Western Michigan baseball coach Billy Gernon will be the keynote speaker as the Dowagiac Athletic Booster Club’s 63rd Annual All-Sports Reception May 31.

The reception, which honors the Dowagiac athletes, is free and open to the public. It will begin at 7 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center at Dowagiac Middle School.

Athletes from all sports will be presented Most Valuable Player trophies as well as sportsmanship awards, the All-Sports Awards and several athletic scholarships.

Bob Nagel will be the emcee for the event.

Gernon is in his second season at the helm of the Bronco baseball program. In his first season, Western Michigan improved its record by 14 games.

The Broncos were 26-31 last year after going 12-42 in 2010. Western Michigan made the Mid-American Conference Tournament for the first time since 2008 and won its first post season game since 1998 when it upset No. 2-seeded Central Michigan.

Gernon came to Kalamazo from Michigan State where he was an assistant coach in 2009 and 2010. He was the head coach at Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW), where he is the all-time winningest coach. He coached at IPFW from 1999 until 2008.

He is a 1990 graduate of Indiana University and a 1998 graduate of IPFW. Gernon is married with a son and a daughter.