Great fans are caretakers of caring who inspire others to share their caring about K athletes and contests. When one sees Marigene Arnold in the football bleachers, wearing her “Arnold, 1” Hornet jersey, one feels a family tie with everyone there. Acquaintance or stranger, we’re fans, and thus a family, of sorts, caring together for a few hours.

Courtside, poolside, on the pitch, or in the stands, Arnold’s ubiquitous presence represents the essence and importance of being a fan—what the late New Yorker editor and baseball writer, Roger Angell, described as “the business of caring—caring deeply and passionately, really caring—which is a capacity or an emotion that has almost gone out of our lives.”

Nearly every year Arnold worked at K, and for many years after her retirement, she attended at least one contest (and often more) in every Hornet sport, women’s teams, and men’s teams. She became so synonymous with K’s gridiron grindings that a Hornet football award carries her name. That’s especially fitting because fall-sport athletes arrive pre-term on a much lonelier campus, where a superfan “family” presence can make the place feel more like home and, well, family. Arnold was the first woman to serve on the College’s Faculty Advisory Committee for Athletics, and she was a member of the MIAA Women’s Sports Committee for many years.

Born in Georgia and reared in Florida, Arnold graduated from Miami Norland High School and earned her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Florida. She loved the study abroad program at K—its incredible potential to expand and deepen students’ perspectives—and she visited study abroad sites in France, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal, Chile, and Costa Rica.

Her favorite course to teach: “Women in Cross-Cultural Perspective,” and Arnold is as deeply committed to women’s studies as she is to athletics. In 1973, she taught the first women-centered course at K, and she was the College’s first Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) Women’s Studies representative. She lived in women’s residence halls on two occasions—Trowbridge (1974-75) and DeWaters (1975-76)—part of a K program called Faculty Member in Residence.

Among her favorite K memories: the exam-week, faculty-served, midnight breakfasts for students; and, perhaps above all, the year her beloved football Hornets ended a long drought of losses to the Hope Flying Dutchmen. Sweeeeeet!

Roger Angell’s essay is titled “Walk Off” and celebrates a World Series Game Six walk-off homer in Fenway Park by Boston Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk. The Cincinnati Reds would go on to win Game Seven and thereby the 1975 World Series. But all that’s secondary. The essay is more so about the primary importance of fans, making it less Carlton Fisk and more Marigene Arnold—what she, and other tenders and savers of caring, mean to sports, and to one another. Perhaps, concludes Angell, “we have come to a time when it no longer matters so much what the caring is about, how frail and foolish is the object of that concern, as long as the feeling itself can be saved.”

Born and reared in Brazil (Brasilia), Guilherme (Will) Guedes spent his senior year of high school as an exchange student at John Adams High School in South Bend, Ind.

“I met (Kalamazoo College Diving Coach) Kyle Oberhill during a diving meet in Michigan, and he invited me to visit Kalamazoo College and get to know the Hornet swim and dive team,” says Guedes. “I felt so welcomed and, in that moment, knew K was the right place for me.”

Guedes majored in computer science and completed undergraduate internships at MathWorks, Inc., SafeNet, Inc., and Goldman Sachs. His favorite teacher? Professor of Mathematics John Fink.

“I have no idea how, but I still know what Eigenvectors are,” says Guedes. “I suspect that’s because no matter what Dr. Fink teaches, it will somehow stick with you.”

In addition to his academic talent (Guedes completed his undergraduate degree in three years), he also is one of the most decorated divers in Hornet swimming and diving history. His honors include, among others: All Conference, three seasons; MIAA Most Valuable Diver, two seasons; All American in the one-meter (1M) dive, three seasons; All American in the three-meter (3M) dive, two seasons; MIAA 1M Champion, two seasons; MIAA 3M Champion, two seasons; National 1M Champion (2012/13); NCAA D-III Diver of the Year (2012/13); College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All American, three seasons.

“I also met my wife, Jessica Varana, on the swimming and diving team,” says Guedes, “which changed my life forever.”

In addition to his academics, athletics, and internships, Guedes somehow found the time to serve in the College’s student government and become a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Through FCA, Guedes was a member of another team, one that helped clean debris and rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey and by a series of 2013 tornadoes in Oklahoma.

After he graduated, Guedes worked in software engineering or data analytics at Goldman Sachs (NY), Facebook (Calif.), Google (Calif.), StockX (Mich.) before co-founding his own company, Yottled, in Ann Arbor (Mich.), where he currently serves as chief technology officer. Yottled is a client management platform designed to help businesses and entrepreneurs connect with clients and go remote immediately.

The most important impact of K on Guedes’s life? “The power of authentic relationships with peers,” he says. “There are many K people who mean so much to me that they’re family. Kyle, Aaron DuCharme, Dylan Shearer, Chris Manning, Giancarlo Anemone, Tendai Mudyiwa, Pan Fayang, and so many others. I wish I could name everyone who has contributed to shaping the human I’ve become, but that’d be an impossible task. Thank you, K, for everything.”

Patrick Noud’s first encounter with Kalamazoo College occurred the autumn of his high school senior year, in the men’s open division of a local tennis tournament near Lansing.

“K was nowhere on my radar,” he says, “I don’t think I even knew it existed. I had applied to Michigan, Michigan State, and UC Berkeley.”

But four Hornets were playing in that tournament. Noud beat three of them in consecutive matches. Then, in the semifinals, he played K’s coach, Timon Corwin, “who mopped me up in straight sets,” says Noud.

“At the end of the match we talked about K, the tennis team, and how it was like a family. I decided to visit, and the rest is history.”

Noud majored in biology, studied abroad in Bonn, Germany, and completed an internship in the hematology/oncology department at Bronson Hospital. “Hard to pick a favorite K experience,” he says. “I enjoyed it all. If pressed, I guess it would be the tennis team, its camaraderie.”

He excelled on the court, earning conference MVP honors multiple times and numerous national awards. He was an eight-time All American in singles (4) and doubles, with Chris Kennelly (4). He was named Midwest Region Rookie to Watch, earned Academic All-American honors, and won the Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award.

One tennis memory stands out. “My sophomore year, K hosted the NCAA national tournament at Stowe Stadium. We were favored to win,” Noud says. “I was playing number-one singles and doubles. Two weeks prior to the tournament, I broke my foot. I had surgery 10 days before the event. The seeding committee dropped us from first to third.

“After the surgery, we determined that our best chance to win would be if I could still play first singles and keep the flights the same for the rest of the team. So, I was out there in front of the home crowd, hobbling against the best in the nation. I didn’t win, and we did end up in third, but being able to play at home in front of family and friends with the support of my team was amazing!”

After graduation, Noud earned a medical degree (University of Michigan), completed a residency in orthopedic surgery (University of Vermont) and focused on a shoulder surgery specialization at the San Diego Shoulder and Arthroscopy Fellowship. He then returned to the Lansing area where, for the past 13 years, he has built a private medical practice that specializes in the surgical care of the shoulder. He is Chair of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Mclaren Greater Lansing and a faculty member in MSU’s Orthopedic Residency Program. He serves as team physician for an area high school.

“K provided me strong mentorship and the space and wherewithal to make my own choices,” says Noud. “That combination has had the biggest impact on my life.”

Hall of Fame player? Hall of Fame coach? Hall of Fame tournament director?

All three? Meet Mark Riley.

In 1980, the transfer student (University of Pittsburgh) chose K for its academics and tennis program. He majored in economics, studied abroad in Madrid, and for his SIP did a feasibility study of an indoor tennis facility, from ownership to construction and operation.

And he excelled in tennis. In 1981 and 1982 he was All-MIAA (league MVP in 1982), undefeated in MIAA match play, and a key member of teams that finished number three and number two, respectively, in NCAA Division III. He captained the 1982 squad, the year he was ranked number 12 (singles) and number seven (doubles), and the same year his D-III seventh-ranked doubles team toppled the number one ranked team (in Division I, no less!), the University of Georgia.

Maybe that’s no surprise, because during Riley’s playing tenure, the Hornet tennis squad claimed victories against D-I programs such as Notre Dame, Michigan State, Miami (Ohio), Georgia, Western Michigan University, Middle Tennessee State, Penn State, and Kent State.

After graduation, Riley played professionally and held Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world ranking for four years (1984-88). He made his Grand Prix debut in 1986.

Riley’s coaching career is equally distinguished. At Drake University (1994-96) his squad was conference runner-up. At Kansas (1996-2000) Riley’s team was ranked ninth by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) and finished second in the Big Twelve Conference. His University of Pennsylvania teams (2000-07) earned two Ivy League titles and two Eastern College Athletic Conference crowns.

Under Riley, the Kalamazoo College Hornets have won 10 conference championships. Riley was named Northeast Region Coach of the Year (D-I) in 2006, and Central Region Coach of the Year (D-III) in 2017, the same year he was inducted into the University of Pennsylvania Tennis Hall of Fame and received the USTA Blue Ribbon Tournament Director Award.

He has directed the USTA Boys’ 18 & 16 National Championships since 2008 and served on many committees and boards, including, among others: the NCAA D-III Men’s Tennis Committee (national chair), the USTA Junior Competition/Sportsmanship Committee, the USTA Collegiate Varsity Committee (vice chair), the ITA Board of Directors, and the YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo Board of Directors.

His favorite memories of K? “Time with teammates on long road trips in ‘the Checkers,’” he says. “Learning from the wisdom of professors (Romeo) Phillips, (Nora) Evers, and (Fred) Strobel, and, of course, my time with Coach Acker.

“The K-Plan,” he adds, “taught me how to work hard, work smart, and make time to live graciously. The latter,” he smiles, “always a work in progress.”

Sarah Woods sought a three-in-one, and she found K number one.

“There were three things I wanted out of college,” she explains. “Tennis, study abroad, and a good biology program. Kalamazoo College was one of the only schools strong in all three. And, for me, K ended up being way more than just those things.”

Woods majored (unsurprisingly) in biology. She studied abroad in Strasbourg, France, where she played tennis once or twice weekly with local coaches. After her sophomore year she worked for Americorps: Communities in Schools, teaching biology to at-risk students. She completed her Senior Individualized Project at the Kalamazoo Nature Center (KNC), working in the butterfly propagation program.

“In order to receive grants and permission to propagate the endangered Mitchell Satyr Butterfly, KNC had to ‘prove’ its fitness for that task,” Woods says. “So, that summer we raised a surrogate species, the Appalachian Brown Butterfly, which is very similar to the Mitchell Satyr. That was my SIP.”

Woods is also one of the most distinguished tennis players in K history. She was all-conference first team, all four seasons. She was league MVP, all four seasons. She earned All-American honors in singles, all four seasons. She participated in the NCAA D-III Singles National Championship Tournament, all four seasons, advancing to the quarterfinals in 2013.

During her K career she was ranked number 12 singles (2013), number 20 singles (2014), number 20 singles and doubles, with Sabrina Dass (2015), and number 18 singles and number 25 doubles, with Sabrina Dass (2016). Woods’s honors include the NCAA National Rookie of the Year (2013), NCAA Central Region Player to Watch (2014), NCAA Central Region Senior Player of the Year (2016), and the ITA/Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award (National and Regional, 2016). Woods also received the College’s Tish Loveless Award her senior year.

Woods earned a master’s degree in biological sciences at Western Michigan University. After an internship as a wildlife rehabilitation professional (Wildlife in Need Center, Oconomowoc, Wis.), Woods began her career at Charles River Laboratories, a preclinical pharmaceutical contract research organization. She worked four years as a surgical technician, and, during the pandemic, contributed to studies germane to COVID vaccine and treatment development. Today she serves as a support scientist, producing study protocols, creating disease models, and reporting data to pharmaceutical company clients. “In this role,” she says, “I have helped introduce MRI software that allows for the simultaneous occurrence of MRI and surgery, which, in turn, allows for more accurate brain-targeted pharmaceutical delivery.”

The most important influence K has had on her life? “It gave me confidence to be a leader,” says Woods. “At work I can take the reins of projects that I never imagined I could understand, much less lead.”

“The greatest basketball team that ever represented Kalamazoo College! This is the distinction awarded the 1922 team which proved itself champions of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, undisputed winners of the state collegiate title, and winners of second honors in the national intercollegiate tournament.

In the twenty-five games of the season, Kalamazoo won twenty-two, piling up 855 points to opponents’ 489. The losses to Valparaiso and Hope were later made up by Kazoo’s defeating both teams. For the ninth time in as many years, the Orange and Black team finished at the top of the MIAA, setting a world’s record that has never been equaled in the history of sport.

The high spots of the year, in addition to winning the MIAA, were the two defeats given to Notre Dame. Eliminating M.A.C. as a contender in the state race; defeating the University of Detroit twice; defeating the University of Idaho, champions of the entire Pacific coast, and Grove City College, champions of the east; thus earning second title in the national intercollegiate race

To use Coach Ralph Young’s analysis of the team, Kalamazoo had the three essentials of basketball, much speed, great ability, and vast endurance. Kalamazoo had five stars in every game who used fine teamwork. Rapid-fire passing was one of the basis on which plays were built. The men went into every game with the idea that baskets would count for the team and not for the man who touched the ball last. They also knew that when the opposing team secured the ball all five Kazoo men would automatically change to guards. The Orange and Black excelled in real guarding. Lastly, the success of a real team depends upon its ability to deliver in the pinches and Kalamazoo delivered.”

Team members include: Wilson Betzner, Clyde Bowser, Robert Grant, Leland Hall, Milton Hinga, Linn Kerr, Phede Lambke, Lisle MacKay, Marcus Mundwiler, Victor Petschulat, Everett Smith, Fred Spurgeon, Tom Vroeg and Head Coach Ralph Young

The 1976-77 women’s swimming and diving team came into the season with high hopes, hoping to surpass the success of the previous year’s team. The outlook was bright with an outstanding group of first year student/athletes to bolster the returning group. The team was young as there were eight first-year athletes, four sophomores, one junior, and one senior. Coach Maurer had every expectation that the 1976-77 team would be contenders in the WMIAA relays scheduled to take place at K.

The team was undefeated in conference dual meets making them champions of the WMIAA. The team was successful in winning the relays in 11 of 12 events at the league meet. The results of the league meet were as follows: Kalamazoo-140, Calvin-76, Albion-74, Alma-28, Adrian-10, and Hope-8.

Kalamazoo participated at the Eastern Michigan Invitational. The Hornets ended up in sixth place competing against Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University, Indiana State, Michigan State University, Oakland University, Virginia and Western Michigan University. In comparison to their larger-school competition, the Hornets held their own and competed well.

Highlights of the season from various team members include “driving across Michigan during a snowstorm in those vans- at night – a little scary and coming out of practice in the winter and having one’s hair freeze”. Other recollections include the need to get used to each other which made things interesting and forced a switch up of who swam what event because new faces were circling in and out of the team. Ultimately, this may have made us a better team through the years. Team members were flexible as they ended up swimming things they did not want to swim, but did it without complaint. This “forced” flexibility ended up being a good K value to carry with us at K and in our lives after Kalamazoo College!

Team honors went to Cathie Kroeschell as Most Valuable and Jane Woodworth as Most Improved. Team captains were Kroeschell and Heather Gilchrist. Julie Chappell and Kroeschell both qualified for the AIAW national tournament.

The 1976-77 women’s swimming and diving team ended their season with a record of seven wins and four defeats and enjoyed being the WMIAA league champions!

Team members include: Sally Baker, Chris Bodurow, Julie Candoli, Lisa Carnall, Julie Chappell, Mary DeYoung, Cindy Donovan, Carol Franke, Laura Franseen, Sue Getz, Heather Gilchrist, Sue Hegel, Kelly Kent, Cathie Kroeschell, Barb Kurth, Jill Latta, Charlotte Nelis, Ann Oswald, Cindy Ratliffe, Donna Schimmel, Stacy Semenczuk, Colleen Sherburne, Ann Stevens, Cheryl Sulisz, Leslie Touma, Kathy VerDuin, Jane Woodworth, Patty Wotila, Team Manager, Barb DeRose and Head Coach Lyn Maurer

Note: The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), founded in 1971, was establishd to govern collegiate women’s athletics in the United States and to administer national championships.

The 1977-78 Women’s Swimming and Diving Team was small in numbers yet their potential was enormous. Coach Lyn Maurer was confident about her team’s performance. A quote from Coach Maurer in the December 1, 1977 The Index said, “Even though the WMIAA schools will be improved from last year, more than half of the team records will be broken this season.”

In the previous 1976-77 season, the women were undefeated in conference action and took first place in the WMIAA relays. Coach Maurer was quoted saying, “Although our team is smaller than we have been in the past, we should be at least as strong as in any previous years.” Despite those small numbers of participants on the swim team, fifteen in total, Coach Maurer built a competitive women’s program. As the season evolved, Maurer’s expectations for a successful season came true with victories in the first five competitions, which included winning the WMIAA relays.

The Hornets hosted the WMIAA meet favored to come out with the 1978 championship. Winning the league meet combined with finishing the dual meet competition undefeated would make the league championship a reality. The K tankers finished the regular season in style by scoring 100 points to take the league title. The league meet was the first all-conference competition in the history of the WMIAA women’s swimming program. K swimmers took first place in seven of the 14 possible events. Conference standing ended with the Hornets in first, followed by Albion, Calvin, Alma, Adrian and Hope finished last.

The Hornets faced tough non-league competition in meets against Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Northern Michigan and Valparaiso. While being defeated by WMU, Julie Redner placed first in the 100-yard breaststroke, which made her eligible for national competition. The disappointment of losses to WMU and EMU were softened by victories over Northern Michigan (74-56) and Valparaiso (71-60). During the Valparaiso meet, the 200-yard freestyle relay team of Julie Chappell, Patty Wotila, Redner and Corinne Lewis qualified for national competition.

The team ended the season with a 9-2 record. Team honors for the season went to Corinne Lewis as Most Valuable and Cindy Ackerman as Most Improved. Team captains were Julie Candoli and Wotila.
Team members include: Cindy Ackerman, Anne Campbell, Julie Candoli, Julie Chappell, Laura Franseen, Martha Fulford, Pam Hamp, Barb Kurth, Corinne Lewis, Kay Lincoln, Francie Noland, Julie Redner, Cheryl Sulisz, Martha Talbott, Patty Wotila and Head Coach Lyn Maurer

1978-79 Women’s Swimming and Diving Team, as defending MIAA champions, began its season facing its stiffest league competition ever. Coach Lyn Maurer believed that the excellent group of freshmen and a large number of returning swimmers would again be strong contenders in the MIAA league.

In the January 18, 1979 The w article, Maurer said of her team of twenty, only two of whom have no previous competitive swimming experience, “They are a very nice group of young women, and fun to work with. All six sophomores on the team have previous swimming experience. Two, Corrine Lewis and Julie Redner, competed in the national meet last year as freshmen. Seniors Heather Gilchrist and Jane Woodworth, and junior Julie Chappell are returning for their third season. Chappell also went to nationals last year. Freshman Sue Herriman is adding her diving experience to the team.” In light of her team’s depth, Maurer says, “They look strong in most every stroke. The team should break more than half of the existing records.”

An excerpt from the 1978-79 Hornets Winter Sports Prospectus: “The women’s swim team, defending MIAA league and relay champions, has the makings of a top-rated squad … Coach Maurer expects this year’s squad to break twelve out of the eighteen existing team records.”
The Hornet’s league contest again Albion College was quite memorable as the meet ended with five school records broken and K victorious by a score of 78-52. The two teams were tied at 35-35 with half of the events completed; however, the K tankers consistently out-muscled the Albion Brits for the remainder of the meet. School records set included:

• 200-yard medley relay (Renee Rutz, Julie Redner, Sandy Hoisington and Karen Hink)
• 50-yard backstroke – Rutz
• 100-yard backstroke – Rutz
• 100-yard individual medley – Hoisington
• 400-yard freestyle relay – Chappell, Hoisington, Lewis and Abby Frame

In non-league competitions, the Hornets came out on the short end of a 72-59 decision against Western Michigan. The K tankers won their closest victory of the season by defeating Northern Michigan 65-63. The Hornets lost to a powerful Oakland University team by a score of 79-52.

At the end of the season, the Kalamazoo College Women’s Swim Team became the MIAA Conference Champions for the second consecutive year. The following MIAA records were set this season:

• 200 Freestyle – Sandy Hoisington
• 500 Freestyle – Sandy Hoisington
• 100 Butterfly – Sandy Hoisington
• 200 Individual Medley – Karen Hink
• 3-Meter Dive – Sue Herriman
• 800 Freestyle Relay – Renee Rutz, Karen Hink, Corinne Lewis, and Sandy Hoisington
• 400 Medley Relay – Julie Chappell, Sandy Hoisington, Corinne Lewis and Abby Frame

The K women tankers ended the season with a 10 and 2 record. Team honors went to Sandy Hoisington as Most Valuable and Abby Frame as Most Improved. Team captains were Heather Gilchrist, Corinne Lewis, and Jane Woodworth.

Team members include: Cindy Ackerman, Mary Adams, Anne Campbell, Julie Chappell, Cindy Donovan, Abby Frame, Carol Franke, Heather Gilchrist, Julie, Halstead, Sue Hegel, Sue Herriman, Karen Hink, Sandy Hoisington, Lori Kahle, Corinne Lewis, Debbie Medkeff, Jennifer Mills, Dawn Moilanen, Francie Noland, Kathy Plaisier, Julie Redner, Renee Rutz, Kay Spring, Cheryl Sulisz, Amy VanDomelen, Mary VonEhr, Jane Woodworth, Team Manager Pam Hamp and Head Coach Lyn Maurer.

The 1985 Kalamazoo Men’s Soccer Team is one of three of the most successful teams in the history of the sport at the College. Coach Hardy Fuchs thinks all three teams suffered from a disorder: they were “loss-averse”. Because of this eccentric condition, Coach Fuchs suggests that they should not be inducted into the Hall of Fame but rather, “indicted”. All three squads put together seasons without a loss. The team of 1985 ended up with 17 wins, no losses, and two ties (MIAA record: 11-0-1). The Hornets also qualified for the NCAA national tournament but did not make it past the first round.

That season also included a game with the highest score in men’s soccer history at K. Kalamazoo won, 20-0, on Parents Day, with the game being played on Angell Field because of the special occasion and made possible by the generosity of the football program. Coach Fuchs and the players did not feel comfortable with the outcome as the score looked more like an American football result. At halftime, the K coaching staff offered to play with fewer men on the field, but that offer was not considered a good solution by the opponents. One of the Hornets, sophomore Marc Tirikian, ended up scoring ten goals and received some exposure in the People in the Crowd section of Sports Illustrated, including a head/shoulder shot. Coach Fuchs, in contrast, got some flak from colleagues.

Several individuals from this glorious season received high honors individually. Tirikian earned the Team MVP award for the Hornets as well as First-Team All-MIAA recognition; Jon Beaubien was the Team’s Most Improved Player, and with Ralf Schreiber also earned All-MIAA First team honors. Michael Greening and Kevin Kitka were members of the All-MIAA Second Team.

It should also be noted that four players on this team — Dan Coats, Chris Dukes, Brian Libby and John Nanos (seniors on the 1988 Hall of Fame team) are receiving the hall of fame honor for the second time! Speaking of seniors: The 1985 Hornets, THIS team, did not include a single senior among its nineteen members!

Team members include Jon Beaubien, Tom Beaubien, David Beebe, Adam Cermak, Dan Coats, Chris Drabik, Chris Dukes, Michael Greening, Ernie Johnson, John Kennedy, Kevin Kitka, Brian Libby, Mirko Mikelic, John Nanos, Brian Paul, Paul Regelbrugge, Ralf Schreiber, Ali Shabangu, Marc Tirikian and Head Coach Hardy Fuchs.
The 1985 men’s soccer team was indeed an extraordinary squad and unreservedly deserves the exceptional honor of being introduced to the institution’s Hall of Fame. Congratulations, men!