Northwestern High School (Michigan)

For schools of the same name, see Northwestern High School (disambiguation).

Northwestern High School is a secondary education facility in Detroit, Michigan. The most recent enrollment figures for Northwestern indicate a student population of approximately 2,000. Northwestern High School features numerous extracurricular activities; including: Debate, US Army JROTC, interscholastic and intramural athletics. NHS also offers several advanced placement (AP) courses.The most violent Gangs in the school are the zone 8 bloods with their learder j melo and the second is the linwood ocf crips.they formed together to make the most violent gang in the city.The Zone 8 2 O.C.F goon squad.Their membership toppples over 10,000

Northwestern High School
Address
2200 West Grand Blvd Detroit, Michigan
Information
School type	Public
School district	Detroit Public Schools
Principal	Belinda Raines
Grades	9-12
Language	English
Area	Urban
Color(s)	scarlet red and gray
Mascot	Colts

Known Throughout the Land

For more than one-hundred years, Northwestern High School has produced a multitude of outstanding student athletes who excelled at the collegiate level and beyond; Colt alumni achievements range from National Collegiate Athletic Association championships to Olympic gold medals - and everything in between.

In addition to the world of sports, a partial list of distinguished Northwestern graduates includes highly respected names from the political and entertainment arena.

Distinguished alumni

• John Widman, won the javelin and ran on the 1st-place 880-yard relay team at the 1925 MHSAA Track Championships^[1]

• Albert B. Cleage Jr., was an eloquent Christian minister. During the mid-twentieth century, Cleage was nationally recognized as a leading advocate of the civil rights movement. Albert Cleage's book The Black Messiah was published in 1968.^[2][3]

• George Huber, set city and state records in the discus throw at DPSSAL Championships & MHSAA Finals^[4]

• Jack Fundis, won both the shot put and discus throw at the 1930 MHSAA finals; he was the last Detroit public school athlete to win a state title in the discus.^[5]

• Damon Keith, Senior Judge - United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

• Mac Umstattd, set a state record of 1:56.6 to win the half-mile run at DPSSAL Championships; national record was 1:54.6^[6]

• Norman Whitfield, American songwriter and producer, one of the creators of the Motown Sound

• John Conyers, United States Congressman (1965–present); Chairman, House Judiciary Committee

• George Newman, swam on Northwestern's 1948 city championship team; in later years, Newman was a successful swimming and diving coach at Detroit-Eastern and Southeastern High School^[7]

• Casey Kasem, (born, Kemal Amin), globally recognized, award winning American radio and television personality

• James Jamerson (1954), Bass guitarist; performed on 30+ #1 Hits for Motown Records; known as the Father of Modern Bass Guitar

• Melvin Franklin (1959), Bass singer for Motown Records' internationally renowned performers, The Temptations

• Mary Wells, Star singer with Motown Records, famous for hit song, "My Guy"

• Ray Parker Jr., Guitarist, songwriter, producer, recording artist; wrote theme for the blockbuster motion picture, Ghostbusters

• Joe Cosey (1973), named to Sunkist All-American Basketball Team^[8]

• Kenneth "Moochie" Jones (1974), named to Scholastic Coach Magazine All-American Basketball Team^[9]

• Alan Hardy, named to Scholastic Coach Magazine's All-American Basketball Team^[10]

• Helen Williams, gold medalist in the shot put event, at the 1975 MHSAA Track and Field Championships^[11]

• Carlos Rogers (1989), retired professional basketball player; first round selection of Seattle SuperSonics during 1994 NBA Draft

• Evlista Clemon, 800 meter run champion at the 1996 MHSAA Track and Field Finals^[12]

• Amber Walker, won the 400 meter dash at the 2001 MHSAA Track and Field Championships^[13]

• Chris Douglas-Roberts, professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks

Northwestern Colts

From the earliest days, in a wide variety of sporting endeavors, Detroit-Northwestern High School has enjoyed a long and storied tradition.

In 2008, Northwestern High won the Detroit Public Secondary Schools Athletic League Championship in men's basketball. Since 1919, Northwestern basketball teams have claimed a total of sixteen DPSSAL titles.^[14] Northwestern also won the 1928 Michigan High School Athletic Association basketball championship.^[15]

Coach Bert Maris led the Northwestern swimming and diving program to three consecutive MHSAA team titles (1925 through 1927). In 1930, the Colt swimming team, coached by Leo Maas, won another MHSAA championship trophy;^[16] Maas also guided the school to five consecutive DPSSAL titles (1933 through 1937).

To this day, Northwestern remains the only Detroit public high school to win a state team championship in the sport of swimming and diving.

The Northwestern Colts also boast an impressive record in track and field. During the same year Bert Maris coached Northwestern to a state championship in swimming, he and Coach Warren Hoyt led Northwestern to the 1925 MHSAA title in track. Toward decade's end, Coach Malcom Weaver and the Colts won the state track championship in 1927, 1929 and 1930.^[17] The Michigan high school sports archives also document Northwestern's MHSAA championship titles in tennis (1927), and cross country (1929).^[18][19]

Legends of the Scarlet and Gray

• Philip Northrup (1923), top rated long jumper among Michigan high school athletes in 1923; he became a three-time NCAA champion and four-time All-American, in the javelin throw and pole vault, for the University of Michigan (1925–27). Northrup was inducted to the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.^{[20][21][22][23]}

• Willis Ward (1931), won the high jump at 1929 MHSAA championships; won both the 120 and 220-yard hurdle events at 1930 MHSAA finals. Ward set a national high school mark (1.98 meters) in the high jump while winning a third consecutive DPSSAL title in 1931. Willis Ward became just the second African-American to letter in football at the University of Michigan; in track, Ward was a three-time All-American and eight-time Big-Ten champion. Ward later served many years as a Wayne County probate judge.^[24][25][26]

• During the early 1930s, William Prew was a city champion swimmer for Northwestern; by 1942, Prew was a two-time U.S. national AAU titlist (100 yard freestyle and 150-yard medley relay). That same year, Prew set the U.S. national record in the 100-yard freestyle; he also won a NCAA championship in that event. Following a very successful athletic and coaching career (for the Detroit Athletic Club) William Prew was inducted to the International Swimming Hall of Fame.^[27][28]

• Forest Evashevski graduated (at the age of sixteen) in 1935; two years later he received an academic scholarship to the University of Michigan. As a Wolverine (1938–40), Evashevski won three letters each in football and baseball; he was Michigan's quarterback, pulling double-duty as blocking-back for 1940 Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon. In 1941, during his first year out of school, Evashevski was head coach at Hamilton College; he would then serve in the US Navy (1942–45). From 1946-49, Evashevski was an assistant coach at Syracuse and Michigan State University. Evashevski was head coach at Washington State University before accepting the top spot at the University of Iowa. With Evashevski at the helm, Iowa became a national power; winning Big-10 championships in 1956, 1958, and 1960. Evashevski had seven winning seasons in nine years, and his 1958 Iowa Hawkeyes were named national champions by the Football Writers Association. Forest Evashevski was a 2000 inductee to the NFF College Football Hall of Fame.^[29][30]

• David M. Nelson (1938) as a 5-7/155-pound University of Michigan halfback, Nelson played on the same team with (fellow NHS graduate) Forest Evashevski, and Californian Tom Harmon. In 1941, Nelson led the Wolverines in rushing, averaging 6.3 yards per carry. Nelson would gain widespread recognition as an innovative football coach. Among several contributions to the game, Nelson developed the Wing T formation.^[31] Nelson was the head football coach at the University of Delaware from 1951–1965; he also served as the school's athletic director from 1951-1984. David M. Nelson is a member of the NFF College Football Hall of Fame

• As a Northwestern HS junior, Fletcher Gilders was 1948 MHSAA Track and Field Athlete of the Year; in 1949, Gilders established a national interscholastic record in the pole vault (13' 3"). Gilders was also one of the best springboard divers in the United States; he competed at the 1948 and 1956 US Olympic Trials. Following four years of military service, Gilders became a two-time NCAA diving champion; he is also the only four-sport letter winner in modern-day Ohio State University history. In later years, Fletcher Gilders became a Hall of Fame swimming and diving coach at Ohio University and Kenyon College^{[32][33][34][35]}

• Charlie "Sweets" North (1958), Two-time All-State basketball selection; played collegiately at the University of Detroit^[36]

• Northwestern's Fred Hatcher (1960) was undefeated in the shot-put during his senior season. Fred's winning effort of 17.88 meters, at the city league finals, ranked third in the state for 1960. Fifty years later, Hatcher's mark is still the DPSSAL record.^[37]

• Willie Horton (1960), Former All-Star Major League Baseball player for the Detroit Tigers and other MLB teams

• Henry Carr (1961), transferred from Southwestern High to become a city champion sprinter at Northwestern. A former world record holder at 200-meters, Henry won two gold medals at the 1964 Summer Olympics. While competing for Arizona State University, Carr was a national collegiate and national AAU champion. Upon retiring from the sport of track, Carr played in the National Football League; selected in the fourth round of the 1965 NFL Draft by the New York Giants, Carr played three seasons as a safety and cornerback.^[38][39]

• Ron A. Johnson (1965) was an All-City football player for the Colts; he played collegiate football at the University of Michigan. Among Johnson's many accolades was his (1968) NCAA single-game rushing record of 347 yards, versus the University of Wisconsin. Although Ron's mark was surpassed in 1971; it stands to this day as a Michigan Wolverine varsity record. Johnson was selected to the 1968 All-America Team; then in 1969, Ron was chosen in the first round of the NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns. Prior to the 1970 season, Ron Johnson was traded to the New York Giants; he played six seasons in a New York uniform.^[40]

• John Mayberry (1967), Former All-Star with the Kansas City Royals; also played for MLB teams in Houston, Toronto and New York

• As a Northwestern sophomore, Leona Mathis (1971) won the 100 (11.1) and 220-yard dash (25.6) at the 1969 Michigan AAU Championships; later that summer, she ran 25.2 for 200-meters at the Canadian All-Star Invitational. For her efforts, Leona was voted 1969 Michigan High School Track and Field Athlete of the Year^[41]

• Yet another in a long line of NWHS gridiron greats, came another Ron Johnson (1974). Ron played collegiately for Eastern Michigan University. In 1978, Johnson was selected in the first-round of the NFL draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Patrolling the defensive backfield as a cornerback and safety, Johnson performed for seven seasons as a Steeler.^[42]

• Terry Tyler (1974), selected to Sunkist All-American Team; played 11 seasons of professional basketball with three NBA teams^[43]

References and links

1. ^ http://www.mhsaa.com/Sports/BoysTrackField/IndividualChampions/1920s.aspx
2. ^ http://www.pbs.org/thisfarbyfaith/people/albert_cleage.html
3. ^ http://www.press.umich.edu/pdf/9780472114627-ch6.pdf
4. ^ http://www.michtrack.org/AOY.htm
5. ^ http://www.mhsaa.com/Sports/BoysTrackField/IndividualChampions/1930s.aspx
6. ^ http://www.michtrack.org/AOY.htm
7. ^ http://www.michiganmasters.com/YR.END08.NEWSLTR.pdf
8. ^ http://www.detroitpslbasketball.com
9. ^ http://www.detroitpslbasketball.com
10. ^ http://www.detroitpslbasketball.com
11. ^ http://www.mhsaa.com/Sports/GirlsTrackField/IndividualChampions/1970s.aspx
12. ^ http://www.mhsaa.com/Sports/GirlsTrackField/IndividualChampions/1990s.aspx
13. ^ http://www.mhsaa.com/Sports/GirlsTrackField/IndividualChampions/2000s.aspx
14. ^ http://www.detroitpslbasketball.com/?page_id=2
15. ^ http://www.mhsaa.com/Sports/BoysBasketball/YearlyChampions.aspx
16. ^ http://www.mhsaa.com/Sports/BoysSwimmingandDiving/TeamChampions.aspx
17. ^ http://www.mhsaa.com/Sports/BoysTrackField/TeamChampions.aspx
18. ^ http://www.mhsaa.com/Sports/BoysTennis/TeamChampions.aspx
19. ^ http://www.mhsaa.com/Sports/BoysCrossCountry/TeamChampions.aspx
20. ^ http://www.michtrack.org/lists/HS%20Boys%201923.pdf
21. ^ http://www.mgoblue.com/track-field-m/article.aspx?id=60320
22. ^ http://www.mgoblue.com/track-field-m/article.aspx?id=59470
23. ^ http://www.mhsaa.com/Sports/BoysTrackField/IndividualChampions/1920s.aspx
24. ^ http://www.michtrack.org/AOY.htm
25. ^ http://www.mhsaa.com/Sports/BoysTrackField/IndividualChampions/1930s.aspx
26. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willis_Ward
27. ^ http://www.usms.org/hist/sto/index.php?ID=171&srt=
28. ^ http://www.ishof.org/Honorees/98/98wprew.html
29. ^ http://www.collegefootball.org/famersearch.php?id=50112
30. ^ http://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbcapt/1940capt.htm
31. ^ http://www.football-plays.com/formations/6/wing-t-formation.php
32. ^ http://www.michtrack.org/AOY.htm
33. ^ http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/_Rainbow/Documents/49f756e0-4a14-4e90-84fd-87f309adf334/1948.pdf
34. ^ http://www.goggleawards.org/USASWeb/_Rainbow/Documents/1196d3cb-681c-4190-80fb-d5170d94bcc3/1956.pdf
35. ^ http://admin.xosn.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17300&ATCLID=925238
36. ^ http://www.detroitpslbasketball.com
37. ^ http://www.michtrack.org/lists/HS%20Boys%201960.pdf
38. ^ http://www.michtrack.org/AOY.htm
39. ^ http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ca/henry-carr-1.html
40. ^ http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=JOHNSRON01
41. ^ http://www.michtrack.org/AOY.htm
42. ^ http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=JOHNSRON02
43. ^ http://www.detroitpslbasketball.com

• Detroit Public Schools
• Michigan High School Sports Index & History
• Michigan High School Track and Field History
• Michigan High School Basketball - since 1950
• [1]