Lansing Eastern High School Alumni Association

Dick Barker

Class of 1954.  Baseball Captain, 6A League Champion; Football Captain, All-State; and played Basketball at Eastern.  Attended Michigan State University where he played Football and was named  to the Academic All Big Ten Team.  He played City of Lansing Softball where he was a member of 13 City Championship Teams.  He won 10 City Batting Titles.  He was inducted into the Amateur Softball Hall of Fame and the Greater Lansing Sports Hall of Fame.

Rudy Castellani

A graduate of the class of 1944 Rudy won 12 varsity letters in football, baseball and track.  He was Captain of both the Football and Basketball teams.  He was President of the Student Council and the National Honor Society.  He attended Michigan State University on a Football Scholarship.  Professionally Dr. Castellani developed the pump oxygenator which was used when he performed the first open heart bypass surgery in the State of Michigan in 1956.

Rick Edwards

Rick graduated from Eastern in 1968 where he was a school record holder in swimming.  He attended Central Michigan University on a swimming scholarship.  He Coached Eastern High School Boys Swim Team to 8 Conference Titles, the Okemos High School Girls Swim Team to 3 Conference Titles and Olivet College Swim Team to 2 Conference Titles.  He was named the Michigan High School Coach of the Year for Girls in 1984 and Boys in 2001.  He was the Co-Founder of the Michigan High School Water Polo Association; was named the National Coach of the year in 2002 and was inducted into the Michigan High School Coaches Hall of Fame in 2007.  He was elected into the Greater Lansing Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.

Robert Henderson

Robert graduated with the class of 1982.  He was a three-year started on the basketball teams.  He started as a Sophomore on the 1980 Michigan High School State Championship team.  Robert was named 1st Team All State and All American in Basketball in 1982 and he received the Mr. Michigan Basketball Award in 1982.  He attended the University of Michigan on a basketball scholarship where they won the Big 10 Championship two of those years.

Alex Valcanoff

Alex graduated in 1958.  He was a State Champion Wrestler in 1957 and 1958 and was Co-Captain of Wrestling in 1958.  He was Co-Captain of the Football team in 1958.  He received the Downtown Coaches Award for Leadership, Service and Sportsmanship in 1958.  He was named All State in Football by the Associated Press, UPI and was named to the Detroit Free Press Dream Team.  He also received the Ernest J. Shassberger “Player of the Year Award”.  Alex was President of the Sophomore, Junior and Senior Classes.  He attended Michigan State on a Football Scholarship where he participated in both Football and Wrestling.  He placed third in the Big 10 Championships in Wrestling.  He received the Walter Jacobs Award in 1963 for producing the most points on the Wrestling team.  He received the Collins-Mikles Award for Leadership.  Alex was elected into Excalibur at MSU.

1934 Boys State Championship Basketball Team

The 1934 team were 5A League Champions with a record of 16-1.  They were Lansing’s First State Championship Basketball Team.  They were elected into the Greater Lansing Sports Hall of Fame in 1984.