Yesterday the Spring Arbor University community completed the dedication of the McDonald Athletic Center (MAC), which was named in honor of Coach Donald A. “Mac” McDonald.
JTV Sports | May 17th, 2019 | Gabriel Schray
Jackson, Michigan– Yesterday the SAU community dedicated the McDonald Athletic Center, named in honor of Coach Donald A. “Mac” McDonald. If you drive over to Spring Arbor, Michigan, “Mac” is a name that most people will know.
Donald A. “Mac” McDonald served at Spring Arbor for 26 years (1945-71). His high school coaching career included 13 years with basketball, 12 years with track, seven years with baseball, five years with cross country and nine years with intramural football. When Spring Arbor became a four-year college, he also assumed the coaching responsibilities for golf.
The newly renovated McDonald Athletic Center will offer the best possible experience for Spring Arbor University athletes- SAU President Dr. Brent Ellis
Mac led the now-Cougar basketball team into interscholastic competition for the first time in 1948. His 1955 team had a 20-1 record, and his 1952 team, which is in the SAU Athletics Hall of Fame, went to the state Class D quarterfinals. Mac was inducted into the Spring Arbor Athletic Hall of Fame in its inaugural 1996 class.
See our full segment from the Bart Hawley Show:
A $1.9 million complete facility renovation is underway, including the renaming and dedication of the McDonald Athletic Center. Construction on the MAC began at the end of the 2017-18 academic year. The state-of-the-art facility will ensure the stability and growth of SAU Athletics for decades to come.
The SAU Fieldhouse project is the fourth major athletics facility project undertaken by the university in the last seven years. Other facilities recently updated include the Cougar Soccer Complex (2011), the Ronald L. and Marvel C. Jones Tennis Complex (2016) and the Ralph G. Walker Memorial Track & Field Complex (2017).
Images in this article courtesy of Spring Arbor University. This article is comprised of information from a Spring Arbor University press release. For more local sports news and information, you can connect with JTV Sports on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This article was wirtten by JTV’s Gabriel Schray. He is in his fifth year covering Jackson Area sports and news for JTV. You can connect with Gabriel on Twitter,Instagram and Facebook as well.