by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
Muskegon Heights High School is known statewide for its outstanding basketball tradition. One of the most memorable stretches in the Tigers’ storied history came in 1978 and 1979. The Tigers, under the direction of newly-minted head coach and former standout Heights...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
An outstanding high school athlete at Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic where he played football for coach Dick Soisson, Mike Holmes, like his mentor, racked up over 200 victories as varsity football coach on his way to a Hall of Fame career. Fresh off a standout four-year...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
Cathy Fitzpatrick was the dominant female sprinter in the Muskegon area in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and arguably the top female sprinter in the entire state at that time. She captured an amazing seven top-four state meet finishes in individual events during her...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
As a 6-foot-6 senior, VanDyke led Muskegon Western Michigan Christian to a Class C state championship in 1958, the first for that basketball-rich school. It was the first of four state titles for the Warriors’ head coach Elmer Walcott, a 1988 MASHF inductee....
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
Widely regarded as the top horseshoe pitcher to ever come out Muskegon, Smith won 13 Michigan Horseshoe Pitchers Association state titles between 1962 and 1982. He competed in 25 state tournaments and placed in the top three on 21 occasions. Smith was known for his...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
A 1991 graduate of Ravenna High School, Place was a three-sport star in basketball, volleyball, and softball, earning 11 varsity letters and all-state honors in volleyball and basketball for the Bulldogs. Her biggest achievements came on the basketball court, where...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
Annese led Muskegon High School to three state championships and a 92-15 record during his nine seasons as head football coach from 2000 to 2008. The son of Nick Annese, longtime coach at Corunna High School, Tony played college football at Alma before starting his...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
Gruhl began a lengthy career in the International Hockey League with the 1979-80 season, skating with the Saginaw Gears, and quickly established himself as a goal scorer. He led the Gears in scoring with 53 goals and 93 points in 75 games. A second season in Saginaw...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
A 1956 graduate of Muskegon High School, DeHoog picked up tennis at a young age when there were limited high school sports opportunities for females. As a member of the Muskegon Tennis Club, Rosemary had earned a reputation as one of the top players in the state by...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
Named senior vice president of ESPN Audio in 2007, Davenport joined the network in 1985 as an associate producer. A graduate of Hesperia High School and Western Michigan University, he previously worked as a production assistant at ABC Sports. An all-around athlete at...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
A four-time Michigan High School Athletic Association champion, twice in the two-mile in the Class B Lower Peninsula Cross-Country championships and twice in the 3200 at the MHSAA Class B Track & Field Championships, the 1995 Fruitport High School graduate moved...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
A three-sport star at Orchard View High School, Marie Thomas went on to become one of the best to ever play at Grand Valley State University. Thomas was the leading scorer and rebounder at GVSU for three consecutive years from 1992 to 1994, when she averaged a...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
Nate McLouth took his baseball talents from a small-town, where he led his Little League team to the state finals, all the way to the major leagues. A three-sport athlete, McLouth quarterbacked Whitehall High School to a West Michigan Conference football title in...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
Roger Locke and Dick Locke were brothers and both standout football players at Muskegon High School, part of the Locke family that Big Reds historians still talk about to this day. Dick and Roger took the lessons they learned at Muskegon and went on to bigger fame as...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
Dick and Roger Locke were brothers and both standout football players at Muskegon High School, part of the Locke family that Big Reds historians still talk about to this day. Dick and Roger took the lessons they learned at Muskegon and went on to bigger fame as...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
An elementary school teacher, George Bitner began his coaching career at Holton in 1965 then moved on to Spring Lake, taking over the boys golf program in 1968. In 1980, he started the girls golf program at Spring Lake. With a “KISMIF” coaching motto – kept it simple,...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
The first teams from the Michigan Community College Athletic Association to win back-to-back national titles, MCC’s Cross Country squads were guided by veteran coach Roelofs ‘Rudy’ Bartels, who started his coaching career in 1945. A Muskegon Heights...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
A 2000 alumnus of Muskegon Catholic Central High School, Martin played wide receiver in the National Football League for nine years and five different teams. The highlights of his NFL career were the three years he played for the Green Bay Packers, from 2006 to 2008,...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
An outstanding athlete at Grand Haven High School, Kent lettered in football, and baseball and, as a diver, co-captained the Buccaneers’ swim team before heading off to Western Michigan University. At Western, he again excelled in the pool, winning both...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
Johnny Mitchell did not pick up the discus until 1981, but the Muskegon High School standout’s combination of physical talent and work ethic soon was producing statewide and national honors. The Michigan High School Athletic Association’s (MHSAA) Class A...
