This story was written by Dennis Grall at the U.P. Sports Hall of Fame
ESCANABA---Four natives of the Upper Peninsula's Copper Country are among 10 new inductees into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame.
Former Olympic skier Mary (Seaton) Brush of Hancock, six-time state hockey champion coach Jim Crawford of Calumet, Hancock multi-sport standout and state champion hockey coach Chris Givens and the late Carl "Scuppy" Backstrom of Calumet, a onetime minor league pitcher who earned football and basketball scholarships to Michigan Tech, headline the 2017 induction class.
They will be joined by Therese Altobelli of Iron Mountain, the first female to leap of fabled Pine Mountain Ski Jump, Lisa (Roell) Harry of Kingsford, a former University of Minnesota basketball player and onetime U.P. career girls basketball scoring leader,
U.P. and West Point Academy track standout Greg Londo of Gwinn, Lake Superior State basketball standout Brad Shouldice of Sault Ste. Marie, the late Al Inkala of Wakefield, who was a four-year basketball letterman at Northern Michigan University and coached Okemos High School to six state tennis titles, and the late Lou Thesz of Banat, near Stephenson.
Thesz was a professional wrestler for more than 50 years and won four world titles.
They will be inducted May 13 at the Island Resort and Casino west of Escanaba.
ESCANABA---Four natives of the Upper Peninsula's Copper Country are among 10 new inductees into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame.
Former Olympic skier Mary (Seaton) Brush of Hancock, six-time state hockey champion coach Jim Crawford of Calumet, Hancock multi-sport standout and state champion hockey coach Chris Givens and the late Carl "Scuppy" Backstrom of Calumet, a onetime minor league pitcher who earned football and basketball scholarships to Michigan Tech, headline the 2017 induction class.
They will be joined by Therese Altobelli of Iron Mountain, the first female to leap of fabled Pine Mountain Ski Jump, Lisa (Roell) Harry of Kingsford, a former University of Minnesota basketball player and onetime U.P. career girls basketball scoring leader,
U.P. and West Point Academy track standout Greg Londo of Gwinn, Lake Superior State basketball standout Brad Shouldice of Sault Ste. Marie, the late Al Inkala of Wakefield, who was a four-year basketball letterman at Northern Michigan University and coached Okemos High School to six state tennis titles, and the late Lou Thesz of Banat, near Stephenson.
Thesz was a professional wrestler for more than 50 years and won four world titles.
They will be inducted May 13 at the Island Resort and Casino west of Escanaba.
