Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees Share Stories of Challenge, Strength

Written by Doug Goodnough

A program on the brink of extinction that found its footing and reached for greatness. A walk-on student-athlete who battled the odds and a life-threatening illness to become a national champion. And a four-year starting offensive lineman who drew NFL attention on a team that took on all comers. Those inducted March 26 at the annual Hillsdale College Athletic Hall of Fame Ceremony faced plenty of challenges during their athletic careers.

“Strength Rejoices in the Challenge” indeed.

In front of an audience of approximately 200 guests in the Searle Center, inductees Robert Mallendick, ’66; Jason Stomps, ’10; and the 1988-1991 softball teams got to share their stories in a very personal and passionate way.

Jason Stomps, ’10

No one was perhaps more passionate than Stomps, who recounted his journey as a middle-of-the-road high school athlete to an NCAA Division II national champion. Arriving at Hillsdale not intending to compete in athletics, Stomps said “something was missing” after he got on campus. That something was athletic competition.

A classmate encouraged him to try out for Hillsdale’s track and field team. He was just an average runner in high school, but the coaches wanted him to try something different—throwing events. Building his body up some 70 pounds and working religiously on his technique, Stomps was soon moving up the competitive ladder. Soon he was setting personal bests at almost every meet in both the hammer throw and 35-pound weight toss.

A pneumonia scare that hospitalized him for weeks and had him lose more than 40 pounds did not deter his competitive spirit. He recovered in time to become Hillsdale’s first NCAA Division II national champion athlete—winning the 2010 indoor weight throw event with a toss of 70 feet, 8 ½ inches. He later set an outdoor school mark in the hammer throw with a heave of 217 feet, 1 inch. Both are Hillsdale records to this day.

Robert Mallendick, ’66

His body is no longer capable of moving people up and down Muddy Waters Field, but the competitive spirit remains. The 78-year-old Mallendick, who was surrounded by his family at the ceremony, talked about how Hillsdale competed against much larger schools—and often won. A rare four-year starter in football, the offensive tackle was the team’s Offensive Lineman of the Year three times. An eventual eighth-round draft pick of the New York Jets, he made it to the final cuts in 1966.

Though professional football didn’t work out, Mallendick quickly carved out another successful professional career, using his economics degree to become the president and CEO of Seaway Fuels Trucking in the Toledo area.

1988-1991 Softball Teams

Carolyn Ohm-Holt didn’t realize it at the time, but she held the future of the Hillsdale softball program in her hands. In 1986, then-Athletic Director Jack McAvoy called and asked her to coach the team. If she said “no” to the job, Ohm-Holt learned years later that the College was planning on ending the softball program.

And there were a lot of questions surrounding the program.

Where would the team play?
Could they compete in a very competitive conference?
Would she be able to coach a college program?

However, all those question marks eventually turned into exclamation points, as Ohm-Holt said “yes” and built the foundation (including a new field) on which the program was able to win a conference title less than four years later. When she left the program after the 1988 season, she left behind a cupboard full of talented players, led by future All-American Renae Merillat Schaffner, ’90.

New coach Dave Neher had never coached softball—or women, for that matter—but used his fiery approach to help the program win two Great Lakes Conference titles and make its first appearance in the NCAA Division II tournament in 1991. More than a dozen players from those teams attended the ceremony, including former standout outfielder Kathleen “K.B.” Murawski, ’91, who proudly entered wearing her game-used jersey.

Here are some other observations from the evening:

With a theme of “audacity,” Julie Maloney Bianchi, ’91, gave the acceptance speech on behalf of her softball teammates. Before the ceremony, she recounted some of the “unusual” road trips during her playing days. One of those occurred when the team traveled to Sault Ste. Marie for a series with Lake Superior State. When the Chargers arrived up north, they discovered that heavy rains had made the home team’s field unplayable. Undeterred, the teams took a ferry over to nearby Drummond Island, where they played on a recreational field that fell way short of college standards. On another trip, Bianchi said Coach Neher rented a series of RVs at a campground and had the team housed in those makeshift “rooms.” She said in an apparent effort to “motivate” the team, Neher put on a “Jason-like” mask of Halloween movie fame and tried to scare the players in the middle of the night. Audacious indeed. Bianchi was a longtime teacher and coach at Detroit Country Day School before moving to Florida with her husband, Dan, about four years ago. She is currently the Head of Middle School at The Out-of-Door Academy, an independent school in Sarasota.
Diane Colling Joyce, ’90, has not been on the Hillsdale College campus for more than 30 years, but she returned with her son to be honored with her softball teammates. For more than 20 years she has been living in Omena, Michigan, a tiny town of less than 300 people in northern lower Michigan near Traverse City. She said her family’s claim to fame was having the first dog become of the mayor of Omena. Yes, dog. The three-year term is a ceremonial position that is an annual fundraiser for local charities. Joyce, a health and physical education major while at Hillsdale, spent some time teaching in Washington state and Montana before returning to Michigan to care for her mother. She said she references her Hillsdale education often, and is hoping her son, Jack, a high school sophomore, can follow in her footsteps at Hillsdale.
His signature red hair is now white, but the wide, beaming smile remains. Paul “Daytona” Beachler was in attendance at the ceremony and was honored with the softball teams. The retired longtime Hillsdale athletic trainer embedded himself with many athletic teams over the years, serving not only as trainer, but also as bus driver, chaperone, and fill-in coach. A nice touch by the College, and a true Hillsdale legend.
The bond of Hillsdale’s female student-athletes was strong during the 1980s and 1990s, and that showed up at the ceremony. Char Krause West, ’92, who played volleyball for the Chargers, was one of several former Chargers who attended to support their softball friends. West is back coaching her hometown Richmond High School varsity girls volleyball team. She said she enjoys bringing her team back to Hillsdale each summer for the Chargers volleyball team camp.

Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s new director of Alumni Marketing. He’s looking forward to connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.

Published in April 2022