Other School

Alvin “Al” Hardman loved adventure and when he was in his 50s, he competed in his first of four Iditarod sled dog races, one of the most grueling sports events in the world. The Iditarod is 1,151 miles long. Hardman’s best  finish was in 2002 when he was 21st. His last Iditarod was run in 2004 when he was in his early 60’s. Hardman competed in races across the United States, finishing fo ...Read More...

Professional minor league baseball had its birth in Ludington in 1912 but after three seasons, the organization like many minor leagues throughout the country, disbanded, a casualty of the World War I. Professional baseball received new life in Ludington in 1920 and at a higher level as the Mariners played in the Central League with opposing teams based in Grand Rapids, Muskegon and Kalamazoo thro ...Read More...

Thirty years ago, Bud Dodson became involved in Special Olympics. In the span of 10 years, he became the Area 24 Special Olympics Director. In that span, and beyond, he guided the group from a $6,000 a year budget to one that has $34,000 for more than 115 athletes. Dodson's teams played in three seasons in a variety of sports: cycling, poly hockey, cross country skiing, basketball, aquatics, track ...Read More...

One game. The first for the University of Notre Dame. Ludington native George Cartier was the quarterback for the Fighting Irish on Nov. 23, 1887 in the school's very first football game and it happened to be against Michigan. The Fighting Irish lost the game, 8-0, but Cartier went on to be involved in sports in one fashion or another later on in his life.His brother, Warren Cartier, was a Notre D ...Read More...

The 1947 edition of the Abrahamson-Bannon softball team helped to set up decades to come of softball greatness from Mason County as it won the MASA Class B state championship. The team compiled a 35-4 record that season and went 17-2 in its league. At the state tournament, the team allowed just one run and eight hits while scoring eight runs on 20 hits. Bob VanDyke tossed the first two games, incl ...Read More...

Born in Ludington in 1897, Claire served in the Navy in World War I, after which he was a strong-armed shortstop with the Ludington Mariners of the Class B Central League in 1920. He was scouted and purchased for $2,000 by the Detroit Tigers, and played three games in September of that year, hitting in front of Ty Cobb and collecting one hit in seven at bats. Claire played three years of professio ...Read More...

A baseball, basketball, football and soccer player as a youth, John Wallis found his athletic niche in 1978 when, at the age of 40, he entered a 10-kilmeter race in Chicago. At that time, he was a single parent raising three small daughters and he had neither the time nor financial resources to follow other recreational pursuits. Since then, has run over 75 ultra marathons, including races in Gree ...Read More...