SAGINAW, MI – After a career as an elite swimmer that included Big 12 Championships and Big East Championships, Heidi Hendrick was starting to get a little restless.
And that led to a second career that forced me to do more than just swim and add talents I didn’t even know I had.
Hendrick was announced Thursday at the Castle Museum in Saginaw as a member of the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
“I wanted to compete after swimming, so I also ran triathlons,” Hendirick said. “But when I was working for Judge (Fred) Borchardt, the clerk said I should try fencing. I did, and it was fun.”
This led to modern pentathlon, which combines disciplines such as swimming, fencing, vaulting, running, and shooting.
“Once I was able to fencing, I only had to memorize two out of five things: I could fencing, I could swim, I could run,” Hendrick said. “Those were challenges. I’ve never ridden a horse. I didn’t even have a pet as a kid.”
However, Hendrick learned and became one of the top modern pentathlon athletes in the country. She earned a spot on the Team USA national team in 2022 and 2023 by finishing second in the country. She competed in her two World Championships and competed in the 2023 Pan American Games with Team Her USA.
“I got a late start and was one of the older athletes…I could have been the mother of some of the athletes,” Hendrick said. “But it’s also an event that requires a lot of experience and different skills. And I had that.
“The challenge was that I had to qualify in every sport I competed in because no coach would exempt me because of my age.”
Hendrick, 42, will retire from modern pentathlon in 2023. He is a lawyer in Plymouth.
She was joined in the Class of 2024 by Saginaw swim coach John Mushlin, who taught Hendrick to swim.
“Being in this Hall of Fame is so great because of the people that are there,” Hendrick said. “So many great athletes, so many great names. It’s an incredible honor.”
2024 Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame Inductees:
heidi hendrick
Heidi Hendrick was a multi-sport standout at Nouvelle University, earning 12 varsity letters in swimming, basketball, soccer, volleyball and softball from 1996 to 1999, and all-state honorable mention in soccer and basketball. Obtained.
But swimming was her best sport, winning the high school state championships in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle five times and earning Michigan Class BCD Swimmer of the Year honors in 1998. She swam at the University of Texas and the University of Notre Dame and helped Texas win big championships. She won 12 titles in 2000 and 2001, and Notre Dame won the Big East title in 2002 and 2003. She was named a captain during her senior year at Notre Dame, where she was selected as the recipient of the Knute Lockney Scholar-Athlete Award.
After graduating from college, Hendrick didn’t stop competing and moved on to modern pentathlon, which consists of swimming, fencing, vaulting, running, and shooting. She earned a spot on the Team USA national team in 2022 and 2023 by finishing second in the country. She competed in her two World Championships and competed in the 2023 Pan American Games with Team Her USA.
nick pumford
Nick Pumford was a golfer at St. Charles High School, earning All-State honors from 2003 to 2005 and second in the state in 2004 and 2005. He played collegiate golf at the University of Michigan, where he helped the Wolverines reach the NCAA postseason tournament. He competed in 2008 and 2009, and in 2009 appeared in the NCAA Championship for the first time in 12 years. UM lost in the semifinals to eventual national champion Texas A&M. Pumford started all 14 games and won the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award at Michigan State.
Pumford competed in the 2009 U.S. Amateur Championship, reaching the final 16 twice. He was also a dominant golfer, winning the Saginaw District Golf Championship from 2006 until 2009.
Following his playing career, he also had success as a coach, becoming an assistant coach at George State University and the University of Michigan. In 2016, Pumford became the head golf coach at Oakland University.
Freeland Softball 2003, 2005
Freeland won two softball state titles in 2003 and 2005, following ace and Saginaw County Sports Hall of Famer Stacey Delaney.
In 2003, Freeland won the Division 3 state title with a 1-0 win over Niles and finished the season with a 30-2 record under coach Dan Boemlander. Delaney had a record of 27 wins and one loss with an ERA of 0.08.
Two years later, Delaney was a dominant force on the mound as Freeland defeated Riverview 4-0 to cap a 42-3 season and win the state title.
Freeland’s pitching average was 0.26 with 600 strikeouts and 30 shutouts. Offensively, the Falcons had a team batting average of .334, 278 RBIs, 21 home runs, and a .444 on-base percentage.
Saginaw Gear 1980-81
The Saginaw Gears won the Turner Cup in their ninth season in the league. The Gears, coached by Don Perry, won the East Division and were led by IHL MVP and leading scorer Marcel Comeau. The Gears were strengthened by acquiring Warren Holmes and Don Waddell from the Houston Apollos during the season.
The Gears led the IHL with 392 goals and posted a franchise-record 98 points with a 45-29-8 record. Saginaw was nearly unbeatable in the playoffs, defeating Port Huron, Fort Wayne, and Kalamazoo to win the IHL title, but only lost one game in the playoffs, in two overtimes.
Other key contributors to the title were Scott Gruhl, Mike Hartman, Bob Gladney, Gord Brooks, Larry Goodenough and goaltender Bob Froese.
John Muslin
Before becoming one of the state’s top swimming coaches, John Muslin was a varsity swimmer at Michigan State University from 1966 to 1968, finishing eighth in the 200 butterfly at the Big Ten Championships. After graduating from college, Muslin taught at Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower, and White Pine Middle Schools in Saginaw Township from 1969 to 2998.
Muslin, who has a record of 211 wins and 47 losses as a head coach, led the MacArthur boys team from 1970 to 1972, the girls team from 1977 to 1987, and the Heritage girls team from 1989 to 1995 after the high school integration. served as a coach. Muslin was twice named Coach of the Year.
Muslin, who won the state championship in the 100 butterfly, was named Saginaw Valley Coach of the Year and Regional Coach of the Year. He is in the Monroe High School Hall of Fame, the Michigan Swimming Coaches Hall of Fame and the Saginaw County Swimming Hall of Fame.
He is also in his 54th season on the boys and girls basketball roster.
Lou Dawkins
Lou Dawkins scored more than 1,000 points during his career as a varsity basketball player at Saginaw High School from 1986-1989. The 6-foot-5 forward earned Saginaw Valley League first-team honors as a junior and senior, and was named SVL Most Valuable Player and first-team All-State as a senior.
Dawkins, who tied Ernie Thompson’s Saginaw High School scoring record with 44 points, played in college at Tulsa under coach Tubby Smith. He was named a captain during his senior season, averaging 12.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 138 assists, and 53 steals. He appeared in 122 games during his career at Tulsa and was named Missouri Valley Defensive Player of the Year in 1993-1994.
Dawkins led Tulsa to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1994, hitting a 3-pointer from the corner to defeat Oklahoma State in the tournament. Dawkins returned to Saginaw High School after earning a bachelor’s degree in health, physical education and recreation.
As head men’s basketball coach, Dawkins led the Trojans to back-to-back state championships in 2007 and 2008 and earned National Coach of the Year honors in 2007. In seven seasons as head coach at Saginaw High School, Dawkins compiled a record of 149-28. He then became an assistant coach at Northern Illinois and Cleveland State. He currently serves as the head coach at Muskogee High School in Oklahoma.
tom smallwood
Tom Smallwood grew up in Flushing and joined the Saginaw Valley State University bowling team, earning his first PBA tour card in 2003. In 2009, Smallwood won the PBA World Championship and earned PBA exemption. He recorded the longest sudden-death win in PBA history at the 2013 PBA World Championship.
Smallwood, who was inducted into the Saginaw Bowling Hall of Fame in 2018, has thrown .300 11 times in PBA competition. Smallwood’s rise from laid-off assembly line worker to PBA champion is portrayed in the CBS sitcom created by Saginaw native Brian d’Arcy James and starring Pete Holmes, Chee McBride, and Katie Laws. It became the basis. The series How We Roll first aired on March 31, 2022, but was canceled two months later.
Guy “Ike” Gerber
Ike Garber was an influential tennis player in Michigan and was the No. 1 singles player at Cranbrook Prep School from 1935 to 1936. He moved to Saginaw and became a top player on the Arthur Hill varsity team, winning the MHSAA Class A singles state title twice.
After graduating from high school, Garber played at the University of Miami (Florida) from 1938 to 1941 as the No. 2 singles player behind Pancho Segura. Gerber and Segura became doubles partners and won the Florida Open Tennis Tournament and the Midwinter Doubles Championship. Garber competed against notable players such as Pancho Gonzalez, Jack Kramer, and Jimmy Evert, the father of Chris Evert.
Returning to Michigan, Garber won three consecutive Michigan State men’s titles and also won the men’s junior and senior tournaments. He promoted tennis in Saginaw and hosted clinics and exhibitions while Gerber helped develop his tennis court.
