The Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame has announced the local sports greats who will comprise the “Class of 2022,” and the newest group of inductees has some West Michigan Conference flavor.
Among the group are Ravenna alumnus Todd Herremans, who enjoyed a successful 11-year NFL career, and Dr. Calvin Johnson, who was a four-sport standout at Oakridge.
Joining them in the MASHF’s 2022 class are Muskegon Catholic Central football’s Mike Ribecky and Grand Haven two-sport standout Abby (Cole) Hatch.
The newest class will be enshrined in the local sports hall on Saturday, June 18, 2022, at the MASHF’s 35th annual induction banquet at Mercy Health Arena.
The foursome will be joined by Gene Young Distinguished Award winner Ken Erny, longtime Fruitport athletic director and Hall of Fame soccer coach. Male and female scholar-athlete award honorees will be announced in May.
“A grand slam class,” MASHF president Mike Mack said. “I am thrilled with this class. It’s amazing that after all these years, we still come up with this type of class. It’s going to be a great night.”
The 6-foot-6, 321-pound Herremans started 126 of 135 games as an offensive lineman during his 11-year NFL career, all but one season with the Philadelphia Eagles. The 2001 Ravenna High School alum even caught two touchdown passes in his NFL career.
At Ravenna, he was a four-sport athlete, who earned first-team all-state honors in football. Herremans blossomed as a football player at Saginaw Valley State University, where he earned first-team Associated Press Little All-America honors and Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Offensive Lineman of the Year accolades.
Herremans was selected by the Eagles in the fourth round (126th overall) of the 2005 NFL draft. He retired in 2015 and still lives in Philadelphia with wife Elizabeth and children Olivia and Jaxon.
Dr. Johnson was a four-sport star at Oakridge and went on to play point guard at Dartmouth despite his smallish stature at 5-foot-10, 150 pounds.
The 1977 Oakridge High School alumnus earned Associated Press first-team all-state honors in basketball, he co-captained the Eagles’ football team as quarterback/running back/kicker, and he also excelled in track and cross country.
Johnson was a Detroit Free Press honorable mention all-state QB as a senior, and he finished fifth in long jump at the state track meet that school year. He exceeded expectations at Dartmouth, earning accolades in various tournaments while majoring in a rigorous pre-med program.
Ribecky is one of the rare local sports Hall of Famers who possesses credentials as a player and coach. The 1973 Muskegon Catholic Central graduate was a standout two-way lineman with the Crusaders. On a full-ride scholarship at Western Michigan University, Ribecky was a four-year starter at offensive tackle, where as a senior he helped the Broncos finish second in the nation in rushing yards and earned second-team All-Mid-American Conference honors. In his ongoing 44-year coaching tenure as an MCC assistant, Ribecky specializes as defensive coordinator and offensive line coach. “Bunny” has served as right-hand man for three different MASHF coaches and is approaching 400 wins with 12 state titles.
Hatch, a 2013 Grand Haven High School alumna, thrived in volleyball and basketball for the Buccaneers before she went on to become a second-team All-American in volleyball at University of Michigan. Widely considered the best female athlete to come from Grand Haven, the 6-foot-5 Hatch finished runner-up for Michigan’s Miss Volleyball in 2012 and led the Bucs to the state semifinals. She earned Under Armour second-team All-America honors. In basketball, Hatch powered Grand Haven to back-to-back Class A state championships in 2012 and 2013. As a senior, she was selected the Associated Press Class A Player of the Year and finished third in Miss Basketball voting. Hatch also played basketball at U-M.
Erny spent 30 years as a universally respected AD at Fruitport and a Michigan High School Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame coach, who founded the sport at the school in 1990. In 19 years as the Trojans’ coach, he amassed a 242-133-20 record with several trips to the regional finals. As Fruitport’s AD, Erny oversaw the Trojans’ first three team state championships and a half-dozen individual state titlists. A self-described “workaholic,” Erny was not quite ready to retire but his ALS diagnosis in the summer of 2020 forced him to step down. In October 2020, Fruitport’s soccer field was dedicated to him, now called Ken Erny Field.
Tickets for the Hall of Fame banquet will go on sale this spring. Plenty of seating will be available.
Mercy Health Arena is home to the Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame. This Saturday, Jan. 22, has been designated as Hall of Fame night at the arena as the Muskegon Lumberjacks host the Youngstown Phantoms in a 7:10 p.m. game. Several members of the MASHF’s board of directors will be on hand to speak about the Hall of Fame and exciting updates to its headquarters.
For more information on the Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame, go to the organization’s website at www.mashf.com.
