Ludington High School

The Orioles' gymnastics program was built by Patricia M. Jensen and under her guidance, Ludington went 143-3 in duals and won state championships in five consecutive seasons, from 1975 to 1979. That record included 111 consecutive victories, a national record. Sixteeen of her gymnasts were named all-state and 14 earned full college scholarships. She was named the Detroit News Michigan High School ...Read More...

Bob Wolff is a two-time world record holder in archery. Wolff, known as the "The Bow Bender" or the "Bull of the Woods", had one of the greatest years in 1969 in archery, scoring a state title with a record for the highest score and highest margin of victory. He set his two world records at Cobo Hall in Detroit, competing in the sport before the advent of the compound bow. And in that year, throug ...Read More...

Dick Dennis is one of the pioneers of softball in Mason County as he and good friend Ralph Wienert brought the windmill pitch to fast pitch softball here and perfected it for the ages. Dennis began to play softball at age eight, and he was on his first men's team at age 11 in 1935. He went on play on various teams during his service with the U.S. Army Air Corps and once he came back home, he joine ...Read More...

Fred Horstman began the Ludington High School soccer program from scratch and built it into a state powerhouse, including guiding the Orioles to the 2001 Division 3 state championship. In 15 years, Horstman had a record of 258-54-22 as Ludington won 11 conference, 10 district and six regional championships. Before the state title, Ludington was the 1994 and 1997 state runners-up. The 2001 Division ...Read More...

Jay Hansen was one of the most prolific swimmers to come through Ludington High School. Hansen, a 1988 graduate, won 11 individual Coastal Conference titles and set five league records while an Oriole. He set five school records and still owns four of them and he won three individual state championships and set one state record. He was at his best in the 100-yard butterfly, even recording the 34th ...Read More...

Paul Spencer Peterson used a great distance-running career at Ludington and propelled himself into a wonderful runner for Saginaw Valley State University. Peterson was the runner-up at the 1978 Class B state meet. But once he became a Cardinal, he earned NAIA All-American honors in several events. He is three-time All-American in the 10,000-meter run and a two-time All-American in the 5,000-meter ...Read More...

D'Erika Varenhorst of Ludington competed in basketball, volleyball and track in her high school career with the Orioles and basketball proved to be her top game. In all, she earned eight varsity letters while an Oriole. Varenhorst was one of just a few Ludington girls basketball players to be named to the Associated Press, BCAM and Detroit Free Press Class B All-State teams in school history. Vare ...Read More...

Dean Adams helped push the Ludington Orioles to a 1955 North Central Conference title with a 15-4 record and a Class B district title while also averaging 21 points per game and taking first-team all-state honors. Following his graduation, he went on to play three years of varsity hoops at Central Michigan University, scoring 1,074 points. When his playing days for the Chippewas were over, he was ...Read More...

Lloyd Wallace had a lifetime's work as the sports editor for the Ludington Daily News, retiring in 2011 after a remarkable 41-year career. He was instrumental in the Associated Press giving equal coverage to girls athletics through it's polls and all-state teams and won a litany of writing awards in his career, including being named top sports columnist by the AP in the paper's division a record f ...Read More...

Matt Hughes has the distinction of being Ludington's sole Olympian, having competed in the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, China in rowing. He finished fifth in the men's quadruple sculls in the Olympics, after earlier winning the world championship in Lucerne, Switzerland. Not only an excellent rower, Hughes was the goalkeeper for Ludington's 1998 and 1999 soccer teams that went a combined 43-4-4 w ...Read More...