Athletics Hall of Fame inductions this weekend for CR

Service from 1982-2013. Mike was a long time Head Athletic trainer for CR from 1983-2004 and served as a full-time faculty instructor from 2004-2013 when he retired. Mike has the longest standing tenure in school history as the Head Athletic Trainer and was one of the most dedicated members of CR athletic department in his 31-year career. “Mike was always a calming and steady presence in our department under some of the more stressful situations when dealing with athletic injuries,” said Athletic Director Bob Brown. “His demeanor for students was ideal in letting them know everything was going to be all right, no matter how minor or serious an injury may be. He ran a tight ship in the trainer’s room, and he needed to, with how small of a space he had to work in and being essentially on his own serving more than 200 student athletes each year. He was also a great leader for our lecture first aid, strength training and kinesiology courses. You were well prepared if you took a course from Mike as he was very thorough with curriculum. He was a great mentor to all of us coaches and really helped us all in understanding the importance of keeping things in a healthy balance and perspective when coaching at this level.”

2002 Women’s Softball Team:

The 2002 College of the Redwoods Softball team is being inducted into the CR Athletics Hall of Fame. We celebrate this team on this 20th anniversary of the team’s success, which finished the season with a 33-9 record. This is the best record in CR Softball history to date.

This is the first women’s team to be inducted into the CR Athletics Hall of Fame as we celebrate 50 years since the passing of Title IX. The team was coached by Head Coach Maggie White with assistant coaches Sarah (Davis) Bestul and Sarah (Delsman) Mankewich. Ace pitcher, and two time All-Conference and All-State selection, Jennifer Bride was the driving force of this team with 246.67 innings pitched, 261 strikeouts, and an ERA of 0.94. She finished the season with a 29-9 record. Batting leaders were all-conference players J.C. Michel (.339) and Connie McGonagle (.323).

Coach Maggie White recalls, “In my 25 years as the head softball coach at CR this team had the best team chemistry, and everyone understood their role on the team. It is unusual to have a team like this and they were a pleasure to coach.”