
Championship Team Builder Ingalls Named WISL Honoree
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 22, 2021
Krista Clement played for high-caliber basketball programs at St. Ignace High School and University of Michigan. Then, after a few years of teaching, she decided to start her own team.
In 2013, Clement founded Helper Helper – a digital platform that provides tracking and coordination for community service efforts across the country and counts the NCAA among partners.
At first, Clement’s team was a team of one – herself. But as she started to build the company, her thoughts turned to her high school coach Dorene Ingalls – one of the most successful team builders in MHSAA history.
“Although we aren’t playing basketball on the Helper team, so much of what I do was through what I’ve learned from Dorene’s leadership,” Clement said. “My attempt to create a culture on my team – similar to a Saints basketball team – has come from Dorene. I now find myself trying to connect with my team the way Dorene connected with me – making my teammates feel valued and inspired to put their best foot forward every day.”
Over the last 22 years, Ingalls has built one of the most respected high school basketball programs in Michigan and become one of the most successful coaches in MHSAA history. She also has been one of the state’s most impactful advocates for girls basketball, and a presence in her adopted hometown that literally earned her the title of “ambassador” from the local chamber of commerce.
To celebrate her many and continuing contributions, Ingalls has been named the 34th recipient of the MHSAA Women In Sports Leadership Award, presented annually by the MHSAA’s Representative Council to “women coaches, officials and athletic administrators affiliated with the MHSAA who show exemplary leadership capabilities and positive contributions to athletics.”
And as with Clement, those contributions continue impacting many long after graduation.
“To have the confidence to overcome when people say you can’t do something,” Ingalls said, boiling down what she’s hoped to pass on over two decades. “We still always are like the ‘Hoosiers’ coming down (to a state championship game) – we go with that flow a little bit. We’re not going under the radar too often, but usually we don’t have as many DI (college) people as the teams we play. We try to make sure (our athletes learn) that hard work, dedication, positive attitude and don’t ever give up, fight through your adversities and just keep going, keep going, keep going.
“I get letters from kids that went to boot camp that said, ‘Oh my gosh, the only way I survived this is because of our practices and our tryouts. All these other kids are stopping, and I keep going.’ … Other ones go on to be doctors and nurses in the field. That’s what it’s all about, when kids are fighting through stuff. If they have all-nighters, they can figure that out and they know they have that inner strength they haven’t tapped into yet, that willingness to keep going. I think that’s what high school sports are about – teaching them the skills they need in life, to fight through things, that you’re capable of more, you just have to sometimes dig deep, shake it off and step it on up. … It’s just kind of a thing that sticks with some of these kids, and when you see them or get invited to weddings or whatever, it has nothing to do with records or scoreboards. It’s continuing in their life, watching them have families and successes in careers – that’s when it’s fun.”
Ingalls has provided two decades of experiences on and off the court her Saints will never forget.
Through the end of this regular season, she has led the St. Ignace girls basketball varsity to a 464-80 record since taking over the program prior to the 1999 season. Her wins are the 18th-most among girls basketball coaches in MHSAA history, and she has led teams to five Finals championships and four runner-up finishes – or a championship game berth to conclude nearly half of those seasons as head coach. Her teams have reached at least the MHSAA Semifinals 11 times, and won 16 conference, 18 District and 14 Regional championships.
Ingalls also has served 20 years as a board member for the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM), including a three-year term as part of the executive board serving as president-elect, president and past president, and she continues to serve as chairperson of the Miss Basketball Award committee. She also has served on the MHSAA Basketball Committee.
“Dorene is someone who has been passionate for years about providing opportunities for young women,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “That's easily seen in the work she's put in not just with her program but as a strong voice of leadership for the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan. She's been one of the strongest advocates for girls basketball in our state over the last 20 years.”
There’s some necessary context behind all of those on-court win-loss numbers. St. Ignace has only about 200 students and generally plays in Division 3 (or formerly Class C) or Division 4 – yet during the regular season the Saints frequently line up games against much larger opponents from all over the state. They’ve had their share of stars, especially for such a small schools, but the success is also a testament to how Ingalls works to find specific roles for as many players as possible – whether it’s for a minute here or there to grab a rebound or get a steal, many play at least some little part in keeping the team moving forward.
And the memories made off the court have meant just as much, if not more.
Clement, who became the Upper Peninsula’s first Miss Basketball Award winner in 2003 and then a four-year captain at U-M, recalled how much she and her teammates laughed with their coach and how Ingalls has a talent for connecting with her players.
“Her record by itself could garner consideration for this award, but that is not the primary reason I write this letter,” wrote St. Ignace superintendent Don Gustafson in nominating Ingalls for the WISL Award. His daughter Linnie played for Ingalls four seasons before graduating in 2018.
“She teaches basketball, but she teaches much more than basketball. The characteristics that Dorene models for the athletes who have played under her tutelage are dedication, perseverance, teamwork and life lessons, to name a few. The players she has coached in the past stay connected with Dorene long after that graduate, as (she) continues to provide guidance and advice even after the student athlete’s playing days have concluded.”
Like many families, cancer has impacted the Ingalls – both she and her husband Doug lost their mothers to the disease when those women were only in their 50s. St. Ignace’s trips to East Lansing, or Grand Rapids to play at Calvin College, or last year to Detroit to play in the Motor City Roundball Classic, included trips to medical facilities.
At the cancer center in East Lansing, the Saints inadvertently crossed paths with a St. Ignace resident undergoing treatment, and Dorene still is brought to tears retelling how they connected with that patient and were able to give her tickets to come watch them play that weekend. The Grand Rapids center was where Ingalls went through rehabilitation after suffering paralysis during childbirth in 2005; she remains partially paralyzed and uses a wheelchair.
Last season, before COVID-19 grounded the Saints’ chances to win another title, the team visited Karmanos Cancer Center in Detroit, including the room where one of the player’s mothers had fought for her life just a year before. That mother was part of the visit and, as Ingalls recalled, “to have that, and not the state championship, that’s probably more important. … That was pretty special. They’re learning the lessons that you’re hoping they do.”
This season’s team hasn’t enjoyed the “changing life” speeches that are part of usual bus trips, because right now the Saints aren’t taking buses to away games. But the pandemic has provided other opportunities – like when the team did workouts in the snow before full-contact practice was allowed to resume, or spent one practice performing skits for each other from the 1970s and 80s just to “break up the uncertainty and negativity.” Ingalls called it making the most of what you’ve got – and those are the memories she knows won’t be forgotten.
There has been recognition. She was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 2016 and received the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame’s Treasure Award in 2017 – in addition to various Coach of the Year awards both for the Upper Peninsula and statewide over the years. She was named the Prep Person of the Year by the Detroit Free Press in 2011 and received BCAM's Tom Hursey Distinguished Service Award in 2018.
All are proud moments. But perhaps the proudest is another effort that keeps on building. Mining a connection to Lowell High School and its Pink Arrow cancer awareness games – St. Ignace alum Nate Fowler is Lowell’s superintendent – Ingalls hatched the annual Hooping for a Cure basketball game in 2009. Cedarville, Cheboygan and Mackinaw City have joined in the fundraising game since, and the event became a doubleheader this season with the girls and boys teams both playing.
The event raised a record $35,000+ in 2020, and more than $25,000 this season despite attendance restrictions. That brought the total to more than $245,000 – funds that at first were donated to the oncology department at Mackinac Straits Hospital in part for the purchase of specialized examining tables and chemotherapy treatment infusion recliners. Once the equipment needs were met and a new hospital – Mackinac Straits Health System – was built, the money went into a No Cancer Patient Left Behind fund that provides financial support for patients who have to travel outside of the area for further treatment.
“This benefit game and ensuing experiences for the team have taught us about being grateful for every day we do have and to have the courage to fight through adversity,” Ingalls said. “These vital lessons will carry on in all of us for a lifetime.
“In fact I recently received a photo from a former player sitting in one of the infusion chairs getting treatment for an autoimmune disease that really struck me deeply. Talk about full circle.”
Ingalls is a 1986 graduate of New Baltimore Anchor Bay High School, where she played basketball, volleyball and softball. She attended Lake Superior State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in geology in 1991, and she then moved to St. Ignace to begin six years as a geologist before starting a screen printing and embroidery business.
She had earned 10 letters playing four sports at LSSU – volleyball, basketball, softball and tennis – and soon after moving to St. Ignace she joined the Saints’ coaching ranks, first as a junior high and assistant junior varsity basketball coach in 1992-93, then junior varsity girls head coach from 1994-98 until she took over the varsity position. She also has coached softball and subvarsity boys basketball.
Ingalls and husband Doug have two sons, Jackson and Jonathan.
The first Women In Sports Leadership Award was presented in 1990.
Past recipients
1990 – Carol Seavoy, L’Anse
1991 – Diane Laffey, Harper Woods
1992 – Patricia Ashby, Scotts
1993 – Jo Lake, Grosse Pointe
1994 – Brenda Gatlin, Detroit
1995 – Jane Bennett, Ann Arbor
1996 – Cheryl Amos-Helmicki, Huntington Woods
1997 – Delores L. Elswick, Detroit
1998 – Karen S. Leinaar, Delton
1999 – Kathy McGee, Flint
2000 – Pat Richardson, Grass Lake
2001 – Suzanne Martin, East Lansing
2002 – Susan Barthold, Kentwood
2003 – Nancy Clark, Flint
2004 – Kathy Vruggink Westdorp, Grand Rapids
2005 – Barbara Redding, Capac
2006 – Melanie Miller, Lansing
2007 – Jan Sander, Warren Woods
2008 – Jane Bos, Grand Rapids
2009 – Gail Ganakas, Flint; Deb VanKuiken, Holly
2010 – Gina Mazzolini, Lansing
2011 – Ellen Pugh, West Branch; Patti Tibaldi, Traverse City
2012 – Janet Gillette, Comstock Park
2013 – Barbara Beckett, Traverse City
2014 – Teri Reyburn, DeWitt
2015 – Jean LaClair, Bronson
2016 – Betty Wroubel, Pontiac
2017 – Dottie Davis, Ann Arbor
2018 – Meg Seng, Ann Arbor
2019 – Kris Isom, Adrian
2020 – Nikki Norris, East Lansing
PHOTOS: (Top) St. Ignace girls basketball coach Dorene Ingalls embraces one of her players after their team finished Class C runner-up in 2014. (Middle) Ingalls talks things over with her team during a game at the Breslin Center. (Below) Ingalls coaches her team during a Semifinal win at Calvin College's Van Noord Arena in 2019.

Competitive Fire Always Burning as Wayland's Ritz Climbs All-Time Coaching Wins List
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
May 9, 2025
WAYLAND – Cheri Ritz will never have to be nudged out of coaching.
After more than 40 extraordinary years as a high school softball coach, when the moment to step aside finally comes, Ritz will recognize it's time to move along.
All she'll have to do is check the progress of her latest Wayland softball team.
That's the yardstick Ritz has for herself in determining how much longer she'll coach. When the program's phenomenal success starts to wane, Ritz said she will know it's time to retire.
Ritz entered this season 10th on the MHSAA's all-time wins list with a 1,037-275 record. But when numbers like 23 Ottawa-Kent Conference Gold titles, 34 District and Regional championships, five Semifinals appearances and Division 2 Finals titles in 2006 and 2015 become a distant memory, Ritz said she'll know it's time to hang up her green and white jersey.
"It means I don't think I'll be doing my job," she said. "It means I'm out and it's time for someone else to take over. If I ever get there, it means I'm not doing my job. It's like when I can't pitch batting practice, I'm done."
That time, however, seems a faint light on the horizon. Wayland has won 41 of its last 52 games over the last two seasons, four straight conference titles and 14 over the last 17 years.
Those type of numbers – and Ritz's desire to continue coaching – fall in line with what makes her tick as a coach: competition. Whether it’s a weekly pickleball game in Hudsonville or throwing a frisbee or playing ping pong at family gatherings, Ritz is in it to win. Period.
It's non-negotiable with her. If a score is kept, Ritz said there's only one side of the ledger to be on.
Still, when she's pressed, Ritz – who took over at Wayland after serving as head coach at Middleville Thornapple Kellogg from 1987-94 and also coached at East Grand Rapids – will admit she has probably changed from her first two years at Wayland when the team managed just a combined 29-34 record with fourth and fifth-place conference finishes. It wasn't until the third season when the team went 31-6, and 14-1 in the conference, that Ritz first tasted success.
While the competitive drive hasn't waned, Ritz does believe her coaching philosophy has been, well ... altered. Whether it's a love of teaching, growing relationships with other coaches, attending national and local conferences, running summer softball leagues and three annual clinics, offering optional Sunday hitting practices or trying to win games, Ritz still has a fire for all.
Winning is still priority No. 1, but her appreciation of what else softball means to her has only deepened over the years.
"As a coach I wanted to be successful, but I'm probably more transformational now," she said. "Do I say this will be my last year? Maybe. But I still like being a part of it all. I like molding players into a great team and better people."
The success at Wayland is no accident. Only three coaches ahead of her on the statewide all-time wins list have a higher winning percentage (.790) than Ritz. That comes from her not only having a pulse on what's happening in softball in the Wayland area, but also in the surrounding communities.
As director of middle school athletics, Ritz has a handle on upcoming talent. She also runs an offseason league in Moline, holds four-person workouts in the winter and conducts clinics in the spring, summer and fall. Combine that with a program that teaches fundamentals and it's no wonder only Hudsonville's Tom Vruggink (1,197) has won more games among West Michigan softball coaches.
"We work hard on fundamentals," said Ritz, who played softball at Michigan State from 1978-81. "(Teaching) is still fun for me, and being around like-minded people. I want the best for our program and the kids."
Like many successful coaches, it's tough to pin down Ritz on her favorite moments at Wayland. Her teams have won at least 30 games 20 times, including a trio of 40-win campaigns. There was her winningest season with a 42-2 mark in 2014. Then there are the 43 collegians she's coached, including five who went on to play at Michigan, Michigan State and Central Michigan.
But probably topping the list are the two championship teams – the 2006 team finished 41-3, and the 2015 title winner featured five future college ballplayers. Not only did both teams feature superior talent, both had to overcome substantial off-field difficulties. Ritz said it's a credit to the players that they played up to lofty expectations amid problems that could have wrecked many clubs.
Whether it's those two teams or others she's coached, Ritz, whose ambition includes writing a book on why coaches are successful, said the goal for Wayland players is clearly spelled out during her annual three-hour postseason banquet. Ritz said what constitutes the program's philosophy is clear to any prospective player or coach who has attended:
Any player on the roster can be expected to be pushed – and if that's not possible, they should consider alternative activities.
While that may be harder for parents to accept in today's society, Ritz said it's still the cornerstone of the Wildcats program.
"They know my philosophy and what I put in and what I expect from the kids," she said. "It is probably a lazier society today, so you have to push a little harder. But winning is fun."
Ritz said her philosophy of teaching fundamentals combined with her competitive drive and trying to do what's best for players was tested years ago when she was coaching tennis in the fall. She glanced at the nearby football field where a coach was screaming at a player over an apparent lack of effort. Ritz went home, researched how that program had recently fared, and saw less-than-mediocre numbers. The scene made Ritz reevaluate how she ran her own program.
"I see other coaches and talk like that isn't going to get it done," she said. "I am a coach watcher, and I didn't like what I saw."
Ritz said while high school athletics have changed over the years, her love of the game hasn't faltered. She's still flattered when an opposing coach praises her team not necessarily for how well it plays, but for the classy way players handle themselves. Ritz loves hearing stories about how former players have succeeded and what playing softball at Wayland meant to them.
Another reason why Ritz’ coaching conclusion doesn't seem close is how she approaches games versus practice. Ritz said she still gets the same thrill in talking about one of her past 40-win seasons versus a 2025 club that features nine of 11 players clubbing the ball over a 227-foot fence on the first day of outdoor practice.
"My love of the game is still the same," she said. "I still get excited about practices. I tell the girls I like to win practices and they like to win games."
PHOTOS (Top) Wayland softball coach Cheri Ritz works with Laney Wolf – also an all-state swimmer – on bunting during practice this spring. (Middle) Ritz shows off her first Division 2 title team. (Below) Ritz presents the championship trophy to her 2015 Finals winner. (Top and middle photos by Steve Vedder.)