MARQUETTE – The Upper Peninsula’s only Class A high school with probably the widest and most varied athletic program will have a new leader starting next week.

Jamie Tuma submitted her resignation as the Marquette Area Public Schools athletic coordinator, which includes Marquette Senior High School, in early July because she and her family will be moving from the area. Her last day on the job is today.

Replacing her is Blaise Zimmer of Reese, who in a slight change of title will be named MAPS K-12 athletic director for the 2015-16 school year.

The 27-year-old Reese High School graduate has been a teacher and AD at Holy Cross Lutheran, a K-8 school in Saginaw, for three years, according to a MAPS news release. He most recently taught there in grades 5 and 6, coached basketball for eight years and was chairman of the Denmark Township Planning Commission in Tuscola County.

The Holy Cross website, www.hcls.org, lists volleyball, basketball, track and cheerleading as sports it offers for grades 5-8.

“I am very excited to be part of the program and rich history of Marquette Area Public Schools,” Zimmer said in the MAPS release. “I am looking forward to making my own mark on the program.”

He and his wife Nicole will be relocating to the Marquette area. Blaise Zimmer has been at MSHS this week working on the transition with Tuma, who was athletic coordinator for six years.

“I have learned invaluable skills, met and worked with fantastic educators, coaches and volunteers, and enjoyed being a member of a district that prides itself on excellence both in the classroom and on the playing fields,” Tuma said in the school district release.

In addition to a handful of athletic teams at the district’s elementary and middle school levels, MSHS lists on its website, www.mapsnet.org, these teams:

Fall – boys soccer, cross country, dance, football, girls tennis, sideline cheer and volleyball;

Winter – alpine skiing, bowling, boys basketball, competitive cheer, figure skating, girls basketball, gymnastics, hockey, nordic skiing, sideline cheer, swimming and diving and wrestling;

Spring – baseball, boys tennis, girls soccer, golf, softball and track and field.

The district also listed 19 conference, U.P., district, regional and state championships by 11 different MSHS teams just in the 2014-15 school year.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.