Celebrating our second annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day

BY SCOTT DECAMP

Whitehall District Schools

WHITEHALL -- For the second year in a row, Whitehall District Schools celebrated National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

On Wednesday (Feb. 4, 2026), female student-athletes from Whitehall High School paraded through the hallways at Shoreline Elementary, Ealy Elementary, and Whitehall Middle School before engaging in a seminar and luncheon with four guest speakers at the Viking Athletic Center.

Emily MacArthur, a Whitehall alumnus who is a social worker at Shoreline Elementary as well as assistant girls varsity basketball coach for the Vikings, organized the event. The four speakers featured: Courtney Kust, Hope College associate head coach for women's basketball and assistant athletic director; Nicole Bayle, K-5 reading specialist and recently retired, longtime volleyball coach at Fruitport; KK Roman, who attended Hope College, works with Hope student-athletes, and is finishing hours to obtain her certified mental performance consultant license; and Kara Werner-Sanders, who works in sports medicine as department manager for athletic training at Beacon Health System.

Check out the video accompanying this story as well as several photos below.