Members of the Whitehall Sports Hall of Fame induction class of 2012 pose with their plaques following the Nov. 10 ceremony. From left are, Jeff DeLong, Tia Brandel-Wilhelm, Bud Longnecker, Harry Barrett, Jerry Jacobson, Jay O’Connell, Rex Funnell, Dave A
It may have been the second annual Whitehall Hall of Fame Banquet Saturday evening, Nov. 10, but there were several firsts.
The first female inductee, Tia Brandel-Wilhelm, a three-sport prep starter who graduated in 1986 and has become a successful collegiate volleyball coach; the first coach inductee, Jerry Jacobson, who coached five sports over a span of 36 years; and the first team, the 1959 state championship boys golf squad. Also inducted was 1996 Whitehall graduate Jeff DeLong, who led his team to a state track title his senior year and later set records at Central Michigan University and ran professionally for Nike.
The Hall of Fame committee also recognized Rex Funnell, a three-sport star athlete at Whitehall in 1933, who later was a football announcer for the Vikings in the ‘50s and ‘60s, with a Lifetime Service Award.
“Whitehall is number one, A-number one all the time,” Jacobson said in his acceptance speech.
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