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...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
A star on the hardwood at Muskegon Heights High School for Tiger Coach Dorothy Gill-Jackson, Cheryl Day led the Heights to the state quarterfinals as a senior in 1984 and earned first-team all-state honors from the Associated Press. Averaging 20 points and 10.3...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
Matt Brink was an all-state performer in wrestling and football at Fruitport High School, but it’s on the mat where he reached legendary status. He was a three-time Michigan High School Athletic Association state champion at 275 pounds for the Trojans, first as...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
Robin Bouchard starred for the Muskegon Fury and the Muskegon Lumberjacks, calling the Port City home for 13 of his 16 professional hockey seasons. A gifted and prolific scorer, in March of 2010, Bouchard broke the modern-day goal-scoring mark for minor league hockey,...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
Mike Ribecky is one of the rare individuals who possesses Hall of Fame credentials as both a player and coach. The 1973 Muskegon Catholic Central graduate was a standout 6-foot-3, 220-pound two-way lineman with the Crusaders. An Associated Press first-team Class B...
by michelle | Feb 17, 2024 | Traditional
A four-sport star at Oakridge High School, Calvin Johnson went on to play point guard at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire despite his smallish stature at 5-foot-10, 150 pounds. A 1977 graduate, he earned Associated Press first-team All-state honors on the basketball...
