Bob Kent
BORN: SEPTEMBER 7, 1942, GRAND HAVEN, MI
An outstanding athlete at Grand Haven High School, Kent lettered in
football, baseball and, as a diver, co-captained the Buccaneers' swim team
before heading off to Western Michigan University. At Western, he again excelled in the pool, winning both Mid-American
Conference diving events as a senior, earning All-American honors.
Following college graduation, Kent joined the staff of
Kalamazoo College, guiding the school's swimming and diving program for 35
years. During that span, his teams won 25 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic
Association titles and finished in the Top 10 at the NCAA Division III
Championships on 13 occasions. The winningest men's Swimming and Diving coach in MIAA
history, Kent was inducted into WMU's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995 and
into the Kalamazoo College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009.
He served Kalamazoo College from 1968 to 2003, including 16
years as men's athletic director and
chair of the physical education department, as interim head football coach
for a season and as an assistant coach for
15 years.
Kent was also previously inducted in the MASHF in 2003 as a catcher
on the Grand Haven 1960 and 1961 baseball teams.
Ruvell Martin
BORN: AUGUST 10, 1982, MUSKEGON, MI
A
2000 alumnus of Muskegon Catholic Central High School, Martin played wide
receiver in the National Football League for nine years and five different
teams.
The highlight of his NFL career were the three years he
played for the Green Bay Packers, from 2006 to 2008, when he appeared in 41
games with nine starts, 52 receptions, 749 receiving yards and six TDs. A
quarterback in high school, he was shifted to receiver at Saginaw Valley
State University, where he earned All-Conference honors as a senior.
Originally signed by the San Diego Chargers out of college,
Martin played for the Amsterdam Admirals in NFL Europe in 2005, helping the
team defeat the defending champion Berlin Thunder, 27-21, in World Bowl XIII.
An All-League selection, he led the league in receiving with 679 yards and
12 touchdowns before signing with the Packers. After his tenure in Green
Bay, he made stops in St. Louis, Seattle and Buffalo before retiring in
2012. In his NFL career, Martin finished with 76 catches for 1,129 yards and
seven TDs.
Muskegon Community College
Cross Country Teams
1963 and 1964
The first teams from the Michigan Community College Athletic Association to
win back-to-back national titles, MCC's Cross Country squads were guided by
veteran coach Roelofs 'Rudy' Bartels, who started his coaching career in
1945. A Muskegon Heights High School graduate, Bartels had guided
Jayhawk basketball teams to consecutive Junior College state basketball
championships in 1945-46 and 1946-47.
In 1963 at the 5th Annual National Junior College Athletic
Association championship, hosted in Erie, Pa,
MCC grabbed their first national title, besting a field of 15 schools. Roger
Plont won the event's individual national championship, besting the
pack of 90 runners, while Scott Barton (7th)
and Roger Hamel (8th) also placed in the Top 10.
The team repeated as
champions in 1964 at the national meet, this time held in Jackson, MI. Ken
Merkins and Scott Barton were the only returning members from the 1963 team.
Barton finished fifth in the field of 89 runners with Mike Gaunt took ninth.
Other members of the 1963 team were Dave Hopkins, Bill
Bringedahl and Bill Kowalski. Other members of the 1964 team were Mike
Smith, Mike Cassady, John Dobson, Tom Redenius, Dave Bolduc, Chuck Krupa and
Fred Britton.