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Dave Olsen is a South Kitsap girls track legend Coach’s name is synonymous with girls track success By SARA MILLLER
smiller@soundpublishing.com
Say Dave Olsen’s name and South Kitsap sports fans will nod in recognition. In fact, for longtime Kitsap residents, he’s something of a legend. He coached at South Kitsap High for 33 years, was head coach of the girls track team for 13 and led South Kitsap to its only back-to-back state championships in 1991 and 1992. On Jan. 16, Olsen’s legendary status was confirmed when he was inducted into the South Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame. “It was fun. I coached for 33 years when you add it up, and 13 as the head girls coach,” Olsen said. Five members of the back-to-back state championship teams attended the Hall of Fame banquet with him. “I really enjoyed seeing them all again,” he said. “It had been 24 years.” After attending Central Washington College of Education (later becoming Central Washington University), Olsen wanted to teach wood shop. However, that position was unavailable, so he took a position that focused on different shop classes, such as wood, auto and metal. At Central, he was a four-year
Sara Miller / Independent
Longtime South Kitsap girls track coach looks through the Independent’s archives for articles about his state championship teams in the early 1990s. letter-winner in track. He mostly participated as a jumper and was a team captain his senior year. He graduated in 1963. “I graduated one Saturday, married my wife the next,” Olsen said. He has lived with his wife in Port
Orchard for 52 years. They have a son and daughter who both followed in their father’s footsteps and became teachers. Along with teaching and coaching, Olsen owned his own photography business. “I named it after myself, Dave
Olsen Photography, because people already knew who I was,” Olsen said. In 1963, when Olsen graduated, Lloyd Pugh was the head boys coach for track at South Kitsap High, and only two coaching positions were available at the school. At that time,
the high school sported just a boys track and field team. Maynard Lundberg was the assistant coach at the time, and Olsen had to wait for him to retire. Olsen eventually became assistant coach and mentored under Pugh for many years. Olsen said Pugh taught him many of the tactics he used with his state championship team. “I knew the scoring in all the meets before the statisticians,” Olsen said. “I knew what the score was to let other runners letter or change things up. “Lloyd Pugh taught me that. He was my mentor and the heart and soul of the track team.” The 1991 state championship was a huge moment in Olsen’s head coaching career. Although he knew his team was strong, he never expected them to reach that pinnacle of success. “I knew we’d score a lot of points at the state meet, but I never thought we’d win,” Olsen said. That is, until a sports reporter came up to him and said they’d won. “I said I knew because we’d just won the mile relay. It was the last event of the day. That’s what I thought he was talking about,” Olsen said. “But then I learned we did win, and the headline read ‘Holy Cow’ because that’s what I said.” After that moment, Olsen went to OLSEN, SEE A5
Former restaurant owner found not guilty of child molestation tion Jan. 27 by a Snohomish County Superior Court jury. Eric Smith was arrested on June 30, 2014, at his home in Bothell on three counts of first-degree child molestation and two counts of communicating
By BOB SMITH
rsmith@portorchardindependent.com
The former owner of the Robert Earl Lighthouse restaurant in Port Orchard was found not guilty of four counts of first-degree child molesta-
with a minor for immoral purposes. A 20-year veteran Seattle police officer at the time, Smith was accused of molesting his former girlfriend’s daughter on several occasions between 2009 and 2013, according to the Snohomish
County Sheriff’s Office. The daughter had accused Smith of molesting her when she was 7, but when confronted by Smith and the girl’s mother, she recanted her story. The woman’s daughter asked to be
allowed to visit Smith even though he and his girlfriend had ended their relationship in 2009. The girl told a teacher and school principal in 2014 NOT GUILTY, SEE A7
The Independent: 2015 General Excellence award winner, Washington Newspaper Publishers Association Better Newspapers Contest
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