FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (7-15-2022) Six Standouts Selected to Join Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame David Brandt, Kim Elders, Laura (Heyboer) Heethuis, Fred Julian, Josette (Carter) McCullough and Diane House Named GRAND RAPIDS – The 2022 Induction Class for the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame has demonstrated sports excellence at the highest levels, and includes a former NFL player, a college basketball coach with over 750 wins, one of Michigan’s finest soccer players ever, a legendary local football coach, a basketball standout in high school and college who became a leader in women’s sports, and the founder of Special Olympics in Grand Rapids. The six elected:
The induction is planned for Tuesday, Oct. 4 at Van Andel Arena. Ticket sales will be announced in the coming weeks. “It’s another incredible class that demonstrates achievement as athletes and coaches at the highest levels, but also recognizes community impact and tremendous leadership,” said Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame Chairman Mark Kimball in announcing the class. “The Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame is excited to recognize and honor them.” The Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame honors prominent West Michigan athletes and those who have contributed to sports on a local, state or national level, and presents annual events in support of local youth organizations and charities. Plaques and video displays commemorate the members at Van Andel Arena. Learn more about the Hall of Fame and its members at grshof.com. MEDIA CONTACT: Greg Johnson, GRSHOF trustee, 616-560-8995, greg.johnson@grshof.com SPONSOR/SUPPORT CONTACT: Gretchen Flemming, GRSHOF trustee, 616-560-1970, gretchen.flemming@grshof.com; GRSHOF, 561 Century Ave. SW, Grand Rapids, 49503. ATTACHED IMAGE: In photo layout, top from left, David Brandt while at UM, Kim Elders, Laura (Heyboer) Heethuis, bottom from left, Fred Julian while at UM, Josette (Carter) McCullough, Diane House.
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Tia Brooks-Wannemacher, Kelly Butler, Beth Launiere, Tom Werkmeister, Bob Kaser and EGR football state champs from 2006-2010 named
GRAND RAPIDS – The 2021 Induction Class for the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame has demonstrated sports excellence at the highest levels, leadership and more, and includes an Olympic shot putter, professional football player, collegiate volleyball coach, professional golfer, professional hockey broadcaster and a successful high school football program in the team category. Tia Brooks-Wannemacher, a Olympian who first starred at East Kentwood High School; Kelly Butler, a former NFL lineman who launched his career at Grand Rapids Union High; Beth Launiere, a Northview High graduate and highly successful volleyball coach at the University of Utah; Tom Werkmeister of Hudsonville, a dominant amateur golfer now playing professional golf; Bob Kaser, the Grand Rapids Griffins’ award-winning broadcaster and vice-president; and the five consecutive state football championship teams from East Grand Rapids (2006-2010) will be honored in ceremonies this fall at Van Andel Arena, Mark Kimball, president of the GRSHOF, announced today. A date for the induction ceremony and information on ticket sales will be announced in the coming weeks. “It’s another incredible class that demonstrates achievement as athletes and coaches, but also recognizes impact and leadership in our community,” Kimball said. “The Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame is excited to recognize and honor them.” Brooks-Wannemacher had to be talked into trying the shot put, but then starred at East Kentwood and went on to the University of Oklahoma where she won the 2012 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor championships. Later that year she was third in the U.S. Olympic Trials to make the team and represented the United States at the 2012 summer Olympics in London. Butler first starred on the football field at Grand Rapids Union, then started four years for Purdue University as part of a prolific offense that averaged over 450 yards per game. He was selected in the sixth round of the NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions and played for the Lions, Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals, Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He retired in 2012. Launiere was a standout volleyball player at Northview High School and then Aquinas College before starting her coaching career as an assistant at Ferris State University. She has spent the last 32 years at the University of Utah as head coach were she has a career coaching record of 601-375 with 16 NCAA tournament appearances, six conference titles and 17 20-win seasons. Werkmeister dominated amateur golf locally and in Michigan until age 50 when he turned professional to play on the PGA Tour Champions. He has won more Grand Rapids area amateur championships than any golfer in history, won 10 state championships including two Michigan Amateur Championship titles and in 2013 was the first amateur to win the Michigan Open Championship in 38 years. Kaser will be inducted as the Warren Reynolds Lifetime Achievement Award winner. He has been the Grand Rapids Griffins lead broadcaster for 22 years while also working in the front office as vice-president of community relations and serving as president of the Griffins Youth Foundation. He has spent over 40 years in hockey, won multiple awards and filled in on Detroit Red Wings broadcasts, too. The East Grand Rapids football teams of 2006 through 2010 will be inducted in the Team category. Coached by Peter Stuursma, now at Hope College, the program tied the Michigan High School Athletic Association record of five consecutive state titles with a 67-3 collective record, including a 33-game winning streak. The Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame honors prominent West Michigan athletes and those who have contributed greatly to sports on a local, state or national level, and presents annual events in support of local youth organizations and charities. Plaques commemorate the members of the Hall of Fame at Van Andel Arena. “He breathed life into the whole idea of the Sports Hall of Fame.”
Jim Weiss, president emeritus and co-founder of the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame passed away peacefully on Feb. 5 surrounded by loved ones. He was 77 and had battled numerous recent health issues. Mark Kimball, the current president of the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame, was recruited as a trustee to the board that oversees the Hall of Fame 20 years ago by Weiss. “He breathed life into the whole idea of the Sports Hall of Fame,” Kimball said. “It’s easy for us to believe sports are a vital fabric of life in our community, but he was one of the visionaries who helped launch it and was a driving force in the group.” Kimball said Weiss mentored him and instilled in him the guiding philosophies of the Sports Hall of Fame. “He never exited and remained our reliable source of wisdom,” he said. “I talked to him frequently and every time the organization needed his assistance he was always there. “He loved sports and this town and in so many ways he was what we all aspire to be – a great ambassador for our community.” Weiss was the former Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of a chain of men's and women's retail clothing stores for over 20 years before establishing James E. Weiss and Associates in 1982. That firm was a business and management consulting organization specializing in corporate strategic planning, confidential mergers and acquisitions and commercial retail center development. In 1993-94 Weiss realized his lifelong ambition when Gerald Schoemaker, another sports enthusiast and activist, asked him to combine their resources and join him to co-found and reorganize the new and independent Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame, which had been under the auspices of the city government and recently abandoned. Together they sought the help of a like-minded group of local businessmen and formed the GRSHOF Board of Trustees, naming Weiss vice-president, then president and ultimately awarding him emeritus status. Weiss remained an active member of the board in an advisory capacity. Here is a link to his obituary: https://bit.ly/2OthfwN GRAND RAPIDS – The 2019 Induction Class for the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame was inducted Tuesday night at Van Andel Arena.
The 2019 class includes Joan Boand, Grand Valley State University coaching pioneer, Jack Doles, 24 Hour News 8 sports director, Steve Honderd, Calvin College basketball star, Margo Jonker, Central Michigan University softball coach, Mike Phelps, East Kentwood and Holland Christian basketball coach, and Joe Warren, East Kentwood’s world champion in wrestling and MMA. Boand pioneered women’s sports at Grand Valley, first reacting to student requests in 1968. She went on to serve as head coach in basketball, volleyball, softball and track and field with more than 500 wins and six conference titles in volleyball and four conference titles in basketball. A tireless advocate for women’s sports, she served on several NCAA committees and was GVSU’s associate athletic director. “Incredible and very nice, I’m flattered,” Boand said of being inducted. “I was taken aback by this. What I did was what I did, and I never really thought what I was doing was all that great. I thought what I was doing was only what the students wanted. Grand Valley has been wonderful to me. I did my job and enjoyed every minute of it, and any opportunity I have that is within my realm to help them, I try to do it.” Doles was inducted as the 2019 Warren Reynolds Lifetime Achievement Award Winner. He has covered multiple major sports events, including the Olympic Games 10 times, since joining 24 Hour News 8 in 1990. He is a three-time winner of the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for sports reporting and first worked for Reynolds, who preceded him as sports director at TV 8. “It is an incredible honor and for it to be associated with Warren, I couldn’t ask for anything better,” Doles said. “He was an incredible mentor and friend to me. It was like working with my dad. In that same breath, this is as good as it gets for me. Being in this class is amazing. It’s such an honor. I told stories about these people. I’ve been fortunate to get to do that.” Honderd first starred in basketball at Grand Rapids Christian and then led Calvin College’s basketball team to the 1992 Division III national championship. He had the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 5 top scoring seasons for Calvin during his career, was named Division III Player of the Year in 1993, and was the Final Four MVP in 1992. “It is a great honor,” Honderd said. “Growing up as a Grand Rapids kid was wonderful, and I see all these names on the wall, and they were household names growing up. To be included in that is really great, and to go in with this class, especially Coach Phelps and Jack Doles, two people I’ve know for a very long time, makes it very special to me.” Jonker, from Holland, was a softball star for Boand at Grand Valley and recently retired after 40 seasons as the head softball coach at Central Michigan. She won 1,268 games, which is ninth all-time in Division I. Her 1982 team set a Mid-American Conference record with 51 wins, and her 1987 team finished fifth at the Women’s College World Series. “It is a huge honor,” Jonker said. “It’s from my part of the state, where I grew up, where it is home for me. I have two homes at Central and here. I’ve been very fortunate. Going in with Joan is huge for me. She was such a great coach and mentor. She did so much for me. I’m so thankful. I will never be able to repay her. The opportunity to go into the Hall of Fame in the same year with her is just tremendous.” Phelps, first a standout basketball and baseball player at Grand Rapids Christian High School and Calvin College, won 568 games in 35 seasons as a high school basketball coach, including 13 seasons at East Kentwood and 21 seasons at Holland Christian. His 568-239 overall record currently places him No. 12 all-time in boys basketball coaching wins. He was never whistled for a technical foul. “It feels wonderful,” Phelps said. I’m very grateful, surprised and excited about it. When you coach as long as I have you have a lot of players, coaches and fans of the teams you played for and coached who have all participated in what you have done. You have probably touched a few of them and that’s rewarding. I was fortunate to coach some great players and meet people along the way who changed my life, so I feel they are part of this, too.” Warren was a 1995 state high school champion wrestler at East Kentwood, an All-American at the University of Michigan, won three Greco-Roman U.S. national titles and was a gold medalist in the FILA World Championships, World Cup and Pan American Championships. An MMA world champion, as well, he was the first fighter to hold championships in multiple weight classes. “I have friends here who I haven’t seen since I wrestled at East Kentwood and they are here again supporting me, so it’s an honor, a great honor,” said Warren who also indicated he may retire from the MMA and attempt to make the Olympic team. “Coach Rick Smith is here, and he did so much for me at Kentwood and growing up, making me a wrestler, and great friends are here and family. I learned and started here in Grand Rapids, and now we are here tonight and it is just wonderful.” The Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame honors prominent West Michigan athletes and those who have contributed greatly to sports on a local, state or national level, and presents annual events in support of local youth organizations and charities. Plaques commemorate the now 169 members of the Hall of Fame at Van Andel Arena. The Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame is delighted to announce its partnership with the Grand Rapids Griffins, West Michigan Sports Commission, the West Michigan Whitecaps and SMG in a special event to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Van Andel Arena.
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