Wilson earns 2023 Emrick/Mielcarek Female Athlete of the Year honor
Haylie Wilson, graduate of Bronson Junior/Senior High School, is ready to start her college career.
She signed with Concordia University in Ann Arbor to continue both her academic and basketball careers, something she is excited about for later this summer. Earlier this week, Wilson was selected as the recipient of the 2023 Corky Emrick/Tom Mielcarek Memorial Female Athlete of the Year.
There were a handful of requirements for the award, which includes a plaque and a $1,000 scholarship. Each nominated student-athlete must be a decent student who played a sport for their high school in the fall, winter and spring seasons through the MHSAA. A panel of 13 members, including Journal Sports Editor Brandon Watson, each voted on their top three student-athlete nominees who fit the criteria for the award. The male and female student-athletes who finished with the highest point total were named as the award winners.
Wilson was both excited and surprised she won the award. This past year at Bronson, she competed for the Vikings in volleyball, basketball and softball. Wilson earned All-State accolades on the hardwoods, it ended up being the sport she fell in love with.
“I think it was softball for me for a long time because I had played travel ball forever,” Wilson said. “But by eighth grade-freshman year, I really started thinking about wanting to play basketball in college.”
Wilson surpassed the 1,000-point plateau for her basketball career this past season. She was one of a handful of local student-athletes to reach the milestone this year, it’s considered a big accomplishment in the high school basketball community. Wilson said she was pleased to have reached the point mark, she ended up higher than that as the season came to a close.
“That was a goal of mine since I was little,” Wilson said of reaching 1,000 career points. “I was happy to get that done. I didn’t know how close I was or what game I would reach it, but when I finally got to 1,000 points it felt great.”
Now she looks forward to heading off to college. Concordia, located in Ann Arbor, finished this past season with a record of 17-12 for the campaign. The Cardinals won three of their last four games overall, but fell to Cornerstone in the conference quarterfinals in their final game. Wilson said she likes the way the Cardinals play on the court.
She knows heading into a new college experience will not be an easy task and she will be fighting for minutes on the court as a freshman. She plans to make the travel squad for the Cardinals in her first year. On Tuesdays and Thursdays this summer, Wilson has been taking part in the Cardinal summer league and open gym games. It has helped her to get closer to the members of the team.
“I really like the girls on the team,” she said. “It helps that I really like the coaches as well. It’s a good fit for me.”
Wilson said she expects to come in and fight for playing time on the floor at both guard spots. Concordia’s coaching staff is big into playing “positionless basketball” where every player on the floor can be interchanged to play a different spot.
Wilson plans to study in the health sciences program at Concordia. She aspires to become a chiropractor someday. As a graduating senior, Wilson built herself a 3.88 GPA.
“The health science program was a big thing for me, that’s what I want to go into,” she said. “I have some family in the medical field, so that connected with me right away. That, and basketball of course.”
She has some reservations about meeting new people, but she’s also excited for that. As a self-proclaimed shy person, it will take her a bit of getting used to. As one of the COVID students who had part of their high school careers shortened in the classroom, Wilson said she’s looking forward to getting on campus and continuing to grow as a person and student-athlete.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Wilson earns 2023 Emrick/Mielcarek Female Athlete of the Year honor
