MCSHOF Inductee

Wally Sadosty’s athletic career began at the age of seven under the wing of basketball standout Pete Tillotson, who was a member of the first Mason County Sports Hall of Fame class in 2005. Sadosty played baseball in the spring and summer, football in the fall and basketball outside in the winter. In high school, he was the starting quarterback for Ludington High for three straight years. As a s ...Read More...

Hal Madden played three years of varsity football at Central Michigan University from 1947 to 1949. Madden was a lineman. He was a center in basketball and a split end on offense and defensive end. He was the scholar athlete of the year as a senior. A native of Detroit, he graduated from Detroit Denby High School where he played football and basketball. After high school, he served four years in t ...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...

A two-time all-state basketball player for Mason County Eastern, Kristy Stark's 1,779 points set the state record for career scoring in 1979, breaking the record held by Magic Johnson's sister, Evelyn. Stark earned All-American mention and her scoring record earned her a spot in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd section and Michigan Senate Resolution. Stark, with her trademark pigtails flyin ...Read More...

He was born Leland Stanford MacPhail in Cass City, Michigan. He acquired the name, Larry, when he was officiating Big Ten football games and he was listed in a program as Lawrence. His friends shortened it to Larry and it stuck. His father, C.W. MacPhail, was the founder of the present West Shore Bank and many other banks in Michigan. Larry lived in Scottville and later in Ludington, where he atte ...Read More...

Ruben Gomez was one of the most loved and respected coaches and teachers in Mason County. He coached track and cross country for 37 years at Mason County Eastern and Ludington high schools where his team won many league titles. “One year in high school, I had Mr. Gomez for shop, for vocational agriculture, as a Future Farmers of America advisor and for Spanish. Then, to top it off, the following ...Read More...

In the early 1970s when girls' athletics in Michigan were just getting their legs, Free Soil's Helen Shereda was off and flying. With her long arms and legs flapping, she flew like a giant, unstoppable bird across the basketball courts and softball diamonds of West Michigan. At 6-foot, 1 1/2 inches and 150 pounds, she was a dominating force on the inside in basketball. But she was also the best ba ...Read More...

Joe Kowatch was an outstanding athlete. Born in Ionia, he attended Ionia High School where he participated in football, basketball, baseball and track. He excelled in football as a halfback. Joe's older brother, John, played fullback and his younger brother, Al, was also a halfback. Kowatch attended Michigan State College after graduating from high school in 1929. In 1930, he moved up to the varsi ...Read More...

On an unseasonably cold day in the spring of 1979, Mason County Central girls track and field coach Gerry Genter thought it would speed things along if the two-mile races for boys and girls were combined in their dual meet with North Muskegon. "Their (athletic director) came up to me and we were talking about doubling up because it was so cold. He said he didn't really want to do that because it w ...Read More...

A two-time all-state basketball player at Ludington High, Mike Larsen set records for the most points scored in a career (1,336) and in a game (45). He also set records for rebounds in a career (1,097), a season (460) and a game (30). Mike led the Orioles to a 19-4 finish and a berth in the Class B state semifinals in 1971. Averaging 23.7 points per game as a junior and 25 as a senior, he earned A ...Read More...