34 | AUGUST 20 • 2020 

sports HIGHlights

NMLS#2289
brought to you in partnership with 

T

hey’
re outstanding 
athletes and good 
students.
They’
re the Jewish News High 
School Athletes of the Year and 
Dr. Steve and Evelyn Rosen 
Stars of Tomorrow Scholarship 
recipients for 2020.
Ben Rosenblatt, Jenna 
Silverman, Olivia Warren and 
Andie Wolfe are the Athletes 
of the Year. Mitch Blackman, 
Will Bloomberg, Noa 
Green, Hannah Resnick and 
Rosenblatt are the recipients 
of $1,500 Stars of Tomorrow 
scholarships.
They were chosen from 
applications submitted to 

selection committees in a 
process organized by the 
Michigan Jewish Sports 
Foundatio.
“This is a really good crop 
of Athletes of the Year,” said 
committee member Harry 
Glanz.
Indeed they are. They 
checked off all the boxes of 
athletic accomplishments and 
longevity, importance to their 
teams and playing sports in 
college.
The Stars of Tomorrow 
scholarships were funded 
originally by a donation made 
in honor of Steve Rosen, a 
Michigan Jewish Sports Hall 

of Fame member who died in 
2016.
The oldest of five children, 
Rosen excelled in track and 
field at Mount Clemens High 
School and the University 
of Michigan and eventually 
became a radiologist.
“But Steve always felt he 
could have been a better athlete 
and a better student if he didn’
t 
have to work while he was in 
school,” Evelyn Rosen said 
about her husband. “What 
we’
re trying to do with these 
scholarships is help Jewish 
athletes focus on their sports 
and academics.”
Let’
s meet the Athletes of the 
Year and Stars of Tomorrow 
scholarship winners:

ATHLETES OF THE YEAR

Name: Ben 
Rosenblatt
High school:
Berkley
High school 
sports resume:
He played boys soccer only as 
a sophomore and was one of 

just four sophomores to earn 
All-State honorable mention 
recognition that season.
College: Elon University (will 
play soccer).
Best memory from high 
school sports: “I’
ll most 
remember the friendships I 
made. My one season of high 
school soccer allowed me to 
become friends with kids I 
never would have known if I 
hadn’
t played.”
Life lesson learned from high 
school sports: “It’
s important 
to be responsible and loyal to 
the ones you’
re closest to.”

Name: Jenna 
Silverman
High school:
Bloomfield Hills
High school 
sports resume: A 
four-year member of the girls 
tennis team, she won the No. 
4 singles state championship 
in Division 1 as a sophomore. 
She was a Division 1 state 
semifinalist in No. 4 singles as 
a freshman and a Division 1 

It’
s been a busy summer of baseball for Ben 
Chosid.
The Kalamazoo College junior from Ann 
Arbor has been playing in the three-team 
South Division in the Michigan pod of the 
Northwoods League, a prestigious summer 
league for college baseball players.
Chosid plays for the Kalamazoo Growlers. 
Some days, the Growlers play two five-inning 
games. Some days, the Growlers play three 
five-inning games.
That’
s a lot better than not playing at 
all. Kalamazoo College’
s baseball season 

was cut short after just seven 
games this spring when 
college sports were shut down 
because of the COVID-19 
pandemic.
“We were 5-2 when we 
had to stop playing. We were 
going to have a good season,” 
Chosid said.
Chosid has enjoyed his time 
with the Growlers, who are joined by the 
Kalamazoo Mac Daddies and Battle Creek 
Bombers in the South Division.
The season began July 1 and will 
conclude with a championship game Sept. 5. 
Each of the three teams will play 60 regular-
season games at Homer Stryder Field in 

Kalamazoo and C.O. Brown 
Stadium in Battle Creek.
The Growlers (28-16-3) were 
in first place as of last week.
“I’
m grateful to get a chance 
to play,” Chosid said. “And 
being in the same league as 
guys from from the Power 5 
conferences has been nothing 
short of incredible.”
This is the first time Chosid has played 
in a collegiate summer league. Kalamazoo 
College baseball coach Mike Ott told him 
about the opportunity late in the school year.
Chosid plays shortstop for Kalamazoo 
College, but he’
s playing mostly second base 
for the Growlers.

quick hits
BY STEVE STEIN 

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

They’re Reaching 
for the Stars

JN Athletes of the Year, Rosen 
Scholarship winners share what they 
learned from high school sports.

Ben Chosid

KALAMAZOO COLLEGE

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MICHIGAN JEWISH SPORTS FOUNDATION

