Hodge made you believe that a human being could fly

Editor’s note: The Menominee High School Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2024 induction ceremony takes place May 4 at the Pullman House in Menominee. Tickets are on sale at the Superintendent’s office at Blesch School and the Principal’s office at the high school for $35. Each week, the EagleHerald will spotlight one of the 12 inductees. This week’s feature is on Wade Hodge, Class of 1992.

MENOMINEE — Wade Hodge is not Superman.

He’s not more powerful than a locomotive, nor is he faster than a speeding bullet.

However, anyone who watched the 1992 graduate of Menominee High School soar through the air for the Menominee track and field team believed that the diminutive Hodge was fully capable of leaping a tall building in a single bound.

Whether in sports or academics, Hodge gave it his all and was determined to leave every last drop of blood, sweat and tears that he had for Menominee.

Already considered to be one of the greatest thinclads to ever compete at Menominee High School, Hodge will take his place alongside his fellow Maroon legends when he is inducted into the Menominee High School Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2024.

The induction ceremony takes place at the Pullman House in Menominee on May 4.

“I was never the most gifted or the most naturally talented player on the field, but I worked hard and gave 100 percent at everything that I did, all the time,” Hodge said.

While perhaps not the most naturally gifted Maroon, Hodge shined as a three-sport athlete during his time at Menominee High School, competing in both football and wrestling his junior and senior years.

Track and field is where Hodge excelled though, and the pole vault became a must-see event anytime he strode onto the track.

As a junior, Hodge set a new Menominee High School record in the pole vault with a leap of 13 feet, five inches.

He proceeded to surpass his own mark twice during his senior year, first recording a jump of 13-9 at the Great Northern Conference championships in Escanaba before becoming the first person in the Upper Peninsula to hit the 14’ mark at the U.P. Finals in Marquette.

Hodge’s height of 14-0 remains the Menominee High School and Michigan U.P. Class AB State record.

Hodge also set the meet record at the prestigious Del Marcelle Invitational with a height of 13-1 during his senior year.

Hodge was a two-time GNC champion, a two-time AB Regional champion and a two-time All-State performer in the pole vault alone, but he also collected All-State honors in the 3,200-meter run as a senior.

He helped the Maroons win the 1991 U.P. track and field championship, the first time Menominee had captured the U.P. title since 1981.

While Hodge was also a Class ABC Honorable Mention in football, his academic exploits are equally as impressive as his athletic endeavors.

Hodge won the MHSAA Scholar-Athlete Award in wrestling as a senior, was class valedictorian and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 4.0 GPA in all four years at Menominee High.

“I’m proud of my accomplishments on the track, but what I’m most proud of are the marks that I set in the classroom,” he said.

Hodge attended Michigan Tech University, graduating with a 4.0 GPA and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering in 1996.

He set the MTU school record in the pole vault with another height of 14-0, a mark that stood until 2023, when Landon Cosby set a new Huskies’ standard with a vault of 15-9.

All records are destined to one day fall, but Hodge’s legacy of being an exemplary athlete and human being will endure for generations.

“Menominee High School athletics taught me many invaluable lessons,” he said. “About life, and about the importance of integrity, respect, hard work and sportsmanship.”