Lake Linden-Hubbell Athletic Hall of Fame Announces First Class

The inaugural class of members of the new Lake Linden-Hubbell Athletic Hall of Fame has been announced. The induction ceremony will take place September 23rd at 9:30 am, along with a continental breakfast in the new high school commons area. The public is invited. This year’s honorees will also be saluted at half time of the Homecoming football game. The All Sports Booster Club will recognize those selected at their Fall Dinner Fundraiser which will be held that evening at the Bootjack Fire Hall. A limited number of advanced sale tickets are available for this event. You must be at least 21 years of age to attend. Call the Lake Linden-Hubbell school for ticket information.

The new members include (bios provided by the Lake Linden-Hubbell Athletic Department):

Russ Laurin: Coach/Teacher 1962-1996 Coach 2005-2014
Russ Laurin was a longtime Lake Linden-Hubbell High School teacher and coach. He was a graduate of Houghton High School, a military veteran, and Lake Linden-Hubbell Teacher. He taught at the school from 1962-1988 and coached 1962-1996 and 2005-2014.

During his time with the District, he was the track coach for 31 years. While coaching he earned 15 Conference Championships, 3 Regional Championships, and 2 Runner-up U.P. Championships. He also served as a LL-H Football Coach at various levels for 42 years and LL-H Basketball Coach, also at different levels for 16 years and was a MHSAA basketball official.

Russ Laurin was inducted into Michigan High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 1989 and received the Lake Linden-Hubbell School Service Award in 2014. He still continues to volunteer his time to work with the school’s athletes.

Wayne Nester: Athlete 1921-1925
Wayne Nester lettered in football and basketball while attending Lake Linden-Hubbell High School and participated in various baseball leagues in the area. The basketball teams he played for in 1923/24 and 1924/25 both won conference and district championships. The 1924/25 team won the Upper Peninsula High School Basketball Tournament and was the State Finalist Runner-up in Class B. He was named to the Class B All-Tournament Team.

He earned four letters each in Basketball and Baseball at Western Michigan University.
He was signed by the Cleveland Indians in 1929 and trained with them until he was moved to the minor league where he decided to not continue. He credited this decision to his father saying, “I can blame my dad for all this. He was the one who interested me in baseball and then encouraged me to get a college education. He even told me to take this teaching job, rather than play pro ball.”

He went on to coach football, basketball, and baseball at Detroit Southeastern where he was a teacher. He led Detroit Southeastern to its first ever baseball championship in 1930.

Wayne Nester was a finalist for “Retro” Mr. Basketball-1925 as awarded by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan. He was described as “The outstanding star of the Upper Peninsula tournament where he averaged 12 points over five games.” According to the Ironwood Daily Globe, “Nester was the most accurate shot of the tournament, (was) probably the fastest man on the floor…(and) displayed excellent defensive qualities.”

Dan Short: Athlete 1973-1977
Dan Short lettered in football (4 years), basketball (4 years), and track (4 years) while attending Lake Linden-Hubbell High School. He also participated in American Legion Baseball as an All-League centerfielder.

While participating in athletics at the school he earned All-Conference honors 3 years and was name on the All UP team as a senior in football. His basketball honors included
Conference team selections for 3 years and All State Honorable Mention as a senior. He still holds several basketball records at the school including: Career Scoring Leader: 2nd-1211 points, Single Game Scoring Leader: 2nd-39 Points (1976-77), Career Free Throws Made: 5th-148, and Career 2-Point Field Goal Shooting: 1st-418. In track he earned a total of 262.5 points. He was named the LL-H Outstanding Male Athlete in 1977.

After high school, Dan Short played on the Gogebic Community College men’s basketball team. He became an Industrial Arts teacher and coach in Kingsford, retiring in 2014. During that time he was a youth and high school basketball coach for 25 years,  coaching freshmen, JV, and varsity basketball at Kingsford. As varsity basketball coach he won the district championships and regional championship leading to the Class B State Quarterfinals in 1992. He coached football at various levels for 20 years.

Barb Sickler: Coach/Teacher 1964-1992
Barb Sickler was a longtime teacher and coach in the Lake Linden-Hubbell school district. She was a pioneer in female athletics both at the school and in the U.P. She was a member of the U.P. Women’s Coaches Association as Treasurer, choreographed the 1st optional floor exercise in Gymnastics for the U.P., represented the U.P. in 1978 at the 1st Institute of Girls and Women’s Sports at Eastern Michigan, and represented the U.P. at the Annual Meeting of the Michigan High School Athletic Association in East Lansing.

She graduated from Calumet High School and attended Michigan State University where she was involved in field hockey extramurals, modern dance and was a “rover” in basketball, which meant she could play the entire court. She coached in allowed “Sports Days” for girls from 1960-1965. During this time 3 Sport Days per year were given to females to compete in athletics with other schools as individuals and teams. She began teaching at LL-H in 1964 where part of her position as a Physical Education teacher was to coach the cheerleaders and majorettes. She began the gymnastics and track programs at Lake Linden-Hubbell High School in 1966. Lake Linden-Hubbell was the smallest school to compete in the Upper Peninsula in gymnastics. She coached her track team to a U.P. title in 1982.

Barb Sickler’s last year of coaching was 1985 but she continued to help the gymnasts and coaches. She worked and set up their meets and became a local judge and a superior judge at the U.P. Finals. She also organized and worked at local track meets and the U.P. Finals. When Lake Linden-Hubbell no longer offered gymnastics, she became a registered volleyball official for the area until her retirement in 1992.

She has stated that her biggest satisfaction is starting girls’ sports at LL-H. She cites the school as a very progressive school for allowing girls’ sports before Title 9.

Barb Short Radeka: Athlete 1972-1976
Barb Short Radeka participated in cheerleading (3 Years), junior varsity basketball (1 year), varsity basketball (2 years) gymnastics (4 years), and track (4 years) while attending Lake Linden-Hubbell High School. She was a sophomore when basketball became a sport for girls at LL-H.

While participating in basketball she was named to the 2nd team Copper Country Conference in 1974, the 1st team Copper Country Conference in 1975, and the All UP Team in 1975. She was extremely successful while participating in track at the school and is still the current long jump record holder with a jump of 16’17”. Her 100-yard dash record of 11.8 seconds has been retired at the school and at the UP Finals after the distance was changed to meters. She was the Lake Linden-Hubbell Outstanding Female Athlete of 1976.

After high school, Barb Short Radeka helped coach basketball and gymnastics and served as a cheerleading advisor.

Harry Trainor: Coach/Teacher 1918-1923 Administrator 1927-1954
Harry Trainor was a long time administrator, coach and teacher at Lake Linden High School. He coached football, basketball, track, and baseball and was the first boys basketball coach at Lake Linden.

He received his early education in the rural schools of Isabella County and high school in Mount Pleasant. He lettered in football, basketball, track, boxing and wrestling at Central Michigan University. He came to Lake Linden in 1918 where he organized and coached the first boys basketball team in the school’s history. During the inaugural season they lost the first game to Calumet 76-2 and beat Calumet in the last game 13-12. He was known as a great motivator.

1920, his basketball team won the Copper Country Conference Championship. In
1921 the team won the Copper Country Conference and the UP Class C Championship.

Harry Trainor took a principal/coaching job at Crystal Falls in 1923. He returned to Lake Linden in 1927 as Superintendent, a position he held until 1954. He was known to support athletics during his administrative tenure and coached the Red Devils-Lake Linden’s men’s independent basketball team.

Angela Guisfredi Van Wagner: Athlete 2002-2006
Angela Guisfredi Van Wagner lettered in basketball (4 years), volleyball (3 years), and track (4 years) while attending Lake Linden-Hubbell High School.

While participating in basketball at the school, she earned All-Conference honors 4 years, was named to the All U.P. team 3 times, earned All State Honorable Mention honors 3 years and was the Copper Country Conference MVP her Senior Year. She currently holds the record as Lakes All Time Leading Scorer with 1331 points. In volleyball,
she earned a position on the Mountain Lakes Conference team 3 years, was selected All Region 2 years, and earned All State Honorable Mention honors her senior year. She was the LL-H Outstanding Female Athlete in 2006.

Her track honors include all state recognition in Pole Vault, 400 M Dash, 200 M Dash, 100 M Dash, 1600 M Relay, 800 M Relay, 400 M Relay, School Record Holder 400 M Dash, was the Copper Country Conference MVP her senior year and is currently the 3rd all time leading scorer.

Angela Guisfredi Van Wagner went on to be a 4-Year Letter Winner at MTU where she still holds the MTU School Record Games Played-130, the MTU School Record 3 Point Shooting %-50.4, the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Record 3-Point Shooting %-56.7. She is presently in her 3rd year of residency at McClaren-Macomb County Hospital in Mount Clemens, Michigan working as an Emergency Department Doctor.

Ron Warner: Coach/Athletic Director/Teacher 1972-2000
Ron Warner graduated from Norway High School where he participated in football, basketball, baseball and track. He received his B.A. from Michigan State University. Upon graduation, he became a teacher and coach at Pewamo-Westphalia for two years.

He moved to Lake Linden in 1972, where he was a long time coach, athletic director, and teacher. He coached football for twenty-nine years and had tremendous success. His overall coaching record was 229-61-1. This included 16 Conference Championships, 14 Play-Off Appearances, 9 Regional Championships, 6 State Finals Appearances, and 2 State Championships. Both State Championship teams were undefeated. He retired from teaching in 1999 and coaching in 2000.

Ron Warner was selected as Michigan Class D Coach of the Year 5 times, was inducted into the UP Sports Hall of Fame in 2000, is a member of the Michigan High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame, received the Lake Linden-Hubbell Outstanding Employee Award and the school’s athletic field is named in his honor.