30 years ago

MARQUETTE – Marquette’s Northern Lites women’s hockey team, which plays its home games at Northern Michigan University’s PEIF ice arena, has been gaining experience and community support since its inception back in the late 1970’s. The 20 women on the team have built a reputation for the Lites as one of the formidable women’s squads in the Midwest. “In 1977 or 78′ they were playing intramural (hockey) here at Northern, and that’s when a lot of these players started,” said Kelly December, who has played defense for the Lites the past 10 years. It wasn’t always easy for the Lites. At first, they had trouble getting choice, prime-time ice slots. It was difficult for working women–some with families–to make it to 11 p.m. practices. But since the team became more organized and started traveling, it has had a reasonable 7 p.m. slot. We’ll never give that up,” December said. Over the past 10 years, the Lites and their sport–which only differs from men’s hockey in that there is no checking–have gained loads of momentum. The Lites even took a trip to Winnipeg, Manitoba this winter. “It was tremendous,” December said. “We got a lot of support from the community. And we got to see REAL women’s hockey. Coach Greg Mingay credits the Winnipeg trip with raising the team’s level of play. The Lites dominated during a game against the Michigan State University women’s club team, 7-2, at NMU this Sunday. It was the Lites’ second win in back-to-back games against MSU. “I was proud of the way they played today,” Mingay said. “They stepped it up. The intensity level was much better today–they came to the rink to play, and they had fun.”

60 years ago

MARQUETTE – More than 350 Upper Peninsula high school juniors and seniors interested in going to college will gather at Northern Michigan University tomorrow to become acquainted with Northern’s campus and educational program. The 13th annual NMU high school guest day program will enable the students to discuss their general and specific educational objectives with NMU deans, department heads, and faculty members. The program will begin at 9:30 a.m. with a general session in Kaye auditorium. After being welcomed to Northern by Dr. Jack R. Rombouts, assistant to the president, the students will get a preview of song hits from the musical comedy, “The Pajama Game,” which will be produced at Northern for six days beginning April 1. During the day, each student will attend one general counseling session and will have the opportunity to meet with different department heads and faculty members to discuss specific areas of interest. Students also will tour the campus and have lunch at the Don H. Bottum University Center during their day-long visit. Selections from the “The Pajama Game” will be presented by Dale Gayan. Bessemer senior, Bonnie Albright, Taylor sophomore, John Sabella, Kingsford junior, and Susan Ford, Orlando, Fla., junior. They will be accompanied by Denise McCorkle, Pembine, Wis., sophomore.