Sophia Tang and Madeline Day pose together for Cranbrook Kingswood basketball team pictures. Both players were selected to receive the 2025 Scholar-Athlete Award
By: Scott Bentley | Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle | Published March 17, 2025
BLOOMFIELD HILLS — Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood seniors Madeline Day and Sophia Tang received the 2025 Scholar-Athlete Award through the MHSAA and the Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award program.
Only 32 student-athletes were selected for the award in 2025. To apply, the applicant must have at least a 3.5 grade-point average, have won a MHSAA varsity sport letter, shown active participation in the school and community, and submitted an essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.
Day and Tang go well above and beyond the baseline requirements and are incredibly deserving of these honors. Both students play volleyball and basketball together and Day plays tennis in the spring as well.
“I’m really honored, and I really appreciate that I have senior captains that are on top of everything,” Cranbrook Kingswood basketball coach Micaela Ellis said. “They’re so involved. They’re excelling inside the classroom and outside the classroom… They try to excel in every aspect and everything that they do.”
On the court, Day and Tang personify exactly what Ellis wants all of her players to be. They’re leaders, hard workers, and are always coachable.
“Half of our team is freshmen… Coach puts a lot of trust in us as not only players on the court, but also leaders off the court,” Day said. “She trusts us to be able to talk to our teammates in a way that helps them understand what’s going on, on the court.”
Off the court, both students have not only excelled in the classroom, but also have done incredible work in the community. Day and her brother founded the Global Outreach Club when Day was a freshman, and Tang is an integral part of the club as well.
“We have a mission of educating others about social injustices, partnering with different nonprofit organizations, and truly coming together as a community to serve others,” Day said. “We’ve built this community that is excited to go out and serve with (Tang and I).”
The club has partnered with Focus: Hope and Breanna’s House of Joy in Thailand, which takes in girls that are at risk for sex trafficking.
The work that both student-athletes have done is inspiring. And one of the best parts about their work is that they do almost all of it together. Between clubs, classes, and multiple sports teams, these two share a bond that goes far beyond their accomplishments.
“For the past three years me and Madeline have been spending from August all the way until mid-March together every single day,” Tang explained. “The bond that we’ve made, we never get tired of each other.”
Aside from Cranbrook producing two students for the award, it just so happens that the students are close friends who have helped the community in a plethora of ways.
“Sophia as a student is super amazing, so being able to push each other to keep excelling in school and sports and clubs… it’s just always good to have someone on your side who understands what you’re going through,” Day said. “I know for a fact that Sophia has my back.”
Day and Tang both highlighted the fact that their families, coaches and friends, along with many others, have helped them receive this award. Both students said that they couldn’t have gotten this far without a great support system.
“(The award) is only awarded to 32 student-athletes in Michigan, but I think that doesn’t really go to the fact that every single one of them is in this position because they relied on their teammates and relied on their mentors,” Tang said. “Even though it’s just your name and you’re the one receiving the award, there’s so many other people behind it.”
Day and Tang deserve all of the honors and recognition that is headed their way and the impact that both students have had on Cranbrook and the community as a whole is everlasting.
“I want all of my players to be like them,” Ellis said. “They continue to model the behavior that I want to see throughout this entire program.”
At press time, Day was set to attend Harvard College. Tang is undecided on where she’ll attend, but wants to study molecular biology.
The two, along with the rest of the award winners, were set to be honored during the boys basketball state finals March 15th at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.