RHS Athletic Hall of Fame

RHS Athletic Hall of Fame This page is meant to share news and events of the Ravenna, MI Athletic Hall of Fame.

The Ravenna High School Sports Hall of Fame has elected Tom Pierson from the RHS Class of 1973 for induction. Tom was a ...
02/27/2017

The Ravenna High School Sports Hall of Fame has elected Tom Pierson from the RHS Class of 1973 for induction. Tom was a 3 sport standout earning All West Michigan
Conference honors in football his senior year at 3 positions including quarterback, safety and punter and was honorable mention All State at quarterback. In track he was a 4 year letter man and in basketball was on the only RHS team to win an outright West Michigan Conference championship. Tom was captain in both football and track.
West Michigan Conference Ambassador
Football coach Doug Coe credited Tom with initiating football tape exchanges and called him an unofficial league ambassador. He served as president of the inter league student council his senior year.
2-Sport Athlete at Hope College
At Hope College he earned 5 varsity letters and was a letter winner on the 1973 MIAA championship team playing linebacker and punting. On the track team he was on the 1600 meter relay team that was league champion runners up in 1978.
State Class B Coach of the Year
Tom coached Cadillac High School’s track team and took them from last place his first year to league and regional champs, 3rd in Class B his 4th year. The turnaround earned him Michigan Class B Track Coach of the Year honors.
Sports Official
Tom has been a registered umpire and referee for over 25 years and has officiated district baseball finals and has been selected the last 2 years to umpire the ESPN Men’s and Women’s Softball World Series in Kissimmee, Florida.
Running
Tom ran in the Boston Marathon in 1986 finishing in 2:53 and has earned numerous master titles (40 & over) in 5 K’s & 10K races.
No Hall of Fame Banquet This Year
The RHS Sports Hall of Fame by laws require induction of at least 2 members so there will be no banquet this year. If you would like to nominate an RHS athlete for consideration to the sports hall of fame, contact any of the HOF trustees: Ron Pavlich, Randy Helsen, John Swanson, Paul Helsen, Larry Darcy, Gary Meerman, Mike Pierson, Jen Raymond, Mindy Lynch, Paul Herremans, Megan Hamilton, Bruce Jones or RHS athletic director Kyle Jawor.

05/17/2016

Ravenna Sports Hall of Fame banquet will be held Saturday May 21 at Ravenna Bowl. Softball standout Megan Darcy and all state cross country runner Emily Allen will be inducted. Frank Coletta & Rich Poffinbarger are 2016 Service Award winners while Nick Castenholz and Madison Broton are the student award winners.
Social hour is from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the program 7:30 p.m. Cost is $20 per person. Tickets are available from HOF committee members John Swanson, Gary Meerman, Paul Herremans, Paul Helsen, Ron Pavlich, Mike Pierson, Megan Hamilton, Jennifer Raymond, Bruce Jones, Randy Helsen, Mindy Lynch.

03/21/2016

Ravenna Sports Hall of Fame 2016 inductees:
Frank Coletta & Rich Poffinbarger 2016 Service Award Winners
Ravenna High School Sports Hall of Fame committee has selected Frank Coletta and Rich Poffinbarger as their 2016 Service Award winners.
Rich Poffinbarger was instrumental in starting the Ravenna youth football program in 1964. Ravenna started with 1 team that combined 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th grades in the West Michigan Boys Club. After a couple years the 5th & 6th graders were split off and called the P*e Wee’s and the 7th & 8th as the Midgets. Soon a league with Hesperia, Newaygo, Grant and Kent City was formed and the Ravenna program was known as the Ravenna Boys Club. Shortly after that, the cheerleader program was started.
In the early days of the football program, there were no funds. Rich and his wife Carole with Ray Jones, later Rich Grover and Fred & Gloria DeJonge would organize fund raisers, run concessions, go to yard sales for equipment, etc. to get the program going.
Frank Coletta became involved in youth sports like Little League in the late 50’s. He served as summer recreation board president for 20 years in the 60’s & 70’s. He ran the clock/scoreboard at all Ravenna High School home football games for 45 years retiring in 2005. Frank also ran the clock for RHS home basketball games for 10 years. In 2002 he was elected as an honorary member of the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association.
Megan Darcy and Emily Allen 2016 Inductees
RHS 2005 graduate Megan Darcy and 2011 graduate Emily Allen, will be inducted into the RHS Sports Hall of Fame during the May 21 banquet held at Ravenna Bowl. Both girls had stellar high school careers followed by equally impressive collegiate careers.
Megan Darcy was valedictorian of her graduating class and played basketball, volleyball and softball at RHS. She was outstanding softball pitcher leading the Bulldogs to the state semi-finals in 2005. She compiled a 66-25 pitching record in her career, an earned run average of 1.19, and 576 strike outs in 587 innings. Her teams won 2 West Michigan Conference championships, 2 district championships, 2 county championships, a regional and quarterfinal championship. She was honored with numerous scholar athlete awards, All WMC, All Area, All District honors and was selected to play in the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association All Star game at MSU.
Emily Allen graduated #8 in her class, was a record breaking cross country runner at RHS, earning All-Conference honors as well as All Conference Scholar Athlete recognition. She was Ravenna’s first and only girls All State cross country runner, earned academic All-State honors and still holds the school record in girls cross country. Emily was equally impressive in track where she earned All-Conference and All State honors. She was team captain and MVP her junior and senior years.
Banquet May 21 at Ravenna Bowl
The Ravenna Sports Hall of Fame banquet is set for Saturday May 21 at Ravenna Bowl. There will be recognition of outstanding senior athlete/scholars as well as a tribute to the 1976 RHS baseball team that won their way to the state semi-finals on this the 40th anniversary.
Social hour is from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the program 7:30 p.m. Cost is $25 per person.

The RHS Athletic Hall of a Fame would like to welcome Alex White and Gabe Zimmer as the Student Athlete selections of 20...
05/09/2015

The RHS Athletic Hall of a Fame would like to welcome Alex White and Gabe Zimmer as the Student Athlete selections of 2015! Great work on the field and in the classroom boys!

02/24/2015

Ravenna High School Athletic Hall of Fame has elected 2005 graduate, Megan Darcy, to be honored. Megan was the only inductee this year so there will not be a banquet at this time. She will be inducted at the next banquet.

Megan is one of the greatest softball pitchers to play at Ravenna. Her career record was 66-25-1. She led her team to conference, county, district, and regional championships in 2005. That same year they made it to the semi-finals but fell short.

Megan earned All WMC 1st team, All District & All Region for 3 years. honors. She was also a WMC scholar athlete seven times.

She has a Bachelor of Science degree from Alma College in Athletic training and a Masters in Exercise Science and Sports Medicine. She has worked for Kalamazoo Kings baseball team as head trainer and now works for Culver Academy as assistant trainer and instructor of wellness education. Culver Academies are a group of elite college preparatory boarding schools and summer camps located in Culver, IN.

CONGRATULATIONS MEGAN!

05/07/2014

The Hall of Fame Induction banquet is fast approaching! Saturday, May 17 5:30 begins social hour & 6:30 dinner will be served. Tickets are $20 and can be bought at the Swanson Pickle Station: Mon-Fri 8am-5pm through end of the day May 14. We can't wait to celebrate the new inductees!

03/08/2014

The RHS Athletic Hall of Fame is excited to announce we will be inducting 4 deserving candidates this year.
Joey Drummond, Tim Stuthard, Ross Plont and Gary Meerman
They were voted in by the Ravenna High School Athletic Hall of Fame committee and the banquet to be held Saturday May 17 at the Ravenna Bowl.
Joey Drummond (RHS 1975) was elected in 2013 but no banquet was held. Joey earned 12 varsity letters at RHS in wrestling, track and cross country. He was All State 3 times, regional champ and conference champ twice. He compiled an individual record of 129-15-1 in his prep career. In track he was on record breaking 440 relay team and set an 880 yard run record himself. Joey lost his life in a car accident in 1980 and will receive the award posthumously
Tim Stuthard (RHS 1971) was an outstanding athlete who excelled at baseball leading RHS to a 2-year 16-6 record in the West Michigan Conference. He had a 9-2 record his senior year with a 1.91 earned run average for the Bulldogs that were conference, district and regional champs. In the regional game he struck out 16 Hamilton batters out of the 21 he faced. On senior field day Tim high jumped 6’4.5”; more than an inch higher than first place in the Class C track finals that year. In college at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, he was 9-1 his sophomore year on a 26-1 team; was 1st team NAIA as a pitcher and high jumped for the track team and never lost in a dual meet. He developed tendonitis in his arm his junior year but was still drafted by the Montreal Expos but never regained his arm strength.
Ross Plont (RHS 2002) set several school records in football including marks for season, career and single game passing yards and touchdowns and completions in a season. He is the only quarterback in school history to lead 3 teams into the playoffs and started a record 31 games. He led RHS to a rare conference championship in 2001. In basketball he was a starter on the 2002 district championship team (Only district title from 1973-2013) and was the team’s leading rebounder and best defensive player. In track Ross won over 35 medals, set several school records and was regional champ in the long and high jump and an all state high jumper. He helped RHS to the only track conference championship in school history. In college, Ross won 5 letters; 4 in track and 1 in football. He was a decathlete, captain of the 2006 track team and Academic All Conference. In Conference meets he single handedly outscored opposing teams' total score.
Gary Meerman was an accomplished athlete at RHS playing football, basketball and baseball but made his mark coaching at RHS having won district coach of the year (2X), Muskegon Chronicle Coach of the Year in baseball and softball; was chosen to coach in the state softball all star game. His baseball and softball teams won 6 conference titles, 4 district championships, a regional and quarter final championship and a state semifinal appearance. Gary has officiated basketball, softball and baseball in the area for over 35 years.

Ticket information to come!

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