Priest, former swim coach among new entries to Brother Rice's hall of fame

Fr. Ron Richards, who served as varsity swim coach for Brother Rice High School from 1992-98, before he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Detroit, stands on the field at Comerica Park in this 2012 file photo. Fr. Richards also was a chaplain for the Detroit Tigers baseball team. 

Brother Rice High School has inducted three individuals and three teams into the 2018 Athletic Hall of Fame: Paul Jokisch, 1982 (football), Steve Morrison, 1990 (football), and swim coach Fr. Ron Richards; and the 1996, 1997 and 1998 national and state championship swimming and dive teams.

Paul Jokisch, in high school, was a two-sport Parade All-American and first-team All-State athlete in football and basketball. He and quarterback Dave Yarema combined on a 38-yard touchdown pass for the only points in the 1980 Class A state title game, where Brother Rice defeated Dearborn Fordson 6-0. He finished his football career with 18 touchdown receptions and 1,454 yards receiving. Jokisch scored over 1,000 points during his high school basketball career. At Michigan, Jokisch started 21 games from 1984 to 1986 as flanker and split end. He caught 58 passes for 1,088 yards and six touchdowns.

Steve Morrison was a co-captain for the 1989 football team that reached the state semi-finals. He earned All-State Dream Team and All-Midwest honors excelling at fullback, linebacker, and punter for the Warriors. A talented lacrosse player, Morrison also earned All-State and midwest honors as a junior attackman for the state and midwest championship team. As a linebacker at Michigan, he holds the record for most tackles in a game and has the most career interceptions by a linebacker. Morrison played four seasons in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts (1995-1998), including the AFC Championship game during the 1995-96 season. Following his playing days, Morrison coached for 14 years, beginning at Brother Rice for two seasons under Al Fracassa, then at Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Syracuse.

Fr. Ron Richards was Mr. Richards, a lay religion teacher at Brother Rice, when he was the swim coach for six seasons (1992-1998) and directed one of the most extraordinary success stories in state and national history. He led the Warriors to a dual-meet record of 116 victories against a lone defeat (to Milan, the first meet he coached), to five consecutive state championships and three national No. 1 rankings. Fr. Richards was ordained a priest in 2004. Most recently, Fr. Richards served as pastor of St. John Neumann Parish in Canton, before he was assigned to serve for three years in the Archdiocese of Agana, Guam.

The 1996, 1997 and 1998 swim teams, over a three-year period, produced one of the most dominant swim programs in the state, certainly, and in the country, winning consecutive state and national No. 1 rankings. In that span, 23 All American citations were awarded and numerous state and national records established.

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