catherine and Fred Yaffe, all of
Bloomfield Hills; Cis Maisel
Kellman of Southfield; the Marjorie
and Max Fisher family of Franklin;
the Doreen and David Hermelin
Family Foundation of Bingham Farms;
Judy and Mark Kahn of Encino,
Calif.; and Susan and Rich Rogel of
Avon, Colo. '.11,