Class of 2004
Jim Brandt
Football Coach - 3 years; Basketball Coach - 10 years; Cross Country Coach - 19 years; Track Coach - 30 years; 1969-1997
Inducted into the Greater Lansing Sports Hall of Fame: 2022
Cross Country – Originated the All-Class Greater Lansing Invitational Cross Country Meet; 66 consecutive dual meet wins; 11 CAC Championships in 12 years; 3 Regional Championships, 6 All-State runners, 6 All-Region runners, LSJ Coach of the Year (1994)
Track – 2 championships, West Central League; 1 championship CAC; 7 Eaton County Track Championships in 11 years; Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association (MITCA) nominee for Class A Coach of the Year (1996); Eddy Award recipient for contributing to the advancement of the sport of Track and Field in mid-Michigan.
Cross Country: The athletes loved to compete for him as was evidenced by the size of his teams. His teams had from the high 20’s to the mid 30’s in runner numbers each year. Three outstanding and prominent area coaches who were influenced by Jim Brandt: 1) Denny Myers – (formerly at Lansing Community College & Rend Lake CC), highly successful and nationally known coach, Denny is the holder of 9 national Cross Country titles; 2) Kim Spalsbury (Fowler High School & Grand Ledge High School) coached state championships in both Cross Country and Track at Fowler; 3) Fred Hutchinson - longest current tenured Varsity Head Coach at Grand Ledge (Head Varsity CC & Women's Track Coach since 2007-2008), won the only 2 regional championships in school history as the Head Coach for Women's Track (2010 & 2023), coached Men's & Women's CC to regional titles in same year (2007), and an additional regional title in 2011 for Women.
Track: Jeff Kus was one of Jim’s outstanding track athletes – High jump 7’0” (State Champion & 2nd in MHSAA history in all divisions) and long jump 22’ 2 ¼”. Jeff placed second in the high school pentathlon at the national scholastic Indoor Track and Field Championships held in Boston, MA.