2025 Tribute to Champions Program

2025 Tribute to Champions 2025 Tribute to Champions

Tuesday, May 13th 2025

Tuesday, May 13th 2025

TACOMA-PIERCE COUNTY SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

TACOMA-PIERCE COUNTY SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

Baseball - Nick Hagadone Basketball - Jim McPhee & Bryce McPhee Broadcaster - Ed Bowman Football - Mike Vindivich Golf - Michael Putnam, Audrey Wooding & Michelle (Wooding) Murphy

Handball - Myron Schmidt Swimming - Wally Streeter (dec.) & Kimo Streeter Track - Willie Stewart Jr. Volleyball - Jessica (Brodie) Hansen Wrestling - Whitney (Conder) Cox & Joe Reasons (dec.)

DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENTS

DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENTS

CONNELLY LAW OFFICES EXCELLENCE IN OFFICIATING AWARD

Baseball—Dan Graves • Boys & Girls Basketball—Darin Barr Football—Keon Edwards • Softball—Clarence Dean • Soccer—JJ Snyder

Volleyball—Rocky Zlock • Wrestling—Steven Rider

FIRST FAMILY OF SPORTS AWARD

The Linden Family (Volleyball)—Jon, Krista, Lara, Eva, Annika, Elsa, Klara, Mia, and Sofia

FROSTY WESTERING EXCELLENCE IN COACHING AWARD

Dorinda (Russell) Carpenter—Puyallup HS Gymnastics Coach

Mark Massey—University of Puget Sound Volleyball Coach

DOUG MCARTHUR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Margaret McCormick—Parks Tacoma

Jack Connelly—Connelly Law Offices

DICK HANNULA MALE AND FEMALE AMATEUR ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARD

Avery Cukjati—Volleyball-Curtis HS

Denzel Boston—Football—Emerald Ridge HS/University of Washington

LIFETIME OF SERVICE RECOGNITION

Ed Menotti—Tacoma Athletic Commission/Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Museum

Welcome to the 2025 Tribute to Champions!

On behalf of the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Museum and the Tacoma Athletic Commission, we want to extend a heartfelt welcome to this evening’s celebration. The Tribute to Champions is more than an awards ceremony—it reflects the deep commitment, passion, and dedication that define Tacoma-Pierce County’s athletic community.

The TAC has been dedicated to supporting local sports for over 80 years, recognizing excellence, and honoring those who uplift and inspire others through athletics. And the TacomaPierce County Sports Museum’s mission is to preserve our sports heritage thru the collection of artifacts, photos, and equipment as well as the stories about athletes, coaches, administrators, officials and many more that have contributed to our incredible history.

Tonight, we continue that tradition by celebrating individuals who embody what it means to serve, lead, and strengthen our community.

Each Hall of Fame inductee and Distinguished Achievement Award recipient honored tonight represents the very best of sportsmanship and civic engagement. Their contributions remind us that sports are more than competition—they are about teamwork, perseverance, and the bonds that unite us.

A special thank you to our sponsors and volunteers who make this event possible. Your generosity and dedication allow us to continue our mission of supporting studentathletes, preserving our region’s sports history, and fostering a strong, connected community.

Please join us in celebrating tonight’s honorees and the incredible legacy of athletics in Tacoma-Pierce County. Enjoy the evening!

Sincerely,

Marc Blau

Gil Quante President & Co-Founder President Tacoma-Pierce

County Sports Museum President, Tacoma Athletic Commission

Tribute to Champions Committee Members

Our appreciation goes to these sports fans that volunteered to serve on the committee to make this a memorable evening for all.

CHAIRMAN

Marc Blau

TICKETING & AUCTION

Colleen Barta

VENUE LOGISTICS, REGISTRATION, NAME TAGS & SETUP

Cheryl Blau, Lisa Blevins Harrison, Levi Harrison, Robyn Buck-Holdener, Jim Holdener, Doug Cail, Kyle Crews, Marcia Crews, Dave Demick, Lauralee Hagen, Karen Ivy, Jamie Lange, Ed Menotti, Chelle Miller, Kent Roberts, Heidi Rowntree, Kate Rue, Aubrey Shelton, Cara Sjogren,Tim Templin, Tim Thomsen, Sandi Ulrich, JenetteWarne, John Wohn, Teri Wood and Bob Young

SOUVENIR PROGRAM

Athlete Bios Nick Dawson, Craig Hill, Todd Keister, Todd Milles, Shawn O’Neal, Sandy Ringer and Tyler Scott.

Layout and Design Sun Showers Design

Doyle Printing John Doyle

VIDEO SCRIPTS

Gary Brooks

VIDEO PRESENTATIONS

Joanne Lisosky, Steve Thomas, Jay Stricherz and Branson Gustafson

SILENT & ORAL AUCTION

Colleen Barta, Falena Ables, Doug Cail, Don Gustafson, Dave Lawson, Chelle Miller, Aaron Roetcisoender, Willie Stewart Sr., Lou Ulrich, and Jenette Warne

DECORATIONS

Rocky Zlock, Brittany Thovsen and Angie & Jim Eichholtz

SHANAMAN SPORTS MUSEUM STAFF

Megan French, Ainsley Austin and Judy Williams

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Mike Sage-Sage Photography

Stace Tyler-Intensity Sports Photography

TACOMA ATHLETIC COMMISSION LIAISON

Karyn Siegrist, Jessica Moore

AUTOGRAPH GUESTS-PLAYGROUNDS TO THE PROS BOOKS

Phil Carter, Leo Randolph, Joe Waters, Chelle (Flamoe) Miller, Kate Rue and Suzanne Vick

PLAYGROUND TO THE PROS LOGISTICS

Doug Cail, Kyle Crews and Aubrey Shelton

RESEARCH

A special thanks to Ilona Perry (retired), Spencer Bowman and James Peterson of the Northwest Room, Tacoma Public Library, for their efforts in tracking down contact numbers, photos and information about our inductees when requested. Their efforts were invaluable.

Visit the museum online at www.tacomasportsmuseum.com

Gil Quante

Marc Blau

Chris Egan - Master of Ceremonies

King

5 Sportscaster

Chris Egan has been a sports anchor/reporter at King 5 television in Seattle for 24 years. He has won 11 Emmy Awards, three Edward Murrow Awards, and in 2022 he was named the National Sports Media Association Sportscaster of the Year.

Over the past two decades Chris has covered six Olympic games, three Super Bowls, three MLS Championships, three WNBA Championships, MLB and NHL playoffs, the Washington Huskies at the National Championship game, a Rose Bowl, and hundreds of high school sporting events.

Chris is a very proud graduate of Puyallup High School, where he played basketball and tennis. From 19911995 Chris attended Pacific Lutheran University where he played tennis and also started up a ½ hour sports show called, The Lutes Sports Profile. In 1995 Chris was named the Man of the Year in Sports at PLU.

Since graduation Chris has worked in Klamath Falls, Medford, and Boise before heading to Seattle to work at King 5 TV. Chris married his high school sweetheart Melanie, who is successful realtor in Pierce County. Melanie and Chris have three kids, Madison, Austin, and Luke. When Chris is not watching his kids, working, or on a date night with Mel, you can find him playing his favorite sport, pickleball.

The National Anthem - Susan Westering and Hadley Linderman

Susan Westering, daughter-in-law of the late Frosty Westering, is married to his son Scott. Susan taught at Pacific Lutheran University for over 30 years as well as being the biggest cheerleader and supporter for Frosty, Scott and PLU football! She now serves as the Worship Coordinator for Fellowship Bible Church in Tacoma. A lifelong musician, Susan has a deep passion for worship and is committed to serving her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who is the center of her faith and life.

Hadley Linderman, the great-granddaughter of Frosty Westering, is a freshman at Cascade Christian High School where she excels academically and is a multi-sport athlete, playing both volleyball and basketball for her school, while also staying active in choir and theatre. Outside of school, she competes with Reality Sports Volleyball Club. With a strong faith in Jesus Christ, Hadley aims to be a positive influence, just like her great-grandfather.

Invocation - Bill Ralston

Bill Ralston was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1966 and signed to a contract by Tom Lasorda. He joined the Spokane Indians of the PCL in 1971 under Lasorda where he hit .301. As a utility player he played 2nd, SS, and 3rd base, filling in for Ron Cey when he was on active military duty. The team moved to Albuquerque in 1972 where they won the PCL championship with teammates Cey, Davey Lopes, Tom Paciorek, Joe Ferguson and Steve Yeager. Bill was traded to the Minnesota Twins organization in 1974 and finished his career with Tacoma in 1975. A teammate in Tacoma was Tom Kelly, who went on to win two World Series as manager of the Twins. Bill is married to Val Ralston, and he has two sons, Matt & Bryce, who both live in the Northwest.

Hadley Linderman and Susan Westering

Bill Raston served 28 years as the chapel leader for the Tacoma PCL franchise (Twins, Tugs, Tigers and Rainiers)

Chris Egan

Welcome

5:00pm Dessert Social

Silent Auction Sports Memorabilia benefiting Sports Museum

6:00pm Oral Auction

6:30pm Silent Auction Closes

6:30pm ........................................... Welcome: Chris Egan, Master of Ceremonies

6:40pm ........................................... National Anthem: Susan Westering and Hadley Linderman

6:45pm ........................................... Invocation by Bill Ralston

6:50 pm .......................................... Video Special Presentation of Distinguished Achievement Awards

Connelly Law Offices Excellence in Officiating Award-Jack Connelly, Presenter Baseball—Dan Graves Basketball–Darin Barr Football—Keon Edwards Softball—Clarence Dean Soccer—JJ Snyder Volleyball—Rocky Zlock Wrestling—Steven Rider

First Family of Sports Award

Kelly Kirk, Presenter: Former Puget Sound Jrs. Volleyball Club Director

The Linden Family Jon, Krista, Lara, Eva, Annika, Elsa, Klara, Mia, and Sofia.

Frosty Westering Excellence in Coaching Award

Sue Westering, Presenter: Daughter of Frosty and Donna Westering

Dorinda (Russell) Carpenter Puyallup HS Gymnastics Coach

Mark Massey University of Puget Sound Volleyball Coach

Doug McArthur Lifetime Achievement Award

Mike Stauffer, Presenter: Former Lakes HS Swim Coach & TPC Sports HOF member

Margaret McCormick Parks Tacoma

Jack Connelly Connelly Law Offices

Dick Hannula Male and Female Amateur Athlete of The Year Award

Dan Hannula, Presenter: 2006 TPC Sports Hall of Fame member-swimming

Avery Cukjati Volleyball-Curtis HS

Denzel Boston Football—Emerald Ridge HS/University of Washington

Lifetime of Service Recognition

Colleen Barta, Presenter: Vice President, Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Museum

Ed Menotti Member, Tacoma Athletic Commission & Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Museum

7:30pm Video In Memoriam

7:45pm Video Special Presentation of Hall of Fame Inductees

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall of Fame

Sandy Snider, Presenter: Past TAC President (and sister of Mike Vindivich)

Baseball: Nick Hagadone

Basketball: Bryce McPhee and Jim McPhee

Football: Mike Vindivich

Golf: Michael Putnam, Audrey Wooding, Michelle (Wooding) Murphy

Handball: Myron Schmidt

Swimming: Kimo Streeter and Wally Streeter (dec.)

Track: Willie Stewart, Jr.

Volleyball: Jessica (Brodie) Hansen

Wrestling:

Closing- Chris Egan, MC

Whitney (Conder) Cox and Joe Reasons (dec.)

HOSTS

Tacoma Athletic Commission

Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Museum

PRESENTING SPONSOR

Connelly Law Offices

GOLD SPONSORS

Dominos

Darrell Cochran - PCVA Attorneys At Law

Evergreen Excavation

SILVER SPONSORS

Bucky’s Complete Auto Repair

Bob Young Commencement Bank

Farm 12

Guardian Roofing

Parks Tacoma

Rush,

Umpqua Bank

Willie Stewart, Sr.

BRONZE SPONSORS

EZ Auto License & Title

Harkness Furniture

Tacoma Oral Surgery

Tacoma Rainiers

SUPPORTING SPONSORS

American Party Place

Anthem Coffee

Financial Insights-Mike Dunbar

Sunshowers Design-Jeff Davis

TAPCO Credit Union

Tower Lanes

Wanna Cupcake

Winning Seasons

A Shout-Out To Our Local Sports Writers

Thanks to these individuals who prepared the biographies about the following honorees in this publication

TIM CONNELLY

Jack Connelly

Under protest, brother Tim Connelly agreed to provide editorial assistance with his big brother’s bio. And for the most part he gave it a stamp of approval. Jack was #3 in the Connelly household and Tim was the last at #6, graduating in 1982 from Lakes HS. Tim played on the water polo team and was a two-time first-team All-State selection, the last year, as the team leader, under Coach Jack’s direction.

NICK DAWSON

Denzel Boston, Avery Cukjati, Mark Massey Ed Menotti and Dorinda (Russell) Carpenter.

Nick Dawson is a contributing writer for the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Museum and is the former Sports Information Director at Pacific Lutheran University for 22 years as well as at Evergreen State College. He enjoys soccer, softball and golf in his spare time.

CRAIG HILL

Joe Reasons

Craig Hill is a contributing writer for the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Museum and former sports reporter and outdoor writer for The News Tribune. Craig is the author of two books-Washington Hiking and Pacific Northwest Hiking with Matt Wastradowski by Moon.com. Outdoor sports, Olympic sports, football, baseball, golf and basketball are right up his alley.

TODD KEISTER

Wille Stewart Jr.

SPORTS WEBSITES TO KEEP YOU INFORMED

Tacoma Athletic Commission www.tacomaathletic.com

Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Museum www.tacomasportsmuseum.com

State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame www.washingtonsportshof.org

Tacoma-Pierce County Baseball-Softball Oldtimers Association www.oldtimerbaseball.com

Tacoma Rainiers Baseball Club www.tacomarainiers.com

West Central District III www.wiaadistrict3.com

WIAA www.wiaa.com

Scorebook Live-High School Sports in WA www.scorebooklive.com/washington

Todd Keister is in his 21st year of teaching English and Journalism at Spanaway Lake High School. He advised the On Guard Newspaper and Centurion Yearbook for 10 years. He was the head varsity baseball coach at Spanaway Lake from 2014-2023. He lives in Tacoma with his wife Hollye and their son, Theo.

TODD MILLES

The Linden Family

Todd Milles is a contributing writer for the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Museum and a former sports reporter for The News Tribune. Currently, he is a Senior Editor for Scorebooklive.com. A Foss High School and Washington State University graduate, Milles worked as an award-winning sportswriter for The News Tribune starting in 1994. And, in tune with his "ManyHatsMilles" Twitter handle, he covered just about everything for the newspaper, ranging from University of Washington football to being the lead writer for the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay. But, most dear to his heart is the coverage of local athletes at the high school and collegiate level "If you’re not looking after your local scene, what are you really covering?".

SHAWN O’NEAL

Ed Bowman, Jessica (Brodie) Hansen, Nick Hagadone, Bryce McPhee, Jim McPhee, Mike Vindivich, Audrey Wooding and Michelle (Wooding) Murphy. Shawn O’Neal is a contributing writer for the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Museum. A graduate of Spanaway Lake High School (1991), Washington State University (1995) and the University of Idaho (2016), Shawn works in media advocacy for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and as Senior Editor for college sports at Lindy’s Sports Annuals.

SANDY RINGER

Whitney (Conder) Cox

Sandy Ringer is a contributing writer for the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Museum. A 1971 Eisenhower High School graduate, she received a bachelor’s degree in communications from WSU and embarked on a career covering high-school sports that spanned nearly 40 years, the final 28 at The Seattle Times. Sandy, who retired in 2015 but still freelances on occasion, never lost her passion for prep sports and believed in Frosty Westering’s mantra –Make the Big Time Where You Are. She earned several writing awards and was inducted into the WIAA Hall of Fame. Sandy covered some greats on the local scene including John Olerud (Interlake), Kate Starbird (Lakes), Courtney Vandersloot (Kentwood), Courtney Thompson (Kentlake), Isaiah Thomas (Curtis), Joyce Walker (Garfield) and a host of other talented athletes.

TYLER SCOTT

Margaret McCormick, Clarence Dean, Keon Edwards, Dan Graves, Michael Putnam, Steven Rider, Myron Schmidt, JJ Snyder, Kimo Streeter, Wally Streeter and Rocky Zlock

Tyler Scott is a contributing writer for the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Museum. A Puget Sound native and Pacific Lutheran University alumnus, Tyler has worked in several small college sports information offices in Washington and Oregon and also provided freelance high school sports coverage for The News Tribune.

Tacoma Athletic Commission Presidents

(1944-2025)

We salute and thank the presidents of the Tacoma Athletic Commission for their leadership over the 82 years of the organization’s existence. As you read the names, it is no surprise that many were key figures involved in significant athletic accomplishments including, but not limited to the Tacoma Dome bond issue passage, Grid-Go-Round, Hoop-Go-Round, Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall of Fame, State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame, Golden Gloves Boxing, Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Museum (previously Shanaman Sports Museum), Tom Names Salute to Sports, Distinguished Achievement Awards, Tribute to Champions, Goodwill Games, High School state championships and much more.

Note: Names in bold are living. Those with an asterisk after their name are in attendance.

1944 Doug Dyckman Sr.

1945 John P. Heinrick

1946 Jerry Waechter

1947 Jerry Geehan

1948 Howard Smith

1949 Frank Gillihan

1950 Frank Walters

1951 Dave Tuell Sr.

1952 Jim Peterson

1953 Dillard Howell

1954 Ples Irwin

1955 Dr. Charles Larson

1956 Dick Beckman

1957 Clay Huntington

1958 Clay Huntington

1959 Morley Brotman

1960 Jim Rondeau

1961 Neil Hoff

1962 Neil Hoff

1963 Bill Gazecki

1964 Marv Tommervik

1965 Roger McDonald

1966 Tom Cross

1967 Stan Naccarato

1968 Stan Naccarato

1969 Hal Brotman

1970 Hal Brotman

1971 Frank Ruffo

1972 Dick Greco

1973 Hank Semmern

1974 Hank Semmern

1975 Tom Paine

1976 Tom Paine

1977 Del Smith

1978 Morris McCollum

1979 Wayne Thronson*

1980 Greg Pratt*

1981 Jim Maniatis

1982 Doug McArthur

1983 Don Smith

1984 Bud Barnes 1985 Jerry Beitz

1986 Dan Inveen

1987 Ed Fallon

1988 Nick Weinstein

1989 Jerry Plancich

1990 Jack Johnson

1991 Dennis Faker*

1992 Rich Berndt

1993 George Nordi

1994 George Nordi

1995 Dr. Greg Plancich

1996 Dr. Greg Plancich

1997 Herb Brown*

1998 Joe Macaluso

1999 Scott Nordi

THANKS TO HALL OF FAME AUTOGRAPH GUESTS

Suzanne Vick (volleyball), Kate Rue (basketball), Chelle Miller (basketball), Phil Carter (football), Joe Waters (soccer), Leo Randolph (boxing) and Kaye Hall-Greff (swimming).

2000 Scott Nordi

2001 Mike Medrzycki

2002 Kevin Kalal

2003 Tony Anderson*

2004 Tony Anderson

2005 Tony Anderson

2006 David Grisaffi*

2007 Aaron Pointer*

2008 Willie Stewart, Sr.*

2009 Angie Eichholtz*

2010 Matt Haner

2011 Marlowe Roeser

2012 Ron Crowe*

2013 Jay Stricherz*

2014 Wayne Carlson

2015 Dave Harshman*

2016 Dave Harshman

2017 Rob Tillotson*

2018 Rob Tillotson

2019 Sandy Snider*

2020 Sandy Snider

2021 Jim Merritt*

2022 Jim Merritt

2023 Jim Merritt

2024 Paul Stabbert*

2025 Gil Quante*

253-677-2872 | www.tacomasportsmuseum.com

Throughout the years, Tacoma-Pierce County has received recognition thanks to the national and international caliber of its athletes and teams. Since its founding in 1994, the Sports Museum has honored athletes, coaches, officials, and other figures who have brought acclaim to our community.

DONATE TO SUPPORT THE MUSEUM

1. Visit TacomaSportsMuseum.com

2. On the home page, click the yellow DONATE button. This takes you to a PayPal transaction page where you can pay with a credit card or your personal PayPal account.

3. We will follow-up with acknowledgement of your gift, which may be tax-deductible if you itemize deduction on your tax return.

Visit www.TacomaSportsMuseum.com to see the extensive collection and learn more about the terrific stories of athletic achievement that our community has to share.

Support the Museum Today

When you support the museum’s efforts to preserve the rich sports history of Tacoma-Pierce County, your contribution helps maintain the virtual museum archives including:

• Photo and artifact catalog (with over 6,000 archived documents)

• Old-school sports programs (more being added from personal donations)

• The Locker Room Chat interview series (featuring dozens of prominent athletes and coaches)

• Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall of Fame (an excellent archive honoring our area’s best athletes, including those inducted tonight at the Tribute to Champions)

• Sports Spotlite quarterly newsletter (articles and anecdotes about athletes and events that shaped Tacoma history, you can subscribe to this quarterly email newsletter)

• Clay Huntington Broadcast Center (listen and watch historic radio and TV clips)

• Scrapbooks (view decades-old histories via personal scrapbooks donated to the museum)

In addition to the extensive virtual collection, we continue to raise money for an eventual return to a physical location. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Jim Stewart won Tacoma’s 1957 Soap Box Derby race.

Help us return public access to the museum and its abundant collection of artifacts from our local sports history

We need your help to make the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Museum a vibrant, accessible community treasure again.

After 24 years with dedicated, secure space at the Tacoma Dome, changes at the Dome forced the Sports Museum to vacate its space in 2018. Since then, we have had a treasure of artifacts in storage. While the Museum website (TacomaSportsMuseum.com) offers a significant amount of content where you can flip through game programs, read Hall of Famer bios and see thousands of photographs, it does not compare to seeing Olympic medals, game-worn uniforms, trophies, equipment and hundreds of other items that all have a story to tell.

There have been many discussions and ideas shared over the past several years to help the Sports Museum find suitable space to allow the public to engage with the collection in a more personal, impactful way. We welcome all of your creative ideas to help the museum find a home again.

Tacoma has a strong commitment to museums. Since sports are a key fiber in the fabric of the community, we want to return the Sports Museum to a deserved place as a destination among the other community gems that share our history, our stories and the accomplishments of our people.

If you have an idea how the Sports Museum could be integrated in a current space or even be part of a new building project, we are happy to listen.

Ideally, there would be sufficient space for display cases and exhibits to feature many of the best artifacts in our collection and allow enough room for a crowd to gather and comfortably experience and interact with the Museum. Additionally, a temperature-controlled resource/storage room would be helpful for the thousands of event programs, yearbooks, and personal scrapbooks that have been donated to the museum by nationally-recognized athletes like Herman Brix, Doris Brown Heritage, Marv Harshman, and Marv Tommervik. The signed Boston Celtics jersey and shoes worn by NBA AllStar Isaiah Thomas deserve a public audience. Same for the signed jersey from World Series-winning pitcher Jon Lester. Our storage space is bursting with artifacts missing an audience.

We have considered options to pair the Museum with a banquet facility that youth sports teams or other organizations could use for events. Perhaps you know of an option to integrate the Museum collection in an existing facility that is publicly accessible and secure. Any idea is worth consideration. We look forward to your creative thinking to re-establish the Museum beyond its virtual presence.

The Museum has some financial resources to participate in funding this endeavor. However, in addition to your ideas, we could also use your financial support to help provide a catalyst to move this project forward.

You can donate to the museum at TacomaSportsMuseum.com. Click on the yellow donate button that will take you to a PayPal page where you can make a contribution with a credit card.

Please contact Marc Blau (marc@tacomasportsmuseum.com) or 253-677-2872 to share your ideas. Thank you for your support.

The “EXCELLENCE IN OFFICIATING AWARD”

Presented by Connelly Law Offices

The “EXCELLENCE IN OFFICIATING AWARD” is presented to collectively honor officials previously recognized for their leadership, dedication and high standard of professionalism displayed on and off the “field of play”. Their efforts are acknowledged for laying a foundation of excellence as officiating pioneers.

Presented annually to a currently active official in Tacoma-Pierce County who has made a significantcontribution to the betterment of officiating. Factors used in the selection of this individual include, butare not limited to, the following:

Respect for the Spirit and the Letter of the “Laws of the Games.”

Integrity and ethics.

Exhibits a “service above self” attitude.

Has a motivating effect on others and/or strong community involvement.

Excellence in officiating

Years of service and positions held in Local, State and National Official's organizations.

Awards received from these organizations.

A member in good standing of the Washington Officials Association, if applicable.

CONNELLY LAW OFFICES

EXCELLENCE IN OFFICIATING RECIPIENTS

2024 RECIPIENTS

Baseball Phil Taylor

Basketball (B&G)

Cedric McClure

Football Shawn Farber

Softball

Soccer

Regie Johnson

Scott Webster

Volleyball Joe Sakaria

Wrestling Michael Maye

2023 RECIPIENTS

Baseball Bob Matekel

Basketball (B&G) Drew McDougall

Football Keith MacFie

Soccer

Softball

Volleyball

Cal Lovering

Mike Partlow

Nadia Tialavea

Wrestling John Rivers

2022 RECIPIENTS

Baseball No recipient chosen

Basketball (B & G) Rick Fox

Football Jeff Ausbun

Soccer Pat Muir

Softball

Bill Schey

Volleyball Jerry Aeschlimann

Wrestling Kevin Bauers

2021 RECIPIENTS

No recipients due to COVID-19

2020 RECIPIENTS

Baseball Jim Jezek

Boys Basketball Larry Berg

Girls Basketball

Football

Soccer

Ricky Underwood

Tyler Olsen

Ray Moffatte Jr.

Softball Randy Sears & Amy Wertz

Track & Field Joanne Flom

Volleyball

Wrestling

2019 RECIPIENTS

Dave Dempski

Darrell Spivey Jr.

Boys Basketball Mike Stephenson

Girls Basketball Hiram “BJ” Aea

Football

Soccer

Joe Horn

Larry Baughman

Softball Scott Buser

Volleyball Peter Thomas

Wrestling Chris Brayton

2018 RECIPIENTS

Boys Basketball Mark Polcyn

Girls Basketball Allen Estes

Fastpitch Softball Graig Bolton

Football Dwayne Johnson

Soccer John O’keefe

Volleyball Debbie Beckwith

Wrestling Ton Maki

2017 RECIPIENTS

Baseball Tom Purchase

Boys Basketball Randy Black

Girls Basketball Alberto Perez

Fastpitch Softball

Football

Ken Laase

Dan Stivers

Soccer Dana Reinhart

Volleyball John Wohn

Wrestling Glen Kuhn

2016 RECIPIENTS

Baseball Phil Taylor

Boys Basketball Tony Schoeler

Girls Basketball Kevin Walk

Fastpitch Softball Bruce Ledbetter

Football Ron Anderson

Soccer Cy Palmer

Track Cathy Sanderson

Volleyball Lenny Llanos

Wrestling Randy Holberg

2015 RECIPIENTS

Baseball Dave Williams

Boys Basketball Ed Rounds

Girls Basketball Frank Manowski

Fastpitch Softball Ken Cheslik

Football Dennis Mullens

Track and Field Ed Viering

Volleyball Walt Gogan

Wrestling Daryl Eygabroad

2014 RECIPIENTS

Boys Basketball Larry Stevens

Girls Basketball Bill Weatherby

Fastpitch Softball Greg Farias

Football Clarence Leingang

Soccer Joe Tompkins

Volleyball Paul Jensen

Wrestling Hugh Birgenheier

2013 RECIPIENTS

Boys Baseball Rob Ruth

Boys Basketball Mark Stricherz

Girls Basketball Ross Parker

Fastpitch Softball John Everett

Football Rich Salstrom

Lacrosse Keith MacFie

Volleyball Tina Preece

Wrestling Bruce Osborne

2012 RECIPIENTS

Boys Basketball Lee Gregory

Girls Basketball Ron Rosi

Fastpitch Softball Bill Rudd

Football John Dively

Swimming/Track Dick Unrue

Volleyball Teri Wood

Wrestling Eric Davis

2011 RECIPIENTS

Boys Basketball Paul Guetle

Girls Basketball Mandel Scott

Fastpitch Softball Jack Stonestreet

Football Ken Wood

Volleyball Robyn Buck

Wrestling Brian Dunbar

2010 RECIPIENTS

Baseball Ron Shaw

Boys Basketball Steve Wusterbarth

Girls Basketball Wayne Agness

Fastpitch Softball Dick Hassan

Football Terry Keister

Volleyball Earl Powell

Wrestling Terry Beckstead

Connelly Law Offices Excellence in Officiating Award (continued)

For nearly 50 years, Dan Graves has found himself behind home plate or on the base paths, calling balls and strikes, out or safe throughout the Puget Sound region.

Born May 12, 1956, in Anacortes, Graves was a three-sport athlete at Evergreen High School in Burien, playing baseball, football, and basketball before graduating at 1974. Shortly after his prep playing career ended, he begin umpiring Little League Baseball District 7, a role he filled from 1978 to 1990.

Since beginning his umpiring career, Graves has been a member of a variety of local umpiring associations. Those include the Northwest Baseball Umpires Association NPSL, Metro Kingo, and Westco (1994-2016); the Northwest College Umpires Association NWAC (2000-2003); the Western Washington Umpires Association SPSL, NPSL, PCL, and Nisqually (2016-2018); the Northwest Umpires Association NWAC (2018-2021); and the Pierce County Umpires Association SPSL, NPSL, PCL, and Nisqually (2019-present)

Boys & Girls Basketball – Darin Barr

From childhood, Darin Barr’s second home was the basketball court. Growing up with a father who was a high school coach and sports official, Barr spent his early years learning the game from his father. He took that experience to begin working as an official while attending Southern Illinois University in 1992. Onethird of a century later, he continues to show that, as he has said, “my passion for sports, especially basketball, is best served by wearing stripes and making it possible for the next generation to enjoy and respect the game as I did.”

Beginning with intramural sports at SIU, Barr’s officiating career spanned basketball, softball, volleyball, and flag football early on. As he shifted to the Illinois High School Association (1993-97), he narrowed that focus to basketball, baseball, and softball. Moving to the New Mexico Activities Association as he took on the role of Intramurals Director at University of New Mexico (1997-99), he focused in on basketball and baseball.

Once he came to the Puget Sound region to work as athletic director at the US Naval Station in Bremerton (1999-2000), he joined the Washington Officials Association solely working basketball. More than 25 years later, he continues to officiate for the WOA while working as athletic programs manager at Washington Athletic Club. Officiating highlights include three state tournaments (2017, 2020, and 2022), capped by the 2020 4A championship game and the 2022 2B championship game.

Connelly Law Offices Excellence in Officiating Award (continued)

Football – Keon Edwards

Through the first 12 years of his officiating journey, Keon Edwards has shown a tremendous dedication to improving his own skills and passing his knowledge on to others through training.

Born Feb. 22, 1983, in Philadelphia, Edwards played running back for the football team at Wando High School in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, before graduating in 2001. After joining the Army, he both played and coached intramural flag football and also coached basketball in his various units.

Edwards discovered officiating in 2013, beginning by working youth league games and intramural basketball on JBLM through Tacoma Area Sports Officials (TASO) as well as officiating men’s and co-ed flag football at JBLM. That same year, he joined the Western Washington Football Officials Association (WWFOA) as an apprentice, earning unanimous acceptance as a full member after only one season. He simultaneously began officiating high school girls basketball as a member of the Tacoma Basketball Board.

During his time with the WWFOA, Edwards has established a lengthy and impressive resume that includes prestigious assignments such as the women’s high school 4A and 1B district championships and the 2023 State Tournament 2B semifinal football game. He has also been instrumental in the training program of WWFOA apprentices, volunteering to assist with apprentice training sessions.

Connelly Law Offices Excellence in Officiating Award (continued)

Softball – Clarence Dean

Born in Marshall, Texas on May 15, 1935, Clarence graduated from Manual Arts High in Los Angeles in 1954. He was drafted into the military and while still in the military in 1970 he began his career as an official of several sports. His last military stop brought him to Fort Lewis in 1978. At this time, his umpiring career focused more on youth fastpitch and adult slowpitch softball

Clarence umpired many high school softball games, including the West Central District playoffs three years. He also umpired ASA games and tournaments, including the 2003 ASA Northwest Regional Fastpitch Championships.

“Since terminating my participation as an athlete in football, officiating has given me the opportunity to continue to participate from a different perspective,” Clarence said. “I enjoy planning and creating strategies toward developing good game management prior to each contest.”

Clarence has also officiated basketball and football games over the years.

Connelly Law Offices Excellence in Officiating Award (continued)

Soccer – JJ Snyder

In a career stretching nearly 40 years, JJ Snyder has officiated and coached soccer at a variety of levels. After beginning his refereeing journey during high school as a way to earn some extra money, he has found great joy and success on the pitch.

“To this day, I maintain that refereeing is the most rewarding profession; after all, where else can one have the flexibility to choose which days to work and still get compensated?” Snyder said.

The 2015 WOA Official of the Year, Snyder has worked at the youth (multiple State Cup Finals and regional events), high school (1A, 4A Boys Finals/4A Girls Finals), college (NWAC Finals, GNAC Finals, WAC Tournament), and indoor levels (2008-11 PASL Finals, 2009-10 PASL Pro Finals). He has also been a Major Arena Soccer League referee and assignor as well as Western Indoor Soccer League co-founder and head of officials and competition.

Along with refereeing, he has coached FC United (Washington Premier) as well as at Washington and Steilacoom High Schools and South Sound Community College.

“I hold a profound appreciation for the entire referee community for their unwavering support and guidance, which has motivated me throughout my journey and continues to inspire me each time I step onto the field to officiate a match,” Snyder said.

Connelly Law Offices Excellence in Officiating Award (continued)

Volleyball – Rocky Zlock

During volleyball season in the Puget Sound region, Rocky Zlock’s schedule tends to be full with matches five days per week.

Born May 21, 1965, in Tacoma, Zlock played volleyball, basketball, and fastpitch at Spanaway Lake High School before graduating in 1984. She played one year of volleyball at Pierce College.

While Zlock spent some time coaching volleyball (Power Surge VB club, 2002-2008) and ran her own ACES VB club for five years, she began her officiating career in 2011 and has not looked back. She typically referees high school matches and works as a line judge at the collegiate level, covering all of the local leagues: SPSL, NPSL, Nisqually, PSL, Seatac, South Sound Conference, GNAC, NAIA, and NCAA Div. III.

Wrestling – Steven Rider

While most high school wrestlers see their connection to the sport end with graduation, Steven Rider has used coaching and officiating as a way to share his passion for the sport with the next generation of wrestlers.

Born Nov. 11, 1982, Rider began his wrestling career in middle school and was a dual-sport athlete with wrestling and football at Sumner High School, where he was a 2001 state participant at the Mat Classic. He continued to wrestle at Highline Community College, earning NJCAA Academic AllAmerica honors in 2002. Brief coaching stints at Sumner and Puyallup High Schools followed.

Rider joined the Western Washington Wrestling Officials Association during the 2008-09 season, and he has been a member ever since. During that stretch, he has worked his way through the ranks with hard work and a dedication to ensuring today’s student-athletes have an opportunity to enjoy their wrestling experience. That work brought Rider to his first assignment in the Mat Classic for the state championship at the Tacoma Dome this past season, recognizing his status as an excellent and devoted wrestling official.

First Family of Sports Award

The First Family of Sports Award recognizes the contributions of parents, foster parents or guardians who instill and help maintain athletes’ successes.

The First Family of Sports Award recognizes multi-generational contributions to athletics in Pierce County. Parents, grandparents and siblings play critical roles to support athletes and their pursuit of excellence. We salute the families that seek generational connection through sports.

FIRST FAMILY OF SPORTS AWARD RECIPIENTS

2024 The Bartleson Family—Bryan, Jennifer, Jordyn, Brooklyn, Chance

2023 Stueckle Family—Dan, Heather, Kayla, Kimmie, Karlee, and Kyle

2022 The Armstrong Family—Parents Frank and Ivy and children Eloise, Dorothy, Bayyinah, Frankie, David, Dennis, Al and Beverly.

2021 No recipients due to COVID-19

2020 The Heinrick Family-John, Irene, Jack, Patricia, Margaret, Dennis and Kathleen

2019 The McPhee Family- Bill & Georgia, Kathy, Diane, Scott, Colleen, Brad, Mark, Maureen, Bryce and Jim

2018 The Barsh Family-- Israel, Denise, Joshuael, R-Jay, Jacob, Caleb, Joseph, Isaac and Josiah

2017 The Beauchene Family---Paul, Janice, Suzanne, Angie, Renee and Lisa

2016 The Mullen Family—Mike, Rosanne, Pat, Molly and Nick

2015 The Carrigan Family—Paul, Jean, Andy, Mike, Casey, Tim and Clancy

2014 The Shelton Family- Alan, Sheri, Aaron, Aubrey, Ben, Austin, Karina and Kaleb

2013 The Clark Family---Bob, Pat, Jackie, Denise, Robyn, Lori and Michele

2012 The Medved Family—Bob, Shirley, Ron, Judy, John, Susie, Michael, Pat, Tom, Tim, Karen, Kevin, Jim and Jerry

2011 The Tingstad Family—Ed, Darlene, David, Mark and Ed

2010 The Huard Family—Mike, Peggy, Damon, Brock and Luke

2009 The Westering Family—Frosty, Donna, Holly, Sue, Brad, Scott and Stacey

2008 The Hannula Family—Dick, Sylvia, Dan, Dave, Dick and Debby

2007 The Names Family--Scott, Sis, Tom, Clint and Paula

2006 The Williams Family--Joe, Cleo, Joe, Jerry, Susan, Dave, John, Jordan and Jennifer

First Family of Sports Award--The Linden Family

Blessed with otherworldly genetics and pedigree, when it came time for Jon and Krista Linden to begin building a family together, they were fairly certain about two things:

* Their children would be tall with blonde hair.

* And they would have quick reflexes and athletic hops.

But it’s what the two of them had little clue about that has made this family one of the best collections of one-sport talent that has ever been seen in Pierce County.

Hence, tonight’s prestigious recognition - the Linden family is the recipient of the Tacoma Athletic Commission’s annual “First Family of Sports Award.”

And although Jon was a football and basketball whiz at Fife High School, and Krista was a tennis and basketball player, but stood out in swimming at Brighton High School (Colorado) High School, most of their seven children - all daughters - gravitated toward one sport. Volleyball!

Besides being standouts with long-running Puget Sound Volleyball Academy, five of the sisters - Lara, Eva, Annika, Elsa, and Emilia - were varsity players at Fife High School. Five of them earned at least one season of all-league

L. to R.: Jon, Lara, Eva, Annika, Elsa, Klara, Mia, Sofia and Krista.

L. to R.: Mike, Eva, Sofia (Spike), Theo, Annika, Tyson, Klara, Jon, Krista, Elsa, Mia, Bryce, Cal, Lara

First Family of Sports Award (continued)

honors. And four of them went on to play in college.

“I don’t ever remember telling our kids, ‘You have to go to practice!’” Krista Linden said. “We have never forced any of the girls to do it. … we kind of just followed their lead.”

An accomplished sports-playing lineage in this family can be traced back generationson both sides.

Carl Linden - Jon’s father - immigrated from Sweden and was an accomplished football player in East Bremerton High School’s first graduating class. He then went on to play at Bethel University in Minnesota before moving to Pierce County where he became a longtime church pastor.

His children - Jon (football, basketball, track and field), Nils (football) and Jenni (volleyball) - all played sports at Fife, then went to compete at Bethel University as well.

And Ron Lindgren - Krista’s father - played basketball at Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park, Illinois before competing at Drake and Central Missouri. He ended up moving to Colorado where he was a professor, then started his own landscaping business.

Ron also had a household of athletes: Krista, the oldest, was an accomplished swimmer and at one point, was asked to help start a women’s swimming program at Bethel University.

Tim, the second-oldest, played basketball at Bethel. And then sisters, Katherine (Kentucky) and Trisha (Kansas) played volleyball at the NCAA Division I level. Youngest brother, Josh, played football at NAIA’s Ottawa University in Kansas.

“My dad was really strict, and the one thing we could do was play sports, and do a lot of them,” Trisha said. “We have a basketball hoop in our driveway, and we beat on each other.

“He just loved seeing us playing sports.”

To those from Pierce County who watched 6-foot-4 Jon Linden pass for touchdowns as the quarterback in football at Fife, or set the basketball program’s single-game assists record (12) - it comes as no surprise his children are supremely talented as well.

“Everybody knew from the moment you saw Jon on a basketball court or football fieldhe was a natural athlete,” said Rick Ancheta, the former Fife boys basketball coach. “He had a maturity way beyond his years. As a freshman and sophomore, he would play like a senior.”

As fate would have it, Jon and Krista met for the first time one morning in the Bethel University weight room.

“He was working in there, and I asked how I could lift weights and not get more muscular in my arms,” Krista said.

They didn’t date until years later when Jon returned in 1990 as a fifth-year senior after playing four seasons of college basketball, and one season of football.

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First Family of Sports Award (continued)

Sports prepared Krista for a life of fitness, including competing in the Coeur d’Alene Half Ironman.

It just so happened that Jenni - Jon’s youngest sister - lived on the same dormitory floor where Krista was a Resident Assistant (RA).

Jenni reintroduced them, and the two athletes became a couple - for good.

Two years later, after Krista accepted a teaching position at Seattle Christian School and transplanted to Washington, the two wed in the summer of 1993, and moved into the house in Milton that Jon bought and remodeled. It is still the family headquarters today.

In 1995, their first daughter, Lara, was born in their house. And almost every two years after that, another daughter arrived to bring added joy to the growing family.

Not long after graduating from Kentucky, Katherine decided to enroll in the nursing school at the University of Washington, and moved in with her sister and brother-in-law.

While there, she spent many days babysitting the oldest Linden daughters, and would bring out a volleyball out to show them how to serve.

Katherine ended up coaching a couple of them on a local recreational youth team, too.

“I do remember they got into it,” Katherine said. “And at the time, I was playing in a sand volleyball league with friends in Seattle - and (the girls) were good enough to hang out with us there.”

On a couple of family trips to Colorado, the Lindens would visit Trisha and her family, who had started a club volleyball program and built an indoor facility, where the girls were exposed to a fun - and serious enough - side of the sport.

“It was a luxury to have that as their introduction,” Krista said.

But the sport did not become a serious endeavor until the late Jan Kirk, who was also the legendary Fife volleyball coach, spotted the oldest girls and asked Krista and Jon if they would be interested in bringing the girls in for a tryout with Puget Sound Volleyball.

“Club volleyball has always been expensive, so for them to be part of it was initially hard for them to do,” said Pat Taitano, now the Puget Sound Volleyball president who is also the women’s coach at Tacoma Community College.

“They just didn’t know if it was worth it.”

But Jon and Krista did take their two oldest daughters to an open gym for the club, just to see how they would respond to other high-level athletes.

“I am looking at these 18-year-old girls, who are the best in the region, just warming up,” Jon said. “And Eva is there. She’s 10. She doesn’t know what to do, but is running behind the end line on one end of the court while the girls are hitting.”

Balls were sent whizzing in Eva’s direction at all speeds.

“A ball was going at her head, and she put her hand up like this (in a dig technique) and I just saw that natural quick-twitch reaction.”

Jon hoops it up for Bethel College.

First Family of Sports Award (continued)

And while the girls dabbled in other sports - most of them played for Upward Basketball with Jon as their coach - as a family, they decided if they were going to invest in a year-round activity such as volleyball, the sole focus would be on that.

“We just started weeding the other stuff out,” Lara said, “and volleyball became more fun. And I made more friends.”

Very quickly, the Linden girls excelled at the sport. Consider:

* Lara started it off as a multi-year 2A SPSL all-league first-team outside hitter at Fife (2010-12) playing for Kirk late in her coaching career. She went on to play at Northwest University in Kirkland.

* Then came along Eva - the most talented of the sisterly bunch, by all accounts - who was the league’s most valuable player in 2013 and 2014 before heading off to Portland State and then finishing up at Southern Methodist University.

* Annika, a right-side hitter and setter, was also a multi-year 2A SPSL all-league first-team selection (2016, 2017). She played one season at Bellevue College.

* Elsa, a four-year letter winner, was an all-league first-team outside hitter who opted not to pursue college volleyball.

* Emilia, the No. 6 sister, played both middle blocker and outside hitter - and was an all-2A SPSL first teamer at both positions. She currently is playing at Tacoma Community College.

* And the youngest - Sofia - is completely different altogether, both in stature (4-foot-10) and position (libero) as she finished up her sophomore season at Fife last fall. Her nickname is “Spike.”

For 17 consecutive years, the Lindens had at least one daughter (and up to four playing at one time) playing with Puget Sound Volleyball.

“When your kids play a sport you didn’t play … you have to try and understand what they are doing and match their interest level,” Jon said. “You can’t care more than they do, but you’ve got to care as much.”

Then there is the side story about the sister who did not play volleyball (but badly wanted to). Klara, the fifth-oldest, was born at 28 weeks, and has faced medical challenges her entire life.

When she tried playing a sport, it was often interrupted by another brain surgery (one of 18 she’s had her in life). But she did sit in the stands with her parents and “Super Fan” grandfather Carl and cheered on her sisters.

“Volleyball has been a second parent for our kids, teaching them things we value without us having to be the teacher,” said Krista, who has a busy life - running the non-profit “Step By Step” she founded in 1997, which offers maternal-support services to families - and mothers, in particular - in need.

She also founded the Puyallup-based “Farm 12.” Restaurant and Event center near the fairgrounds. In her spare time, she trains for marathons and halfironman competitions.

Meanwhile, Jon has operated his own construction company for three decades.

“Our family has loved watching the girls play. Sisters root for sisters. Parents rooting for their kids. Grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins - it has been a family affair. And for all of those memories, we are grateful.”

Eva kills it for the Southern Methodist University team

Annika digging up a ball for Fife HS.

First Family of Sports Award (continued)

Elsa (upper left) rallies the Fife Trojans

Lara rallies Northwest University to another victory.

18 brain surgeries prevented Klara from sports activities but pursuing a second college degree is now her goal.

Mia fires up her team at Junior Nationals. At 4’10 in a family of 6-footers, Sofia (aka Spike) is the only libero in the Linden clan, currently playing for Fife HS.

Frosty Westering Excellence In Coaching Award

This award was established to honor a legendary coach, Frosty Westering, and to inspire and recognize those who follow in his footsteps. Frosty emphasized a double-win theme: victory on the scoreboard and the satisfaction of playing to one’s personal potential. He instilled a love of teamwork and competition, and stressed “service above self.” For 40 years his players responded by portraying excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community. The award is presented to a local coach in recognition of their commitment to excellence and devotion to the personal growth of their players.

Frosty Westering Excellence in Coaching Award

Dorinda Carpenter

Starting in 2001 and in the intervening 25 years, Dorinda (Russell) Carpenter has served with distinction as girls gymnastics head coach at Puyallup High School. Her Vikings teams won four consecutive South Puget Sound League championships from 2007-10, with the 2008 team placing second in state and the 2007 and 2009 squads finishing in third. The 2007-09 teams all captured West Central District titles. Carpenter has coached three other PHS teams to top seven state finishes, most recently the 2019 Vikings who placed seventh and the 2020 squad that placed fifth. The top individual performer during Carpenter’s 25-year tenure at PHS was recent graduate Rylee Anderson, who won back-to-back state championships in the allaround and the balance beam, in addition to state titles in the vault, the floor exercise and the uneven bars. Other state event winners under Carpenter’s tutelage have been Katie Bubnich in the balance beam in 2009 and Kari McCarthy in the vault and balance beam in 2023.

Carpenter was honored by her peers as the Washington State Girls Gymnastics Association Coach of the Year in 2009 under Brad Loan, a 2021 inductee.

Her early coaching experience came as an assistant coach at Ferrucci Junior High School in 1989 and with Puget Sound School of Gymnastics, where she learned the sport under Tacoma-Pierce County (YEAR??) Hall of Fame inductee Brad Loan. Carpenter coached at Ballou Junior High School in 1997 and 1998 and also judged high school gymnastics for two years. Following a move to Utah, she taught at a private club, and she has also started and coached tumbling classes at various recreation centers.

Her own start in gymnastics came at age 6, and soon she placed third in the all-around at the state Class 3 (age 7/8) level. Following was first place finishes in all-around at both the Class 2 and Class 1 levels. She eventually qualified as an elite gymnast at age 11.

Club competition afforded Dorinda the opportunity to showcase her skills at national and team championships throughout the United States and Canada, and eventually earned her one of 15 spots for top gymnasts aged 13-and-under on the USAIGC National Junior Elite team. The team met twice a year in Ohio for intense training and skills development.

She competed in club gymnastics at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs with teammate and TPC Hall of Fame member Yumi Mordre. Across the hall from Dorinda in the housing complex was eventual Olympic gold medalist Mary

EXCELLENCE IN COACHING RECIPIENTS

2024 Duane Lee X-Country & Track Lincoln

Katrina Cardinal Girls Volleyball Peninsula

2023 Dave Miller Football Lakes

Michelle Pielak Girls X-Country Curtis

2022 Joe Clark Boys X-Country Lakes

Robi Sumner Soccer Sumner

2021 No recipients due to COVID-19

2020 Don Gustafson Girls Golf Life Christian,

2019

2018

2017

Joe Waters Boys Soccer Bellarmine Prep

Paul Souza Softball & Volleyball Washington

Patty Ley X-Country Gig Harbor

Sam Ring Boys Track & Field and Girls X-Country Wilson

Chris Gibson Girls Basketball White River

Mark Bender Girls Golf Bellarmine Prep

Mark Lovelady Boys Basketball Life Christian

2016 Kevin Aoki Volleyball Pacific Lutheran

2015

2014

Randy Davis Football Cascade Christian

Gary Wusterbarth Boys Basketball Steilacoom

Lou Retton. “There was a group of us that, because of qualifying at a young age, we were called ‘baby elites’,” Dorinda says.

At the time, she came up one place short of qualifying for the U.S. Championships while dealing with back issues. That led to an eventual diagnosis of Scheuermann’s Disease, a skeletal disorder that causes lower and mid-level back and neck pain, effectively ending her national-level involvement.

Dorinda competed in gymnastics during her eighth and ninth grade years at Kalles Junior High School, and then at Rogers High School under Coach Bob Wendt. She was twice the South Puget Sound League all-around champion while also placing fourth in the all-around at the state championship.

“Because of my back injury I was limited, so I would often help my coaches and that was the impetus to continue coaching beyond high school,” she said.

She also competed in track & field in the hurdles at Rogers High School, from where she graduated in 1988. Carpenter’s track background has led her to assistant track & field coaching roles at Frontier Junior High and also at Graham Kapowsin High School.authored two books on the Swing Attack Offense.

Massey was a soccer and track & field athlete at Eastside High School in Greenville, South Carolina, and also at Furman University. He picked up the game of volleyball during his college undergraduate and graduate years, playing 6-rotation middle and setter. Volleyball teams for which he played earned Massachusetts State Olympics gold and New York State Olympics silver.He has been a speaker at American Volleyball Coaches Association national conventions, emphasizing the Swing Attack, and he has also authored two books on the Swing Attack Offense.

Massey was a soccer and track & field athlete at Eastside High School in Greenville, South Carolina, and also at Furman University. He picked up the game of volleyball during his college undergraduate and graduate years, playing 6-rotation middle and setter. Volleyball teams for which he played earned Massachusetts State Olympics gold and New York State Olympics silver.

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These gymnasts represented Puyallup High School at the State Championships under Coach Dorinda Carpenter.

Frosty Westering Excellence in Coaching Award (continued)

Mark Massey

For someone who ranks 21st in victories all-time among college volleyball coaches in all NCAA divisions, in addition to being ranked fifth in career victories among active NCAA Division III coaches, the University of Puget Sound’s Mark Massey had an interesting start to his chosen sport.

While an undergraduate student at Furman University in his native South Carolina, Massey and a friend started the men’s and women’s volleyball programs at the school. Now, more than four decades later, Massey is duly honored as the recipient of the Frosty Westering Excellence in Coaching Award. Volleyball fans in the Pacific Northwest and across the NCAA Division III ranks know Massey as the highly successful coach of the University of Puget Sound Loggers. In his 29 years in charge, starting in 1996, nine Loggers teams have reached NAIA or NCAA Division III postseason play, with four of those teams advancing as far as the national quarterfinals. The program boasts three Northwest Conference titles and 19 All-Americans under his watch. Massey has been named NWC Coach of the Year three times and American Volleyball Coaches Association West Region Coach of the Year once.

"Mark came into the Northwest Conference at the same time I did 29 years ago in 1996," said Pacific Lutheran University head coach Kevin Aoki, himself the winner of the Frosty Westering Excellence in Coaching Award in 2016. "He has consistently put good teams out on the floor and his teams are so very well coached. Although we are rivals, we continue to have mutual respect for each other's program."

While he started the volleyball programs at Furman University, from where he graduated in 1979, Massey didn’t officially start his coaching career until 1980 when he took the post at Syracuse University, his teams going 55-58-8 in three seasons.

After earning his master’s degree from Ithaca College and reaching the ABD Doctorate level at Syracuse, Massey took over the coaching reins at Northeastern University in Boston, where his teams compiled a 96-42 record from 1985-88.

Prior to coming to the University of Puget Sound, Massey coached at Cal State Los Angeles, where from 1989-95 he led his teams to a combined 120-86 record and four NCAA Division II national tournament appearances. His 1992 team reached the Division II “Final Four,” and his 1994 squad earned a No. 2 national ranking. In 1992, Massey earned Asics/Volleyball Monthly NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year recognition. It is no coincidence that Massey has earned the Frosty Westering Excellence in Coaching Award, which is named after the long-time College Football Hall of Fame and Pacific Lutheran University coaching legend. Westering was a master at sport psychology and a highly regarded motivator, and Massey's educational pursuits fit into that description.

While Massey’s undergraduate degree came in Biology and Physical Education, both his master’s degree and his doctoral work emphasized sport psychology.

He has been a speaker at American Volleyball Coaches Association national conventions, emphasizing the Swing Attack, and he has also authored two books on the Swing Attack Offense. Massey was a soccer and track & field athlete at Eastside High School in Greenville, South Carolina, and also at Furman University. He picked up the game of volleyball during his college undergraduate and graduate years, playing 6-rotation middle and setter. Volleyball teams for which he played earned Massachusetts State Olympics gold and New York State Olympics silver.He has been a speaker at American Volleyball Coaches Association national conventions, emphasizing the Swing Attack, and he has also authored two books on the Swing Attack Offense.

Doug McArthur Lifetime Achievement Award

The Doug McArthur Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an individual who captures the true passion for athletics.  This passion can be demonstrated through participation, promotion and organization.

Athletics brings out the best of us as individuals as well as collectively as a team.  It challenges us both physically and mentally.  It brings out our best in moments when our best is required.  This competitive spirit shows itself in a variety of ways over the course of a lifetime.  It is not about winning but about competing.  It is about sustainability and perseverance.   It is about bringing out the best in yourself and others, through ability, effort and attitude.  When one does that, it leaves a legacy, a road map of courage, for others to follow.

This award recognizes all of the above and the Tacoma Athletic Commission is proud to honor this year’s recipient of the Doug McArthur Lifetime Achievement Award.

PAST RECIPIENTS

2024 Kathy Hemion & Duncan Stevenson

2023 Phyllis Templin & Jan Wolcott

2022 Wendy Malich & Tim Thompson

2021 No recipients due to COVID-19

2020 Brian Kamens & Aaron Pointer

2019 Willie Stewart & Dan Watson

2018 Tom Mustin

2017 Angie Eichholtz

2016 Dick Hannula

2015 Stan Naccarato & Ken Still

2014 Bob Robertson

2013 Joe Stortini

2012 Ruggles Larson

Doug McArthur Lifetime Achievement Award

Few people have built a legacy in South Puget Sound recreational sports to compare with Margaret McCormick’s, and it all can be traced back to a happy accident when she showed up for the wrong class in college.

Born April 10, 1933, in Albany, Oregon, McCormick was attending the University of Oregon when she joined a class and the professor discovered she was not on the class list. An hour long conversation with the professor over coffee pointed her toward a Parks and Recreation major and a meeting with the department chair. The rest, as they say, is history.

“I knew I had found what I was meant to do,” McCormick said. “I went from being a solid C student to being on the Dean’s List.”

McCormick’s early years allowed her to establish her own athletic bona fides on the basketball court at St. Mary’s High School in Medford, where they only played half court “since we were girls and too delicate to play full court.” She also fondly recalled four years as a cheerleader “for a consistently losing team.”

During that time, McCormick also became the first female to earn a byline in the Medford Mail Tribune as she reported on the B League baseball game in Eagle Point in the early 1950s. After graduating from U of O in 1968, she was hired as Senior Citizen coordinator at Vancouver Parks and Recreation before earned a promotion to Recreation Manager.

By 1984, Metro Parks Tacoma was pulling out all the stops to recruit McCormick from Vancouver. As former Superintendent of Parks Ken Heany recalled, “She withdrew from the first interview, but we did not give up! We wanted her, as she was known as the most driven, creative recreation manager in the west.”

Heany and his team eventually succeeded, and McCormick worked as Director of Recreation and Community Services at Metro Parks Tacoma from 1984 until 1996. Of course, that was only her first retirement, as she has gone back repeatedly, retired twice more, and still works there part-time. As she explained it, “I liked the retirement parties.”

In her work at the organization, McCormick continually sought out the best staff she could recruit and mentored them until they were ready for their next challenge. She created a welcoming and supportive atmosphere at every event and showed her love for the community with involvement in everything Metro Parks worked on. She continually looked for new program opportunities to meet the needs of underserved members of the community and always found a way even when resources were limited.

“I don’t think I really understood her impact and importance until we worked together at Metro Parks,” former Tacoma Rainiers General Manager and Metro Parks Tacoma Director of Recreation & Community Services Dave Lewis said. “That is where I learned more about her deep love for the community. She used Parks & Recreation as a means to serve the community she loves. She was a pioneer in the field. Not only did she blaze a path for women in the industry, but she was also good at getting the ‘old boys’ to think differently about the industry’s impact on everyone.”

Along with her work at Metro Parks (and numerous other roles in the community), McCormick served as director of the Tacoma Tigers (and eventually Rainiers) Community Fund. She helped the team with community engagement activities and continually encouraged everyone she encountered to get involved with virtually every local organization. Every interaction was a chance for her to make a new connection.

“I loved walking with Margaret at state and national conferences,” Lewis said. “We couldn’t walk 10 steps without someone yelling ‘Margaret!’ and wanting to give her a hug and catch up. Many people called her the godmother of recreation.”

Margaret McCormick and Shon Sylvia

Former Executive Director Jim Montgomerie, with Margaret

Doug McArthur Lifetime Achievement Award (continued)

Jack Connelly – Connelly Law Offices

For over 50 years, Jack Connelly has exhibited a competitive spirit of excellence. His drive and achievement have been evident in the pool as a backstroke standout with NCAA talent, as a state champion water polo coach, and as a community leader, volunteer and benefactor.

Aside from his own athletically gifted younger days, Jack has contributed to the fabric of our sports community as a member of the ownership group of the Tacoma Rainiers, owner of the Highlands Golf Course, Tacoma Athletic Commission supporter and Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Museum board member. He is also a past president of the Pacific Harbors Council of the Scouts of America.

Jack began his athletic career in Lakewood with age group tennis matches and swimming when his family became charter members of the Lakewood Raquet Club. After joining the club’s first ever swim team he discovered he was fast in the water. One thing led to another and Jack put down his tennis racket. He started swimming in the winter with Kimo Streeter and the Tacoma Swim Club at Mt. Tahoma, moved on to age group swimming with Gary Dyer at Fircrest’s Amateur Swim Team (FAST) and then to Titlow with Dick Hannula’s Tacoma Swim Club (TSC). His times continued to drop and Jack moved up to Hannula’s senior group and then to the TSC national team. Jack credits his parents for driving him in from Lakewood twice a day for the two-hour TSC workouts at Titlow, Wilson and UPS. When it came time for the high school season, Jack elected to stay in Lakewood and swim for the new team at Lakes High coached by Hannula protégé Mike Stauffer.

Jack became a six-time state finalist and the school’s first high school All-American, earning honors in his junior and senior year in the 100yard backstroke. Jack led the Lancers to a second-place state meet finish during the period when the Hannula-led Wilson teams were unbeatable. During summers, he continued to swim on Hannula’s national team. Jack also played water-polo for the Lancers and was named to Washington’s All-State Water Polo first team.

A leg injury followed by two surgeries nearly ended his swimming career, but Jack worked his way back, went down to Stanford and became a backstroker on the Cardinal swim team which placed sixth nationally. Jack became the Cardinal’s top back-stroker earning NCAA All-American relay team honors in 1976 and 1977. Jack is always quick to add that the fact that there were two Olympians on the relay, John Hencken –gold medal in the 100 breaststroke; Dave Fairbanks – gold medal 400 free relay, were major reasons for these honors.)

Jack graduated from Stanford in 1978. He coached age group swimming with the Lakewood Swim Club and then in Palo Alto Hills before entering law school in San Francisco. While a law student, he continued to coach at Palo Alto Hills and served as the announcer for the Stanford swim meets. After law school he returned to Washington and coached the Lakes High School water polo team breaking Puyallup High School’s 10-year winning streak and leading the Lancers to the state championship in 1983. He then joined prior Tacoma Swim Club teammate Chris Myhre at Wilson High School, coaching the Ram waterpolo team to a second-place state finish. Jack rounded out his water-polo and coaching career serving as player-coach of the Titlow “Octopus” masters water polo club.

Jack and Angela Connelly, new owners of the Highlands Golf Course, have made significant upgrades and Golf Advisor ranked it as the #5 Short Course in the U.S. in 2024.

A very young Jack coached the Lakes HS water polo team in 1983 to the state championship.

Doug McArthur Lifetime Achievement Award (continued)

Jack turned to full-time lawyering and has been honored as Washington’s top trial lawyer four times. In 2006, he started his own law firm which now has offices in Tacoma, Seattle and Spokane. In 2002 it appeared that the Tacoma Rainiers were going to be sold and possibly leaving Tacoma. Jack joined Brad Cheney and Jeff Lyon to form the Tacoma Baseball Foundation to keep Triple-A baseball in Tacoma. He and Cheney eventually became members of the Baseball Club of Tacoma, which currently owns the Tacoma Rainiers.

In 2019, former University of Puget Sound athletic director Doug McArthur was given 30 days to find a buyer to help save Tacoma’s Highlands Golf Course which was going to be sold and replaced with condominiums. Jack and his wife Angela purchased the Highlands Golf Course, renovated it, and built McDuff’s Café to make Highlands a community asset. The renovations helped boost the annual rounds played from 16,000 in 2019 to over 41,000 in 2024. The course has now received state and national honors as a top par-3 course. It includes a First Tee franchise bringing underprivileged youth to the sport of golf. For the past three years, the course has hosted the annual Washington State Par-3 state tournament. Doug McArthur’s “Attaway” award for the Highlands was greatly appreciated. A permanent memorial to Doug, complete with his Highlands poetry, was recently placed at the course next to the “McArthur’s Court” patio.

Jack served as Board President of the Pacific Harbors Council of the Scouts of America with six of his sons achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. Jack and Angela have nine children. He credits the success he has had to outstanding coaches and working with people who loved sports and cared about youth and the community.

Jack recognizes sports as a lifetime pursuit. Whether kayaking down the Yukon, riding the Seattle-to-Portland bike ride, master’s swimming, attending Army-Navy football games with his son Peter – a West Point cadet (Go Army beat Navy!), watching his sons compete in the Ironman, cheering for his daughters’ cross country, lacrosse or flag football teams, playing golf with his sons or getting grandkids ready for Bellarmine Lions athletics, he continues to love and be active with sports.

Back row: James Connelly (far left standing next to the blonde), Joseph Connelly and Thomas Connelly. Row 2: Olivia Connelly (James’wife), Hollie Connelly (Joseph’s wife), Luke Connelly, Peter Connelly, Joe O’Brien, (Catherine Connelly’s husband), John Francis Connelly, and Jenn Connelly (John Francis Connelly’s wife) Row 3: Catherine O’Brien holding Jonna O’Brien and Veronica Connelly. Sitting: Justin Connelly, Teresa O’Brien, Angela Connelly holding Charlotte Grace Connelly, Jack Connelly holding Ella Rose Connelly, Lucia O’Brien and Sophia O’Brien. Front row: Teddy the dog Connelly.

Dick Hannula Male and Female Amateur Athlete of the Year Award

Avery Cukjati

The Dick Hannula Award is given to the top male and female amateur athletes in or from Tacoma-Pierce County for the past year. Hannula, an internationally-known coach and a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, also led his Wilson boys swim teams to 24 straight state titles, and coached numerous worldclass swimmers such as Kaye Hall-Greff, Janet Buchan Elway, Barbara Mitchell, Chuck Richards, Dick, David and Dan Hannula, Miriam Smith, and Sarah Rudolph.

Avery Cukjati was chosen as the Washington State Volleyball Coaches Association All-State Player of the Year, the Tacoma News Tribune 4A Player of the Year, and the Tacoma Athletic Commission Athlete of the Year after leading her Curtis High School volleyball team to a 27-0 record and the 2024 4A state championship. The individual honors and the team accomplishment capped an outstanding four-year career for the senior outside hitter.

In the fall of 2021, Avery came into a Curtis High School volleyball program that had seen a good deal of success in the 2000s. She was one of three ninth graders that helped the Vikings not only maintain that tradition of success but turn it up a notch during the next four years.

In her first season, Avery was a starter and helped lead Curtis to first place finishes in the South Puget Sound League and the West Central District tournament before a second-place performance in the 4A state tournament. As a sophomore, Avery was a key component in the Vikings’ run to a fifth-place state finish.

Individual accolades followed in 2023 when Avery, a Curtis team captain, earned 4A SPSL first team honors in helping the Vikings place seventh in state.

That set the stage for Avery’s outstanding senior season. In addition to leading the Vikings to the state title as the WIAA 4A Player of the Year, the team captain was named the SPSL 4A Offensive Player of the Year as well as earning all-tournament honors. She finished the season with 359 kills, 4.2 kills per game, and a .242 attack percentage in addition to 200 digs and 36 aces. In addition to winning the state title, Curtis High swept league and West Central District championships.

Avery has played seven years of club volleyball for South Sound Volleyball Club and Puget Sound Volleyball Club, and four years of beach volleyball for nationally ranked Dakine Volleyball Club. She has earned numerous accolades as a beach volleyball player, including 2023 Junior Volleyball Association Best in Beach for Class of 2025, and 2024 JVA Players to Watch Class of 2025.

A multi-talented athlete, Avery has also played two seasons as a wide receiver for the fledgling Curtis High School girls flag football team, earning Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2024.

Avery, who turned 18 in March, received a four-year athletic scholarship to play beach volleyball at Santa Clara University.

Dick Hannula Amateur Athlete of the Year Award

Dick Hannula Male and Female Amateur Athlete of the Year Award (continued)

Denzel Boston

A primary goal of all athletes, no matter the sport or the level of competition, is to make the most of opportunities when they come your way. For former Emerald Ridge High School standout Denzel Boston, the 2024 Washington Huskies football season was a prime example of an opportunity presented and firmly taken.

Boston has played three seasons at the University of Washington, including a four-game debut with one start and one touchdown in 2022.

The Bosie, Idaho native made further inroads in the Huskies program during the 2023 season when he appeared in 14 contests with one start as UW advanced to the NCAA Division I title game. On a team that saw its top three receivers get selected in early rounds of the NFL draft, Boston finished with five receptions for 51 yards in addition to returning five punts for 28 yards.

Boston’s big opportunity came following the 2024 NFL draft when Washington’s top three wide receivers - Rome Odunze (ninth overall pick), Ja’Lynn Polk (37th overall pick) and Jalen McMillan (92nd overall pick) - all left to play in the National Football League. The trio had combined for 206 receptions, 3,358 yards and 27 touchdowns during the 2023 season, led by consensus All-American Odunze with 92 catches for 1,640 yards and 13 scores.

With the Huskies needing to fill big holes in the receivers room, Boston seized his opportunity as a junior. A large target at 6-4 and 209 pounds, Boston led the Huskies with 807 receiving yards and nine touchdowns while finishing second on the team with 60 receptions. He also returned 11 punts for 80 yards.

Boston’s nine touchdown receptions during the 2024 campaign is tied for eighth-most in single-season UW history. He set a career high of nine receptions (for 99 yards) against Southern Cal, and established his career single-game best with 125 receiving yards with two touchdowns on six receptions against Rutgers.

In the Huskies’ first season in the Big Ten, Boston was named honorable mention all-league by both the coaches and the media.

Boston drew the interest of many NCAA Division I football programs coming out of Emerald Ridge High School.

In four varsity football seasons at ER, Boston caught 105 passes for 1,572 yards and 23 touchdowns. He earned first team All-South Puget Sound League recognition and was ER’s Offensive Player of the Year following his junior and senior seasons when he compiled a combined 70 receptions for 1,101 yards and 15 touchdowns. His 2020 junior campaign, shortened to five games by Covid, saw Boston pile up 34 catches for 553 yards and seven scores.

ESPN ranked Boston as the nation’s No. 71 wide receiver coming out of high school.

In addition to his football exploits, Boston also competed in the 200-meter dash, the 400-meter relay and the triple jump for the Jaguars track & field program.

The 2025 University of Washington football season will surely present another significant opportunity for Boston, and as he has throughout his athletic career it would seem to be a given that he will make the most of it.

Dick Hannula Amateur Athlete of the Year Award Recipients

2024 Hannah Pukis Bellarmine Prep/WSU/Univ. of Oregon

2024 Brandon Kaylor Bonney Lake HS/Oregon State University

2023 Brynna Maxwell Gig Harbor HS and Gonzaga University

2022 Kendall Burks Stadium HS and University of Washington

2022 Zyonna Fellows Mt. Tahoma HS and University of Arizona

2021 No recipients due to COVID-19

2020 Morgan Weaver Curtis HS/Washington State University

2020 Malachi Flynn Bellarmine Prep/WSU/San Diego State University

2019 Jamie Lange Sumner HS/University of Puget Sound

2019 Kaleb McGary Fife HS/University of Washington

2018 Margaux Arntson Annie Wright School/Claremont McKenna College

2018 Michael Gretler Bonney Lake HS/Oregon State University

2017 Kate Landau Tri-Valley HS (NY)/Georgetown University

2017 Sefo Liufau Bellarmine Prep/University of Colorado

2016 Jenna Mullen Emerald Ridge HS/Portland State University

2016 Morgan Weaver Curtis HS/Washington State University

2016 Josh Garnett Puyallup HS/Stanford University

2015 Whitney Conder Rogers HS/Northern Michigan/US Army

2015 DaVonte Lacy Curtis HS/Washington State University

2014 Courtney Schwan Bellarmine HS/University of Washington

2014 Scott Crichton Foss HS/Oregon State University

2013 Andrea Geubelle Curtis HS/University of Kansas

2013 Courtney Schwan Bellarmine HS/University of Washington

2013 Taylor Meeks Orting HS/Oregon State University

2012 Andrea Geubelle Curtis HS/University of Kansas

2012 Austin Seferian-Jenkins Gig Harbor HS/University of Washington

2012 Kaleb Shelton-Johnson Lincoln HS/University of Puget Sound

2011 Alex Montgomery Lincoln HS/George Tech University

2011 Andrew Putnam Life Christian Academy/Pepperdine University

2010 Brie Felnagle Bellarmine Prep/University of North Carolina

2010 Isaiah Thomas Curtis HS/ University of Washington

2009 Melanie Roach 2008 Summer Olympic Games

2009 Johnny Spevak Puyallup HS/Central Washington University

2008 Christal Morrison Puyallup HS/University of Washington

2008 Brandon Gibson Rogers HS/ Washington State University

2007 Megan Quann Jendrick Emerald Ridge HS/Pacific Lutheran University

2007 Kellen Harkness Cascade Christian HS/Ohio State University

2006 Christal Morrison Puyallup HS/University of Washington

2006 Joe Rubin Foss HS/Portland State University

2005 Ryan Moore Cascade Christian HS/University of Nevada at Las Vegas

2004 Reggie Williams Lakes HS/University of Washington

2003 Ryan Moore Cascade Christian HS/University of Nevada at Las Vegas

2002 Dana Boyle University of Puget Sound

2001 Chad Johnson Rogers HS/Pacific Lutheran University

2000 Megan Quann Emerald Ridge HS/Pacific Lutheran University

1999 Kirk White Curtis HS/Boise State

1996 Karl Lerum Pacific Lutheran University

1997 Shannon Forslund Mt. Tahoma HS

1996 Dusty Brett Bellarmine Prep

1995 Brock Huard Puyallup HS/University of Washington

1994 Marc Weekly Rogers HS/Pacific Lutheran University

1993 Kate Starbird Lakes HS/Stanford University

1992 Sonya Olejar Bellarmine Prep/Stanford University

1991 Damon Huard Puyallup HS/University of Washington

1990 Andy Maris White River HS

1989 Sonya Brandt Pacific Lutheran University

1988 Mike Oliphant University of Puget Sound

1987 Jim Martinson Puyallup HS

Lifetime of Service Recognition

The LIFETIME OF SERVICE RECOGNITION is presented to an individual who has a heart of gold and volunteers for everything for both the TAC and the Sports Museum: Golden Gloves, Athlete of the Year luncheons, Salute to Sports, Tribute to Champions … When attendees have left the events, he will be picking up garbage, putting chairs in place and not depart until there is no work left to be done.

We realize that there are many people who volunteer 365 days a year and give 100% in a variety of ways, but we chose Ed because if he could find a way to volunteer 366 days of the year he would and he would give 120% while doing it! NO ONE can top his dedication and generosity of time.

Conversations with Ed usually start with, “Hey Ed, we have an event…” and that is as far as it goes because he has already responded with either “Yep, just let me know what you want done” or “Yep, I’m happy to make a donation!” He is a rare individual and a gem to all who know him.

He’s not a fancy guy. You’ll rarely see him without a baseball cap on his head. Don’t leave a message on his phone as he is still trying to figure out how to retrieve it. But he will return the call promptly when he sees that you’ve called.

THAT’S Ed Menotti - one of the MOST giving individuals that many of us have had the privilege of knowing and we are richer for the experience of being around him. He just turned 85 on April 22nd but there is NO slowing him down and he has been that way his entire life.

Having grown up in the Oakland neighborhood along with his siblings—Hilda, Joe, Ogi, Rita, Lori and Mae-living with his aunt after his Swiss-immigrant parents had both died, Ed started his high school career as a Stadium Tiger in 1957. When Wilson opened, he transferred and then graduated as a Ram in 1959.

A halfback and linebacker under head coach Harry Bird, Ed was the team captain for the Rams first football game and was a Capital League All-First Team selection. Bird was also Ed’s wrestling coach, where he competed in the 158 lb. division for the Rams. Again, chosen as team captain, Ed was the first wrestler from Wilson to qualify for the state tournament where he competed as a junior and senior. He attended the College of Puget Sound. As a placekicker on the football team, he says he never missed an extra point.

Ed served proudly in the U.S. Army. Upon returning home, Ed started his family and opened his first business, Menotti Excavating and Demolition.

Ed could be described as a crochety old codger who does his own thing, drives people crazy and will talk your ear off whether you’ve given him permission or not. Ed’s personality and demeaner is so endearing, you find yourself saying, “I love that guy!”

Ed Menotti is the REAL DEAL and those of us lucky enough to be around him have the utmost admiration for what he has done for our community in a very unassuming manner. He is a DOER. Standing around and watching is not in his DNA.

He says it was his dad who taught him to be helpful and generous to family or anyone who needs a hand. He has taught the same lesson to countless others. He has taught the same lesson to countless others including his four children-Chris, Mike, Lisa and Angie.

Ed is honest, generous with his time and money, kind-hearted, a work-aholic who does not know what the word “no” means. A little rough around the edges? Oh yes, but that’s our Ed Menotti and that’s why we love him, baseball cap and all!

So, we are honored and privileged to name Ed Menotti as the first recipient of the Tacoma Pierce County Sports Museum's Lifetime of Service Recognition.

Ed Menotti

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame

Hagadone

Nick Hagadone was a good athlete at Sumner High, the quarterback on the Spartans football team and a fine pitcher for coach Casey Adcox. He could even hit the ball a bit.

Other than that, he didn't exactly jump off the stat sheet or the radar gun.

"I think I was usually in the 83 to 85 (miles per hour) range," he said. "But we had one game where we were playing and there were some scouts there and I think I hit 88."

That was part of what led to him being drafted by the Mariners in the 36th round of the 2004 Draft, but he didn't have any significant four-year college offers and was headed to Bellevue Community College. Then he got a call he said changed his life. It was from the University of Washington and the Huskies had a late spot open. The call changed the trajectory of Hagadone's baseball life. The big lefty eventually found his way into the mid-90s, served as a fine compliment to one of the greatest college pitchers ever

"When I showed up at U-dub, I got lucky to get that spot. Somebody left and I got a call. And it would not have worked out (for me in the majors) without the experience at UW," Hagadone said. "I remember seeing Tim (Lincecum) pitch for the first time and knowing I was not as good as I thought I was. He was in another world from everybody in college. That really motivated me."

No, Hagadone was not as good as Lincecum. Few ever were. The 2006 Golden Spikes winner -- that's baseball's Heisman -- went on to win a couple of Cy Youngs and shared a moment with Hagadone that year when they combined on a no-hitter against Santa Clara.

Hagadone posted a 6-1 record with a 2.77 earned-run average and 72 strikeouts in 68 innings as a junior, showing that fastball velocity and ability to miss bats that merited a higher draft position. He was selected by the Boston Red Sox with the 55th overall pick, a first-round slot as a compensatory pick in the "sandwich" round.

"(My parents) were my biggest mentors," Hagadone said. "But my coach at UW, Ken Knudsen, had a big impact. All of the stuff we did there and the work we put in ... I went from 83 to 95 and he was the one that made me realize some of the potential."

Most baseball careers are not easy. Even Lincecum, after a magical peak, fell off quickly. Hagadone had his ups and downs, but pitched parts of four years in the big leagues, all for Cleveland. The Guardians acquired him in a trade from the Red Sox as part of the return sent when five-time All-Star Victor Martinez to Boston. Two years later, Hagadone made his big league debut in Cleveland against Oakland.

"I remember specifically I was not able to feel my entire body," he said. "There was so much adrenaline and so much emotion."

Hagadone said he always felt strong at the highest level of the minor leagues, but the ability to stick in the majors was never a sure thing and was always his goal. He never spent a full season in the majors, but was productive over four years, his best probably being the 2014 season where he made 35 appearances with a 2.70 ERA, striking out 27 in 23.1 innings. He was with the Indians for the majority of the 2015 season, but was non-tendered.

He eventually signed with the Mariners and went to big league camp in 2017, but spent the season with triple-A Tacoma and then decided it was time to be done. He could have kept making teams, but instead he's a firefighter near his Bonney Lake home, dad to Hayley and Oliver and husband of 15 years to Pesarakphorn, his Sumner High classmate.

"At that point, guys talk about (making a minor league roster) it as going and getting a job," he said. "That was never what I was in it for. I was in it to make the majors and when I realized that was a longshot, I was ready for what was next and that was being there for my family."

He's looking forward to coaching his kids and is proud of the time he spent in the game.

"I look back and I have no regrets," he said. "I always realized that I did not want to get done playing and wish I had worked harder that day. I always tried to make the most of it. I sleep well at night. I had a fairly long career based on how long pro careers last."

Nick Hagadone spent parts of five seasons with the Cleveland Indians and 10 seasons in the minor leagues including with the Tacoma Rainiers in 2017.

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued)

Bryce McPhee

Bryce McPhee isn't the biggest talker.

"I don't think he put three words together for the first 19 years of his life," his brother Jim said.

But that's OK as his accomplishments and approach have given others plenty to say.

When legendary Gonzaga coach Dan Fitzgerald visited the Tacoma home of Dr. William and Georgia McPhee in the early 1980s, most accounts indicate that Bryce was mostly quiet, yielding as a couple of legendary talkers -- Fitz and young Jimmy McPhee -- got acquainted.

And when it didn't look like he was going to get a Division I basketball scholarship, a pretty big name in basketball had thoughts.

“(Sonics coach) Lenny Wilkens called me over the summer and said McPhee was the best player in his camp. He was beating college guys,” former Gonzaga coach Jay Hillock told the Los Angeles Times in 1990. “So we gave him a scholarship.”

But Bryce will talk, and he will talk about basketball. But talk always seems to go down another path.

"The thing I remember most is that there were just a lot of great coaches and dedicated people who made a difference in my life," he said. "From St. Charles to Bellarmine and Dr. Jim Bordeaux and Steve Anstett ... they were great coaches, they taught me the game of basketball and really brought out that I am a very competitive person."

Bryce McPhee became one of the greatest players in Gonzaga history and could have taken it to the next level were it not for a crushing series of injuries.

"I was recruited but I wasn't highly recruited," he said. "I was an undersized player and Gonzaga ended up offering me a scholarship late. I was a 6-3, 6-4 center ... so nobody believed you could play."

Oh, he could play. When healthy, his talents and impact were undeniable. He arrived at Gonzaga with John Stockton and was the NBA Hall of Famer's wing man for a decent chunk of the next four years. It would have been more but he redshirted his first year, then lost most of his junior year and a good chunk of his senior year, but by then Stockton was off to the Jazz, but not before giving a legendary endorsement of his teammate.

Stockton was one of the last cuts on the 1984 US National team that would dominate the Los Angeles Olympics that summer and was asked about the toughest defensive player he had faced, seeing as how Michael Jordan, Chris Mullin and Patrick Ewing were in the gym.

Stockton's answer: "That's easy. Bryce McPhee, every day in practice."

McPhee scored more than 1,000 college points despite playing only two full seasons and serving as a combo guard/forward before the implementation of the 3-point line or shot clock.

"I was a scorer but I was not a shooter. I was somebody who slashed and drove and some would say I have never shot an on-balance shot in my life," he said. "We wanted the best percentage shot we could get. I would take jumpers, but was known more for driving to the basket."

Bryce with teammate John Stockton #12.

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued)

Score he did, averaging 13.3 points per game over his career, but there are few numbers more deceiving about his actual impact. He averaged 7.2 ppg as a redshirt freshman, taking just six shots a game. His volume doubled in his sophomore season and his scoring numbers took off, averaging 16.6, 18.2 and 16.1 ppg his last three.

As a senior, McPhee led the team in scoring and was named an academic All-American for the third time. But that season was also interrupted by knee injury, the "unhappy triad" of a blown anterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral and meniscus.

A fully healthy McPhee would probably have had a shot at the NBA, but with all the injuries -- especially the fully blown knee as a senior -- he instead landed in the Continental Basketball Association with the Wyoming Wildcatters, but another injury suffered when he was struck while riding a bike ended his playing days.

Now a physical therapist with a practice in Burien, the eighth of nine McPhee kids has a pretty goodsized family of his own. His wife, Alice, played basketball at Eastern Washington and professionally abroad and they have five children -- Jake, Bryce, Brittany, Jordan and Jenna.

He had the opportunity to be associated with many a good influence over the years but is always quick to bring it all back home: "While I have had great coaches over the years, my success is 100% due to my parents and family. It is not unusual for teachers to retire and then they later return to substitute teach. So, you have an older person teaching, more often a male, and they would say, “is your dad so and so? And then they would rattle off the resume. It is rare nowadays that anybody remembers…… and I am fine with that.”"

Bryce earned Division 1 Men’s Basketball Academic All-American honors three years at Gonzaga.

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued)

Jim McPhee

Jim McPhee was a true basketball star, but typically reflects on his life in a way that has very little to do with athletics.

"Unfair advantage" is how he explains his early life and the people he had around him. It starts with his parents, Dr. William and Georgia McPhee, who came out of Thurston County and eventually landed in North Tacoma to raise nine kids. That large family is part of the advantage as well. McPhee had many a role model to emulate as he moved through life.

And yet another part of the advantage he cites was an overall educational experience that served him so well that he was never at a loss for support and guidance even beyond the McPhees.

"But,” McPhee said, “you take a look at all the great leaders and great influences in my life and not one of them was a father figure. And not one was a mother figure because any success I had was a direct result of the support I got from my folks. I cannot overstate that."

To talk to Jim and Bryce McPhee is to learn how much family and community have meant to both, from their upbringing in North Tacoma to their years at Bellarmine and then over to Gonzaga, where both starred for the Bulldogs.

What can get lost in all of those good vibes and humility is the sports truth of the matter: The McPhees were ballers.

And when the youngest of the group is pulled out to stand on his own, here's another moment of truth: Jim McPhee's run at Gonzaga is one of the most prolific Division I college careers ever by a Tacoma product.

But before there was Casey Calvary and Matt Santangelo and Richie Frahm, Jim McPhee scored more than 2,000 points and left as the school's secondleading all-time scorer, behind only Frank Burgess. And that means a true Gonzaga legend never had the opportunity to show out on the biggest stage, but was a rock for coach Dan Fitzgerald all the same. McPhee was a four-time all-WCAC/WCC selection, including a stunning three times on first team and also an Academic All-American. He started his first game as a freshman and every game he played after that. Only injuries slowed him, taking most of the 1987-88 season.

He averaged a career-high 23.6 points per game in his senior year and had some video-game nights, but said that was never the point.

"I remember games where I scored more than others say, for example, Loyola Marymount with Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble and Paul Westhead and I averaged 40 (in three games), but I do not hold those out as any bigger deal than scoring a lot less against a tough Pepperdine team with Doug Christie or grinding it out with Santa Clara where a lot less points was a bigger achievement."

The night he scored his 2,000th point was his final game as a Zag and it came against Loyola Marymount in the 1990 WCC Tournament, the first year the conference changed its name. The game was stopped, Kimble gave McPhee a light-hearted punch to the chest and the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

"The next night is the night (Hank Gathers) died," McPhee said. "Awful. He was just awesome."

McPhee went on to join the Sonics summer league team, but ultimately got cut in camp and was on to other things. He could have played professionally at a lower level, but opted to move to the next phase.

He's stayed connected to Gonzaga, starting and running the Dan Fitzgerald Memorial Basketball Tournament for the past 13 years. It's a basketball event, but the community service component is just as big and perhaps even more important to McPhee.

Jim averaged 17.1 points per game during his career for the Gonzaga Bulldogs

"We'll never be able to do as much for Gonzaga -- or for Bellarmine -- as they have done for us," McPhee said.

Jim met his wife Dana, at Gonzaga, and eventually earned his law degree at Gonzaga as well and the couple live in Nine Mile Falls. They have three children -- Mackenzie, Will and Emerson -- and spend a great deal of time running, biking and in the outdoors.

Like brother Bryce, Jim brings almost all conversations back to family and community.

"It was the greatest," McPhee said. "Think about being a kid and growing up in the same house with your idol and getting to work out with your idol. It is just the greatest thing and I am the youngest of nine and all of my brothers and sisters were the same way and I was the luckiest kid in the world. They were each their own person and I had t-shirts made that said 'Little McPhee.' I wanted them to know. It was a privilege for me to be a McPhee."

Jim was invited

the

Sonics Rookie camp following his senior season at

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame

Broadcaster

Ed Bowman

Ed Bowman enjoyed a 25-year sports broadcasting career in Tacoma, calling action ranging from Cammarano Brothers-Double Cola Little League Caravan baseball (featuring future major leaguer Ron Cey), all the way through high school, college and professional sports.

Bowman’s broadcasting career got its start in 1955 while he was a student at College of Puget Sound. “Clay Huntington gave me the opportunity to do radio play-by-play of six or seven games at the Washington State High School Class B Basketball Tournament at the College of Puget Sound Fieldhouse,” Bowman recalls. For the next 25 years until he moved out of the Puget Sound area, Bowman did radio and television broadcasts of hundreds of sports at all levels.

Bowman worked with long-time Tacoma Cubs play-by-play man Don Hill on the broadcasts of the team’s run to the 1969 Pacific Coast League championship. The Cubs defeated the Eugene Emeralds three games to two in a five-game series. “We had to win the final two games of the series in Eugene for the championship,” recalls Bowman, who for three years handled public address and public relations duties for the Cubs, in addition to writing game stories for Associated Press and United Press International.

When Hill took a group of Tigers boosters to Honolulu for games against the Hawaii Islanders, Bowman slid into Hill’s chair doing local re-creations of those games based off of wire reports. “I remember signing off the air at 2 or 3 a.m. on those re-created live broadcasts from Honolulu,” Bowman says.

The Islanders’ play-by-play man at the time was Al Michaels, who would go on to a long and distinguished career as a national sports broadcaster. When Michaels came with the Islanders to Tacoma, he provided Bowman with “one of my most interesting interviews. He was a real nice guy.” Another broadcasting highlight for Bowman came at the 1976 NCAA Division II basketball championship tournament, where the University of Puget Sound defeated Tennessee-Chattanooga, 83-74, in the national title contest. Bowman worked alongside Doug McArthur calling the action as the Loggers topped Old Dominion in the semifinals before beating Chattanooga in the championship game.

The national basketball tournament action was just a small part of a broadcasting partnership shared by Bowman and McArthur. The duo worked together on many radio and television broadcasts of college and high school football, baseball and basketball games, along with some swim meets.

Once, when McArthur became ill and couldn’t travel to Bellingham for a collegiate football contest between Puget Sound and Western Washington, Bowman pulled an unusual broadcasting doubleheader. He did the television broadcast opening and closing from the stadium roof, with a radio play-by-play sandwiched between. Following the game he took the television game tape back to KTNT Channel 11 and, while seated in front of a monitor, did the play-by-play for the 9 p.m. telecast.

Among the broadcasting luminaries with whom Bowman had the privilege to work were Huntington, McArthur, Hill, Bob Robertson, Walt Brown, Rod Belcher, Jerry Howarth, Art Popham, and Bill Doan.

While all of those men earned great reputations as this region’s best sports broadcasters, one of Bowman’s partners for a college football game had national renown – as a Hollywood star. While handling Puget Sound football play-by-play, Bowman welcomed actor James Garner, seated in front of him, into the Baker Stadium broadcast booth as a color commentator. Bowman had met Garner at a University of Puget Sound college night in Los Angeles while recruiting Garner’s daughter, Greta, to matriculate to UPS. Garner attended the game while visiting his daughter, and soon he joined Bowman in the booth. Bowman’s broadcast career ended in 1980 when he and wife, Kathy, moved to the San Francisco Bay area where he became an executive in international transportation, trade development and marketing.

1970 Tacoma Cubs Front Office StaffBack row l. to r.: Don Hill, Pete Bussanich, Pip Koehler and Ed Bowman. Front row l. to r.: Mary Lou Starker and General Manager Bobby Adams.

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued)

Mike Vindivich

To be a sports fan in Tacoma in the early 1980s, was to know Mike Vindivich.

All the pro teams were present at the time and the University of Washington was having its first round of football success under a still-rising Don James, but an argument could be made that Vindivich was among a handful of the most famous sports figures in the region. Gus Williams, Dennis Johnson, Jack Sikma and Lenny Wilkins had just won the city's only NBA title to date, Jim Zorn and Bruce Bochte were fan favorites on bad teams and Warren Moon was off to Canada, having led the Huskies to the first of what would be many Rose Bowls under James.

But Vindivich was a vibe all his own. He looked the part, too, staring back at readers of the Tacoma News Tribune with the feathered hair, mustache and a smile that looked like he was enjoying the hell out of tearing apart any defense he and his teammates encountered.

He was a slick, speedy running back who was the biggest star on a Mount Tahoma team full of them and that, through the rear-view mirror of time, accomplished things that sound utterly impossible in 2025. Consecutive Class AAA Kingbowl championships? At Mount Tahoma?

Yup, Vindivich and fellow all-state selection Lacy Walker took coach George Nordi's team the distance twice. It happened in 1979 and 1980 and has not happened for a Tacoma-based team even once since.

"It was a lot different back then," Vindivich said. "I think every school in the Narrows had more than 1,500 students, so they all had quantity and quality."

The numbers are from a different era and so maybe don't pop like some of the video-game stats that get rolled up in the more modern game, but Vindivich finished his three-year prep career with 3,232 rushing yards and 50 touchdowns and was named an All-American his senior year.

He doesn't spend much time thinking about all the touchdowns and yards, focusing more on the fun of being with his teammates and the joy of playing the game.

Mike Vindivich powers through the line for additional yardage for the Dawgs. Photo courtesy University of Washington Athletic Department.

"The bus rides and the camaraderie," he said, noting the old Grid-go-Round events at Stadium Bowl. "It was just a different time. The Grid-go-Round wasn't even a real game. We'd play 10-minute quarters and they pre-sold 7,000 tickets. Can you imagine that?"

The 1979 title win came over Rogers and the 1980 title over Issaquah and, up at Seattle, James had seen enough and managed to convince Vindivich and Walker -- a lineman at Mount T, a linebacker on Montlake --to come up and sign with UW. Vindivich passed on offers from Notre Dame and UCLA and was fast tracked to a starting role in Seattle, but injuries hit early and often.

In the 1981 season, as a redshirt, he suffered an injury running with the scout team, but was a first-teamer entering his red shirt freshman year, only to suffer a season-ending injury against the University of the Pacific. A year later the same scenario reset -- Vindivich slated to start for UW -- but the season was lost to injury and significant concussion. Vindivich and the coaching staff tried to push him through injuries, as was the way you played football in 1983, but things just never got right for him with the Huskies.

L. to R.: Mike Vindivich, Head Coach George Nordi and Lacy Walker

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued) Football

Vindivich had a second act in college, transferring closer to home to play for Frosty Westering at Pacific Lutheran, grinding out nearly 1,000 yards as a senior in helping the Lutes to the 1985 NAIA Division II title game.

"The one thing that was really hard and is the one thing I regret is that I had fallen in love with football again," he said. "But early in the (senior) year I tweaked my hamstring and was battling it the whole time and then I suffered a really (nasty) injury (in a game at Simon Fraser) and without that I think I could have had a shot at the NFL . But the path I took led me to Julie and our kids and I'd never change that."

Mike and Julie have been married for nearly 35 years and have a daughter, Gillian, and son, Andrew, who is set to graduate from Stadium in June. He plays basketball, not football. They both know about their dad's exploits, but it wasn't from dad offering up his rendition of Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days."

If his name was "Smith" they would probably never have known.

"So, teachers retire," Vindivich explains. "And then they come back and they (substitute teach) and there would be an older person in there, most often male, and they would say 'is your dad so and so,' and then they would give the resume. It is rare now that anybody remembers and I am fine with that."

By James Buckley Jr. Hardcover,

Vindivich for six! Photo courtesy University of Washington Athletic Department.

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued)

Michael Putnam

With seven appearances in PGA major tournaments, Michael Putnam lived the dream of golfers everywhere with a 14-year professional golf career.

Born June 1, 1983, in Tacoma, Putnam graduated from Life Christian Academy in 2001. He played basketball for three years at Life Christian and spent four years on the varsity golf team at Curtis High School.

After graduating from Life Christian, Putnam moved to Malibu, California, to attend Pepperdine University. At Pepperdine, he was a three-time All-American, including earning first-team honors in 2005. He twice earned Academic All-America honors and won the Byron Nelson Award for best men’s golf student-athlete in the country in 2005, when he also finished runner-up at the NCAA championship as an individual. He also played on the Walker Cup Team, the Ryder Cup equivalent for amateur golf.

Over the next two decades, Putnam played a total of 14 years of professional golf, including seven years on the PGA Tour. His best PGA tournament finish came with a pair of fourth-place finishes, which helped earn him a top-100 ranking. He won three times on the Korn Ferry Tour – winning the 2010 Utah Championship, and the 2013 Mexico Championship, and the 2013 Mid-Atlantic Championship – and claimed the Jack Nicklaus Award for Player of the Year in the KFT in 2013.

Between 2005 and 2018, Putnam played in six US Open Tournaments, one (British) Open, and two The Players Championships.

Michael Putnam (2nd from right) next to President George Bush at the Walker Cup competition in 2005.

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued)

Audrey Wooding

When Audrey Wooding talks about golf, it's the things that happened off the course that stick with her the most.

At her first Washington Junior Golf Association state championship tournament -- she was 10 -- the players were put up with home stays, so Audrey and older sister Michelle hung with the local folks before and after rounds.

"It was my first ever state tournament and it was the day Princess Diana married Prince Charles," she said. "We watched that wedding and played golf in the pouring rain. It did not matter that it was the state golf tournament. We just always had a good time."

That carries over still, as the Stanford graduate, two-time All-American and LPGA pro says the things she remembers most about her peak decade in the sport are the things she still has now -- the relationships.

"Just this last weekend the (Stanford) coaches hosted a tournament with all the alums," she said of her March weekend in Palo Alto. " I felt like we were back in college and just playing golf and being teammates again. Having that 30 years later is pretty special."

Maybe the most influential of those relationships was with her sister Michelle, as trailing behind another outstanding junior golfer had some perks. Namely, she was always with her sister at Fircrest Golf Club, so there was an example to follow. Michelle Wooding didn't play her first year at Bellarmine because she thought she wasn't good enough. Audrey was allowed no such delusion ... and the freshman-senior sisters teamed with the rest of the Lions to win the state Class AAA title in 1985. When Michelle went off to college at New Mexico and Audrey continued as a junior, Michelle acted as something of a street agent for the younger Wooding, making connections to help Audrey have a few more options than she did coming out of Tacoma.

"Stanford is pretty amazing place," she said. "You are around really creative, accomplished, driven people and that becomes the air you are breathing. It's exciting and fun ... it was a really great place for me to go to college in that respect you could be whatever you wanted to be and everybody is accepted and it is not odd."

She was a 1991 WGCA honorable mention All-America selection and a 1992 WGCA All-America Second Team selection. She finished third in the 1992 NCAA National Championship, which at the time, was the highest individual finish in program history, a record that stood until it was tied in 2014 and broken in 2018. She was named First Team All-Pac-10 and First Team Academic All-Pac-10 in 1992 and was a WGCA Academic All-American in 1992 as well.

"I am pretty proud that that third-place (finish at NCAAs) stood as long as it did," she said. "As the program got better and I still had that record was pretty exciting."

Not as exciting was the LPGA Tour, where she spent a lot of time alone, the struggle to make money was real and -- even when a player does cash, especially 20 years ago -- the money isn't much and life can be a grind.

"I was excited I had qualified (for the pro tour) ... it felt like a big accomplishment, and it was pretty clear pretty quickly how difficult it is," she said.

And then it was over. She could have kept pushing but opted to be done and do other things. Golf was a sport she played, not her life.

"It was not difficult for me because I knew I was done, " she said. "But when you tell people they do not know what to make of it ... so much of my identity was as a golfer and leaving that was discombobulating for quite a while."

Not as exciting was the LPGA Tour, where she spent a lot of time alone, the struggle to make money was real and, especially 20 years ago, the money wasn't much and life could be a grind.

"So much of my identity, and I did not see it at the time, was tied up in playing golf and being a golfer and you are like 'now what,'" she said, noting that she plays now with her younger daughter. "Having somebody to get out on the course with makes it a lot of fun."

Audrey Wooding (center) played golf at Stanford and finished third in the 1992 NCAA National championships.

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued)

Michelle (Wooding) Murphy

Golf has rarely been easy for Michelle Murphy. She hasn't won a ton of tournaments relative to the amount of time she has spent playing, but winning was only ever a part of the reason she played.

Since she can recall -- and she can recall a lot -- it's been a work in progress.

Plenty of others have probably thought she made it look easy. When you are one of the best junior golfers in Washington, earn a Division I scholarship and go on to play a few years on the LPGA Tour, you're at the high end of the accomplishment scale, no doubt.

"I would never say that it was easy," she said. "It's a process of step-by-step, every day just working on something.”

Golf is often called a "lifetime sport" and Murphy's a great example of that, starting as a kid and loving the game still years after her professional peak at the game's highest level.

Her first brush with the LPGA was one of the biggest moments of her golf life. "Not winning" actually made it happen. The champ of the Washington Junior Golf Association state tournament got to play in the pro-am of the Safeco Classic at Meridian Valley Country Club The then-Michelle Wooding's second-place finish earned her a spot at the tourney as well -- as a caddy. So she spent the day on the bag of World Golf Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez, winner of an astounding 48 LPGA events.

"That was the moment where I kind of thought, 'this is what I want to do.' She was so kind and nice to me and I am just a kid caddy. That was the defining moment ... that was it."

Murphy started playing golf when her family arrived in Tacoma in 1979 and her parents joined the Fircrest Country Club. She started playing with "crappy used clubs," heading down to the course as often as possible, taking lessons until she was finally allowed to play rounds on her own.

"I am 13 or 14 and I could ride my bike, lock it up, go through the gate and I could play golf. I'd go down there and meet (Jack and Shirley Baty), who were definitely my golf mentors until they (passed away several years ago). I had so many dinners at their house. They were so encouraging."

She started to play WJGA events with Joanne Teats and, after sitting out her freshman year at Bellarmine because she did not think she was good enough, as a senior Murphy won a team state title with the Lions on a mixed team that also included her younger sister Audrey. Teat's daughter played golf at New Mexico and, with Murphy wanting to attend a large school in the Southwest, the Lobos were happy to welcome another Pacific Northwest talent.

That's when the winning started.

While at UNM she came home to win two Pacific Northwest Golf Association championships -- in 1986 and 1987 -- for her first individual tournament titles. She made the Western Athletic Conference AllConference team three times and was runner-up at the 1988 Women’s Western Amateur Championship and qualified for the NCAA Division I National Tournament during her senior year. Later, she would win twice on the LPGA futures tour, once in 2002 and again in 2003. That came after three years on the LPGA Tour. She played the United States Women's Open nine times.

When her professional playing days ended she became a coach, running the program at the University of Portland for seven years before it was eliminated in a budget cut. She's also coached at Hamilton College in New York -- where she now lives -- and continues to coach and play golf, competing in age group tournaments and winning the 2017 Central New York PGA section Players Championship and being named the 2018 Central New York PGA section Women's Player of the Year.

A second-place finish in the pro-am at the Ladies Safeco Classic earned her the opportunity as a caddy—on the bag of World Golf HOF member, Nancy Lopez.

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued) Golf

Unlike her sister Audrey, who made the LPGA before she did but chose a different path fairly quickly, Michelle hung on and kept playing, going to LPGA qualifying school multiple times, back to the developmental tour and bouncing around, playing and playing and playing.

Said Audrey Wooding: "I like the game, but Michelle loves the game."

She plays with joy and humility and applies the same approach she used to build a successful and happy life in golf to other endeavors as well.

"I am not afraid to admit I don't know everything," she said. "I am a glass artist and I call myself an 'advanced beginner.' I am fully aware that I am going to make every mistake and (people) think that is strange that I am OK with that, but I have no problem not knowing and asking the stupidest questions, and so it's pretty similar to all the things I have ever done."

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued)

Handball

Myron Schmidt

Ambassador and Champion of Handball

When talking about 96 year-old Myron Schmidt and his 40 plus years of playing tournament and league handball it’s clear that the 1946 Lincoln HS grad contributed to the growth and development of the game, he was a fierce competitor, and he was a great player.

The Tacoma Fire Department has had a rich history of great players rising from its' ranks, and that is where Myron was introduced to the game - or required to play it. He first reported to duty, as a firefighter in February of 1954 at the "sixes" station (9th and A St.). The station’s captain required all rookies to play handball in order to "build coordination and stamina". However, unlike his counterparts, Myron didn't buy handball gloves. He wore gardening gloves and secured the gloves with rubber bands around his wrist. And, he didn't hit the handball with an open hand. Rather he hit it with a closed fist.

With his own technique, Myron was both unique and well-known for his style of play. Though unorthodox, it led him to considerable success on the handball court and Myron went on to win numerous Tacoma Firefighters Championships and other local tournaments.

Myron also won multiple age bracket Washington State and Northwest Regional titles. In 1988 he won the USHA Singles Championship in the Super Singles division (60 and over). In 1993 he won the USHA National Singles Championship in the Super Veterans division. Always watching Myron compete was his #1 fan, wife Lil, who cheered him on with knitting needles in her hands.

Along with his success on the court, Myron was respected by his fellow players because of the quality of his play and the honesty and integrity displayed on the court. He willingly worked with the younger generation, shared his playing time with the lesser skilled players and then "schooled" the young guns. Myron will be remembered as a great player, gentleman and contributor to the sport.

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued)

Swimming

Wally Streeter

The dean of Washington state swim coaches, as he was considered after his retirement, Wally Streeter established a legacy both for his own coaching and for the literal coaching family tree he began in the Puget Sound region.

Originally from Horsham, England, Streeter moved to Victoria, B.C., when he was a small child and grew up in Tacoma. He participated in numerous gymnastics programs at the YMCA and attended a YMCA college in Massachusetts. Following his college graduation, he spent 10 years working for a YMCA in Hawaii, and he witnessed the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 from his home on a hill overlooking the harbor.

After moving back to Tacoma the following year, he began teaching at Stewart Junior High before moving to Stadium High School in 1945.

“The pool where Dad spent his next 16 years isn’t even there anymore,” Bill Streeter said, “It was state of the art then.”

In 15 years coaching at Stadium, Streeter led his teams to seven state championships, while 27 of his swimmers earned All-America recognition.

He left Stadium in 1961 to become the first coach at the brand new Mount Tahoma High School, where he helped plan and design the pool. After several years at the new school, he handed the keys of the Mount Tahoma program over to his son Kimo in 1965. Between Wally and his sons Kimo and Bill, Streeters served as Mount Tahoma swim coaches from the school’s opening until Bill’s retirement in 1989. Both Kimo and Bill carried on the coaching tradition with other programs, as well.

As shared by two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, Kaye Hall-Greff, “Mr. Streeter (Wally) taught my sister and I to swim at the old YWCA pool in 1956-7 and Kimo was my first coach at the YMCA in 1958. I have a soft spot in my heart for both of them.”

Streeter finished his time as an educator at Remann Hall, a juvenile detention center, as head teacher. He was the first representative from the state of Washington to the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association. He was also a representative on the swimming committee of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association and served as president and secretary of the Washington Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association.

Along with his excellent swim leadership, he saw the need to offer swimming coaches continued training in technical skills and other important coaching techniques, and he was one of the visionaries responsible for establishing the yearly Washington State High School Swimming Coaches’ Clinic.

Streeter passed away at the age of 85 in 1993, but his legacy lives on with the current Stadium pool named for him.

L. to R.: The Streeter’s: Kimo, Wally and Bill.

Meet Director, Wally Streeter, watches over the crew to ensure accuracy.

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued)

Swimming

Kimo Streeter

Following in the footsteps of his legendary father Wally, Kimo Streeter established a Hall-of-Fame-caliber 30-plus-year career as an excellent prep swim coach throughout the Puget Sound region.

Born Oct. 14, 1938, Streeter graduated from Stadium High School in 1956, where he swam for and learned under his father. He continued his own athletic career at University of Puget Sound, where he swam from 1956 until his graduation in 1961, and he went on to earn his Masters of Education from Oregon State University in 1967.

Even while he was still competing at Stadium, Streeter got his first coaching experience at Tacoma YMCA from 1955-56. He has said that he never really made a conscious decision to become a teacher or a coach; it was just the logical thing to do.

Streeter continued his coaching career upon graduating from UPS, coaching the next four years at both the Tacoma Swim Club and Curtis High School. He took over for his father at Mount Tahoma High School in 1964 and stayed there three years before shifting to Peninsula, where he had the opportunity to be part of the design team and launch a new program. When he left Mount Tahoma, he handed the program over to his brother Bill, continuing a chain of Streeters coaching swimming at the school.

“Peninsula was a great place to work,” Streeter said. “I had a chance to be involved with the preliminary plans. I wanted to see the pool and the program really work.”

Just over a decade later, a similar opportunity arose at South Kitsap. This time, Streeter was hesitant.

“Actually, my wife, Ann, and I drove up to South Kitsap to tell them I wasn’t interested in changing districts,” Streeter said. “While we were there, we decided to look around at the construction, and once we did, I was hooked. The challenges of opening a new facility and getting a program going really recharges your batteries. I’ve always enjoyed being part of a planning team and accepting that kind of challenge. I think Dad did, too.”

That experience made Streeter the administrator of aquatic programs and facilities for South Kitsap Schools in 1980. But coaching swimming at the school level was not enough –beginning with Peninsula in 1968 and then again with South Kitsap 12 years later, Streeter established the Peninsula and Puget Sound Swim Clubs, respectively. Each type of programs provided a different coaching experience that he enjoyed.

“The challenges at the high school level are more team-oriented,” Streeter said. “You work with a specific group of kids for a very short period of time to do as well as you can as a team. Club swimming is much more long term. You can look at longer-range goals and work with each individual swimmer to determine their own personal goals several years down the road.” Streeter retired from coaching South Kitsap High School in 1993, and he finished his time as a coach for the Puget Sound Swim Club in 1996. Outside of those programs, he also served as a US Swimming Official from 1990 to 2017.

In total, Streeter coached 14 individual state champions and four relay champions at the Washington State Swimming Championships. Sixteen of his swimmers earned a total of 38 All-America honors during their high school swimming careers. He has also served a variety of roles in numerous associations, earned countless honors, and been inducted to several Halls of Fame. Streeter passed away at the age of 85 in 1993, but his legacy lives on with the current Stadium pool named for him.

Kimo Streeter

Kimo with Chris Myhre, HOF member and former UPS swim coach.

Wally Streeter presents award to son Kimo at  the State swimming championships.

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued)

Willie Stewart Jr.

Growing up as the son of a local legend may not have always been easy, but through his own accomplishments, Willie Stewart Jr. carved out his legacy in Tacoma’s rich athletic history.

The son of 2019 Doug McArthur Lifetime Achievement Award winner Willie Stewart, Stewart Jr. graduated from Foss High School in 1980. A three-year letterwinner in both football and track and field, he made his mark early on for the Falcons. On the football field, Stewart Jr. played as a defensive back and kicker under legendary coach Jack Sonntag. As a junior, he helped lead Foss to the quarterfinals of the state playoffs, where they were narrowly defeated by eventual state champion Mount Tahoma.

While he was a talented football player, Stewart Jr. truly found his stride in track and field. Competing in hurdles, relays, and sprints, his senior season stood out. Under coaches Jim Black and Jerry Blair, the 1980 track and field team finished third in the state. Stewart placed sixth in the 110-meter high hurdles and was part of the 4x400 relay team that took third.

His track career continued at Spokane Community College, where he competed from 1981 to 1982. Spokane won the Washington State Junior College Championship both years. Stewart placed in the 400-meter hurdles and was part of two state champion 4x100-meter relay teams.

After Spokane, he transferred to Boise State University, where he continued competing in the 400-meter hurdles, sprints, and relays.

Coming from a family who worked in education, Stewart Jr. began his teaching career at Lakes High School in Lakewood. Stewart’s father (Willie Sr.) and mother, Faye were both teachers, and he and his sister Collette, followed in their footsteps. He was hired in 1989 and taught Physical Education. From 1990 to 1992, he served as an assistant coach for the track and field program before being named the Boys Head Track and Field Coach in 1993—a position he held until 2006.

Under Stewart’s leadership, Lakes won three consecutive state championships (1999–2001), seven district titles, and 41 straight dual meets between 1998 and 2003, finishing with an overall record of 69-24-2.

In 1999, Lakes narrowly won the state title with 44 points, edging out West Valley of Spokane (43.5 points). Cristian Adams won the 400-meter title, while Damien Coaxum captured the discus crown

In 2000, Lakes delivered a dominant performance, winning the state meet with 81 points. Reggie Williams, a future University of Washington and NFL wide receiver, led the team with top finishes in sprints, triple jump, and the 4x100 relay with members Akeem Anthony, Coaxum, and Lamar Matheson. Williams also won the overall individual boys’ championship with 28 ½ points. Coaxum won the shotput and repeated as discus champion, improving on his mark from the previous year. He finished third behind Williams for the individual championship.

The Lancers clinched their third straight title in 2001. Williams again led the way with individual victories in the 100 meters and triple jump, and another strong showing in the 200 meters and relays. The 4x100 relay team earned its second straight championship with Jacob Lizam, Jesse Hendrix joining Williams and Anthony.

In 2002, while the team finished fifth overall, the 4x100 relay team—anchored for a third straight year by Akeem Anthony, along with Lizama, Jude Lizama and Brandon Huntley —secured its third consecutive title.

In 2001, Stewart Jr. was named the Washington State Track and Field Coaches Association Coach of the Year. During his 13-year tenure, Lakes produced 56 state placers, multiple state champions, and one of the most dominant track runs in state history.

In 2013, he was inducted into the Washington State Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

After leaving Lakes in 2008, Stewart worked in school administration in the Puyallup School District and later at Chief Leschi Schools, where he retired from education in June 2024.

Stewart has been married to his wife Janet for 28 years. He has one adult daughter, Joy, and one grandson who is four years old. He is enjoying retirement, playing with his grandson, and being a guest administrator, when needed, for a local school district.

2000 Lakes HS State Champions

2001 Lakes HS State Champions

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued)

Volleyball

Jessica (Brodie) Hansen

Jessica Hansen's resume is not short.

But what she is best known for athletically, is that she is NOT tall.

She's also pragmatic, so she's not mad at anybody about the fact that, at 5-6, she wasn't exactly drawing much interest from major colleges as an outside hitter after a brilliant volleyball and track career at Emerald Ridge and on the junior circuit.

"I still coach volleyball and I have found that I like to be an advocate for the undersized player because that is what I was," she said. "As long as you work hard there is always a way."

Hansen could have signed with then-rising power Washington, but the Huskies wanted her as a libero, a backline and defensive specialist. She could have gone across the country to Ohio State, which was going to let her try her hand in the front row. But Portland State was the only Division I school within reasonable driving distance from her Puyallup home that wanted her as an outside hitter. Hansen's other main college consideration was less about her competitive nature and more about her priorities. Her father had been diagnosed with ALS and she wasn't about to go to a school where Scott and Glennis Brodie could rarely make a match.

They were able to watch her over all four years with the Vikings and saw her put together one of the greatest careers in school history. Her resume is dazzling: AllBig Sky Conference three times, twice on first team and was named a Volleyball Magazine All-American as a senior as well as Big Sky MVP, a first for a Portland State player. She averaged a school record 5.4 kills per game in 2006. For perspective, in a 21-point game, she scored more than a quarter of her team's points ... and now consider that teams only score 21 in wins, meaning she scored well more than a quarter of her team's points that year.

She also averaged better than four digs and half an ace and led the Vikings to a win over Oregon, the kind of match a Big Sky school is just not supposed to get. She essentially helped coach Jeff Mozzochi cap the reboot of a program that had gone winless the year before he took it over. Hansen arrived two years into the process and her four years were the last of his time with the Vikings. Mozzochi was a big reason Hansen landed in Portland and not just because he was going to let her take a swing at playing outside hitter.

"I had only met him on my official visit and he spent time with us and my family and we went out to dinner," she said. "My parents said they really liked him and they would be comfortable sending their daughter to have him watch over me."

Portland State doesn't have a lot of the dazzle of other universities, but Hansen said she couldn't have had a better college experience.

"It was really a best-case scenario. I met my best friend there, we came in the same class and ended up being roommates," she said. "She moved up from Tucson and moved to Washington and now our daughters go to school together (at Emerald Ridge)."

She did not attend school in a time of NIL money and constant transfers, but even

2025

Volleyball

then a player of her ability could have bounced, maybe even have had a chance to play in the frontline at a larger school. It never crossed her mind.

"I am an extremely loyal person and I was content at Portland State," she said. "I enjoyed the staff and our team and the opportunity they gave me. I realized it is not the traditional college experience that you would expect, but I just had such a good thing going on.”

These days she coaches junior volleyball and is a regional director for Vie Athletics, helping junior athletes maximize their performance. Her dad has since passed away, but after being given two years to live when she was 13, he instead lasted 16 years and saw her college career and eventually marry her husband Jerry, who also attended Emerald Ridge and Portland State.

Their daughter is now playing volleyball at Emerald Ridge and it's a different experience than when she was there the year the place opened. It's a lot more competitive and the players are all ready to go hard, more or less, from Day 1. True to her past, Hansen stresses the less glamourous side of sports for her daughter Korbin and son Brodie.

"We do not force them to play, of course, but they are not allowed to quit anything," she said. "It is not about playing the sports, but it is about the work ethic, teamwork and sticking with something.”

Jessica celebrates with her Partland State teammates.

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued)

Wrestling

Whitney (Conder) Cox

Whitney Cox found her “why” on the wrestling mat.

“It was the one sport where I had the most fun and I could literally just be me,” she said. “It was something always pushing me to strive for something bigger and better and making me know that I was enough. It saved me and let me know I could do more.”

The former Whitney Conder, a 2006 Puyallup High School graduate, did plenty during a decorated career that includes six national championships and a pair of Pan-American Games gold medals. She was an alternate on the 2016 Olympic team.

Whitney now shares her knowledge as a coach on a variety of levels – including the U-17 USA Pan-American team that will compete in Brazil this summer.

Her husband, J’den Cox, was a two-time World champion and won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics. He currently is USA Wrestling’s National Freestyle and Resident Coach.

The couple welcomed twin girls in November of 2023, and Whitney officially changed her name to Whitney Olivia Conder Cox (two middle names).

Whitney began wrestling at age 8, and later became the first girl to place in the WIAA state tournament as she finished sixth at 103 pounds as a junior in 2005 – when there were no separate brackets for girls.

That was fine with her – the tougher the competition, the better.

Whitney attacked the sport with passion and purpose at a young age, even when many disapproved. That just helped fuel her inner fire.

“A lot of people didn’t like that I wrestled when I was growing up,” she said.

That included her mother, Sharon Conder.

“My mom definitely wasn’t keen on me wrestling in the first place,” she said. “She actually went to my junior high coach and had asked him to not allow me to wrestle.

“He told her, ‘Oh don’t worry – we’ve never had a girl go past the first two weeks.’ And my mom looked at him and responded, ‘You don’t know my daughter.’ I ended up being his first two-time champion and was a runner-up the other year.”

As a senior, Whitney became the first girl to win a Regional championship and was favored to capture the state title, but finished seventh. She won a Junior World championship while at Northern Michigan University and was invited to train at Olympic Training Center.

Whitney joined the Army in 2012 and was part of the World Class Athlete Program for nine years, claiming a silver medal at the World Military Games in 2014.

Whitney fell short of her Olympic dream when she placed fifth in the 2021 Trials, then retired from competition.

“I always planned on winning a senior world medal and an Olympic medal, so that was always the goal,” she said. “I kind of drew a little short, but it’s kind of hard when you get to that level, because any day can be that person’s day.”

It’s among the life lessons she conveys to her athletes.

Whitney (Conder) Cox began her wrestling career at age 8

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued) Wrestling

Whitney, who mentored younger wrestlers even while in junior high and high school, was the head women’s coach at Siena Heights University in 2023. She left when J’den accepted the invitation to join the USA Wrestling staff. She is an assistant coach at Vista Ridge High School in Colorado Springs.

“For me, coaching is not about the wins or the losses,” she said. “I want to make a difference in those athletes’ lives, let them see what the possibilities are, what they can do – not just in wrestling, but outside of wrestling as well.

“I just really want them to know that anything’s possible, but also that I don’t see them as just a body or a number in the wrestling room, that I see them as a person and I actually truly do care and want them to be successful in whatever they want to do in life. But to also help them become the best person they possibly can.”

That’s what wrestling helped do for her.

“Even though my brothers and dad wrestled, I got to live my own journey because it was different from theirs,” Whitney said. “Many people didn’t agree with women wrestling at that time, so it made it where I had to work hard, but I truly found myself, who I was and what meant the most to me.”

She learned it is OK to be different.

“I learned to just live my life to the fullest and know we are not all meant to be the same. We all have our own path to follow.”

And wrestling made her path a decorated one, in more ways than one.“I just really want them to know that anything’s possible, but also that I don’t see them as just a body or a number in the wrestling room, that I see them as a person and I actually truly do care and want them to be successful in whatever they want to do in life. But to also help them become the best person they possibly can.”

That’s what wrestling helped do for her.

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame

Wrestling

Joe Reasons (dec.)

In Washington wrestling circles, few names resonate with as much respect and admiration as Joe Reasons. A mentor, motivator and Hall of Fame high school coach, Reasons dedicated his life to shaping young athletes into champions and, most importantly, better people. Though he passed away in November at the age of 84, his legacy will endure for generations.

Reasons’ induction into the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall of Fame, is yet another accomplishment on a resume so staggering it sometimes looks like it must belong to two or three people. There’s a 149-match winning streak. Ten consecutive junior high conference titles. He had 47 wrestlers place at the state championships. And this isn’t even his first hall of fame induction — It’s his third.

Already enshrined in the national and state wrestling coaches halls of fame, Reasons built a reputation for getting every ounce of talent out of his athletes. Kirk White, who wrestled for Reasons at Curtis High before winning the 1999 165-pound NCAA title at Boise State and two silver medals at the Pan-American Championships, said Reasons was the best motivator he’d ever encountered.

“The mental side of wrestling is what he specializes in”, White once told the Kitsap Sun. "He teaches you the whole time that it's not about wrestling. It's about how you carry yourself."

Jim Meyerhoff, a hall of fame coach who nominated Reasons for this honor, told the Bremerton newspaper that Reasons “got the best out of kids that weren't always the most privileged kids. He took kids who didn't have the best road in life and did quite well."

Reasons’ wife, Jo, witnessed firsthand the profound impact he had on his students. “The way he treated his kids, his unique way he had with them, just never give in, never ever quit,” she told the Sun in 2024. “Because of his belief system, his kids would run through brick walls and be state champions. They just really loved (him) and expected he would give them a sense of dignity.”

Born in 1940, Joe began his athletic journey on the football field, playing guard and linebacker during his high school and college. A graduate of Central Kitsap High, Olympic College, and Western Washington University, Joe initially focused on football. He also played rugby at Western. Little did he know that his destiny would lead him to wrestling despite having never wrestled himself.

He learned wrestling from another Washington coaching legend, Chuck Semancik at Bremerton’s West High as his assistant football and wrestling coach in the 1960s.

"What I learned from Chuck is that kids are the key," Reasons told Chuck Stark of the Kitsap Sun in 2006. "We're there to guide them the best we can. We can throw 'em around but never let 'em go; never throw ‘em away. It's like your child. You can get after 'em, but don't throw 'em away.

“Back in the day, they had tough kids at West. Chuck, he'd rattle 'em up a little bit, but he never threw 'em away. I learned more about dealing with kids from Chuck and my father than any clinic I've attended in the last 30-35 years."

In 1966, Reasons transitioned to coaching at Lakewood’s Hudtloff Junior High. His teams at Hudtloff and later Lochburn Junior High became synonymous with dominance, capturing every South Puget Sound League title over a ten-year span.

Head Coach Joe Reasons encourages his wrestlers as assistant coach Doug Cowan, looks on and listens.

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued)

In 1976, Reasons – a German and history teacher - took the helm at Clover Park High, transforming the school into a wrestling powerhouse. The Warriors won state titles in 1977 and 1978, and five South Puget Sound League titles. In 1992, Joe continued his career at Curtis High School.

By the time he first attempted to retire in 2000, his record spoke for itself: 327 wins, 88 losses, and one tie. Seven individual state champions. Sixteen state finalists. Forty-seven state placers. And a reputation as one of the best to ever coach the sport.

While he enjoyed traveling, hunting, and chopping wood at his log home on Carney Lake near the Kitsap-Pierce County line, he found it impossible to leave coaching entirely. Teaching and molding young people were still at the core of who he was.

So, retirement for Reasons ended up looking very much like a continuation of his career.

He substitute taught in the North Mason School District. And in 2006, he started coaching the North Mason Bulldogs wrestling team. Reasons continued to coach at North Mason until a stroke slowed him down in 2019. He was also an assistant football coach at South Kitsap High.

When asked what powered him, Reasons gave credit to his faith and his family. He and Jo married in 1965 shortly after graduating from Western Washington University and they had twin daughters, Janet and Jodi. And his faith was always a guiding force.

As Jo reflected a few weeks after his passing, she told the Kitsap Sun, “He thanked God for his coaching and said none of it was by accident.”

Joe Reasons was more than just a wrestling coach. He was a mentor, a teacher, and a life-changer. His impact on Washington wrestling — and on the countless people he inspired — will be felt for generations.

L. to R. : Doug Cowan, Joe Reasons, Dan Hensley and Kennie Pewitt on Joe’s induction into the State Wrestling Association’s Hall of Fame.

The Reasons’ family L. to R.: Jodi, Joe, Janet and Jo.

Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame

Total through 2024: 630 individuals, 14 teams and 2 organizations

ADMINISTRATORS

Bob Hager 1969

Harold “Wah” Keller 1969

Tom Cross 2005 Athletic Administrator/ Basketball/BB & FB Official

Doug McArthur 2005 Athletic Administrator/ Baseball (coach)

Stan Naccarato 2005 Athletic Administrator/ Baseball (player)

Dr. Dave Olson 2005

Milt Woodard 2005 Athletic Administrator/ Sportswriter

Jim Kittilsby 2008

Karl Benson (College Athletics) 2020

John Bodenhamer (Golf) 2020

Frank Colarusso 2020 (Baseball/Hockey)

Robin Hamilton 2020 (College Athletics/Coach)

Dick Berg 2023

Ed Ploof 2024

ARCHERY

Harry Parker 1971 Archery/Football

Sonny Johns 2005

ATHLETIC TRAINERS

Gary Nicholson 2016

Jim “Zeke” Schuld 2016

Bruce Snell 2020

Walt Horn 2022

AUTO RACING

Tom Carstens 2006

Leo Dobry 2006

Pete Lovely 2006

Pat Austin 2007

Dick & Wanda Boness 2007

Jim Crews 2008

Ron Eaton 2008

Bucky Austin 2009

Dennis Kitts 2010

Derrike Cope (NASCAR) 2020

BMX RACING

Gary Ellis 2020

BASEBALL

Bob Johnson 1957

Roy Johnson 1960

Paul Strand 1961

Jack Fournier 1962

George Wise 1963 Baseball/Golf

Cy Neighbors 1964

Marv Rickert 1964

Frank Tobin 1964

Dill Howell 1966

Ben B. Cheney (sponsor) 1968

Jesse Baker 1969

Lou Balsano 1969

Tony Banaszak Sr. 1969

Jimmy Claxton 1969

Dick Greco 1969

Walt Hagedorn 1969

Frank Hermsen 1969

Joe Hermsen 1969

Rick Johnson 1969 Baseball/Basketball

Lee Kierstad 1969

Bill Libke 1969

Cliff Marker 1969

Joey Peterson 1969

Frank Ruffo 1969

Jack Sonntag (coach) 1969

Lou Spadafore 1969

Ole Swinland 1969 Baseball/Basketball

Hal Votaw 1969

Jess Brooks 1971 Baseball/Football

Gordon Brunswick 1971 Baseball/Basketball/Football

Eddie Carlson 1971

Jimmy Ennis 1971 Baseball/Football

Ocky Haugland 1971

Neil Mazza 1971

Bobby McGuire 1971 Baseball/Basketball/Football

Vern Morris 1971

Jimmy Mosolf 1971

Andy Nelson 1971

Henry “Fat” Williams 1971

Art Berg 1972

Floyd “Lefty” Isekite 1972

Morry Abbott 2005

Baseball/Basketball/Football

Bill Mullen (coach) 2006

Harry Nygard 2006

Doug Sisk 2006

Mike Blowers 2007

Ed Hardenbrook 2007

John Pregenzer 2007

Pete Sabutis 2007

Bill Hobert 2008

Dave Minnitti 2008 Player/Umpire

Frank Morrone 2008 Player/Umpire

Cliff Schiesz 2008

Craig Parks-Hilden 2009

Jim Nettles 2009

Baseball Tacoma, Inc (1972-1991) 2009

Stan Naccarato (General Manager), Robert Alessandro, Tom Baker, Dr. James Billingsley, Mike Block, Harold Brotman, Morley Brotman, Francis Browne, Bill Cammarano, Sr,, Ray Carlson, Brad Cheney, Warren Chinn, Larry Ghilarducci, Doug Gonyea, Norma Honeysett, Clay Huntington, Dr. Robert Johnson, Bob Kelly, Frank Manley, Carl Miraldi, Gus Paine, Frank Pupo, Frank Ruffo, Jim Topping, Mike Tucci, Sr., Walt Wiklund, Alden Woodworth, John Xitco, and E.J. “Jim Zarelli.

Sister City Cultural Baseball Exchange (1987-2009) 2009 Tony Anderson, Tak Ikeda, and Joe Kosai.

Gary Moore 2010

Ron Cey 2005 Baseball/Football/Basketball

Cy Greenlaw 2005

Garry Hersey 2005 Baseball/Football

Gordy Hersey 2005

Jack Johnson 2005

Bob Maguinez 2005

Lornie Merkle 2005

Baseball/FB/BB Official

Cap Peterson 2005

Marv Scott (coach) 2005

Wes Stock 2005

Ron Storaasli 2005

Baseball/Basketball/Football

Joe Stortini 2005

Baseball/Football/Slowpitch

Softball

Steve Whitaker 2005

1956 Stanley Shoemen team 2005

Baseball/ FB & BB Official

Bob Christofferson 2016 (Groundskeeper)

Joe Keller 2016

Tony Barron 2019

Rick Barnhart (coach) 2020

Bill Murphy 2020

Scott Nielsen 2020

Team includes Stan Naccarato, Morley Brotman, Doug McArthur, Tom Montgomery, Jack Johnson, Dale Bloom, Mike Dillon, Manly Mitchell, Max Braman, Dick Montgomery, Dick Schlosstein, Russ Wilkerson, Gordy Hersey, Jim Gallwas, Bob Maguinez, Earl Hyder, Ron Storaasli, Gordy Grubert. Pat Dillon, Ray Spalding, Monte Geiger, George Grant, and Jim Harney.

Rick Austin 2006

Earl Birnel 2006

Dale Bloom 2006

Dick Colombini 2006

Mike Dillon 2006

George Grant 2006

Earl Hyder 2006

Arley Kangas 2006

Earl Kuper 2006

Al Libke Jr. 2006

Bob Lightfoot (coach) 2006

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued)

BASKETBALL

Marv Harshman 1958 Basketball/Football

Frank Wilson 1958

John Kennedy (coach/ref) 1962

Bill Vinson (coach) 1969 Basketball/Football

Vince Hanson 1971

Max Mika 1971 Basketball/Football

Harry Werbisky 1971 Basketball/Baseball/Football

Don Moseid (player/coach) 2005

Clint Names 2005 Basketball/Golf

Bruce Alexander (player/ref) 2005

Ron Billings (player/coach) 2005 Basketball/Football

Chuck Curtis 2005

Rod Gibbs 2005

Evalyn (Goldberg) Schultz 2005 Basketball/Volleyball/ Fastpitch Softball

Dan Inveen 2005 Basketball/Administrator/ FB & BB Official

Roger Iverson 2005

Gene Lundgaard (player/coach) 2005

Steve Matzen 2005

Harry McLaughlin 2005

Dean Nicholson (coach) 2005

Bob Sprague 2005

Vince Strojan 2005

Jim Van Beek 2005

Tom Whalen 2005

Charlie Williams 2005

Don Zech (coach) 2005

Univ of Puget Sound Men’s 1976 NCAA DII

National Champions 2005

Team includes Don Zech, Mike Acres, Jim Schuldt, Doug McArthur, Brant Gibler, Rick Walker, Curt Peterson, Tim Evans, Rocky Botts, Mark Wells, A.T. Brown, Mike Hanson, Phil Hiam, Jimmy Stewart, Mike Strand, Matt McCully, Mike Kuntz, Steve Freimuth, and Bill Greenheck.

Wayne Dalesky (coach) 2006

Bob Fincham (player/coach) 2006

Jim McKean 2006

Clarence Ramsey 2006

Ron Crowe 2007

Jerry Clyde (coach) 2007

Jerry DeLaurenti (coach) 2007

Rich Hammermaster (coach) 2007 Football (athlete) Chelle (Flamoe) Miller 2007

Donya Monroe 2007

Clover Park HS Girls 1982 State High School Champions 2007

Team includes Rhonda Chachere, Michelle (Clark) Jones, Becky (Davis) Buchanan, Mary Ann Johnson, Alison Lotspeich, Netra McGrew, Donya Monroe, Fifi Robidoux, Ruth (Rufener) Allen, Kathleen Schumock, Darlene Seeman, Kathy (Taylor) Shelby, Karen (Turner) Lee, Jim Angelel (head coach), and Joel Parker (assistant coach)

Jim Clifton (athlete/coach) 2008

Steve Anstett (athlete/coach) 2008

Bob Angeline 2009

Alan Kollar 2009

Mike Mullen (coach) 2009

Kate Starbird 2009

1970-71 Puyallup HS Boys Basketball State AAA Championship Team (23-1) 2009

Team includes Rich Hammermaster (head coach), Jim Clifton (asst coach), Dave Normile (asst coach), Jerry DeLaurenti (scorekeeper), Merv Borden, Dave Crouch, Randy Dorn, Steve Gervais, Rick Gienger, Bruce Graham, Ron Kitts, Tom Krage, Paul Krippaehne, Lanny Lewis, Dan Picha, Jamie Reno, John Trageser, and Doug Weese. Managers Fred Angelo, Paul Baker, and Tom Drury.

Curtis Allen 2010

Casey Calvary 2010

Kay (Koppleman) Peterson 2010

Robyn (Clark) Sharp 2010

Marvin S. “Tom” Tommervik, Jr. 2010

1971 Curtis HS Boys Basketball Class AA State Champions Team (24-0): 2010

Team includes Gerald Redburg (head coach), Mike Mullen (assistant coach), Arne Handeland (assistant coach), Jim Ball, Tim Beard, Mike Berger, Tom Hargadon, Tim O’Connell, Cliff Peterson, Brian Roark, Tom Shoemaker, Gary Smith, Pat Swesey, Mark Wells, Paul Zurfluh, Dave Berger (mgr), and Ray Mahnkey (Athletic Director).

Kim (Butler) West 2016

Bob Ross (coach) 2016

Mark Wells 2016

Jim Black (coach) 2019

Jennifer Gray Reiter 2019

Tim Kelly (coach) 2019

Bob Niehl (athlete/coach) 2019

David Adams 2020

Dave Harshman (coach) 2020

Brendon Merritt 2020

Tatum (Morris) Brown 2020

Mary Ann (Stoican) O’Dell 2020

Kate Rue 2020

Jerry Williams (player/coach) 2020

Plywood Tacoma National NABA Champions (1971 & 1973) 2020

Mark Anderson, Steve Anstett, Jay Bond, Curt Gammell, Mike Dahl, George Grant, Jim Harney, Steve Hawes, George Irvine, Mike Jordan, Charles Lowery, Lynn Nance, Darron Nelson (player/coach), Clint Names, Tom Names, Lee Sinnes, Dan Steward, Keith Swagerty, Tom Tommervik, Jim Van Beek, Ted Werner, Dave Wortman, Gary Wortman and sponsor Dick Burrows.

Debbie Miller 2022

Tyce Nasinec 2022

Julie (Butler) Hiles 2023

Willette White (coach) 2023

Gary Wusterbarth (coach) 2024 Also Tennis (Referee)

BOWLING

Ted Tadich 1962

Earl Anthony 2005

Nadine Fulton 2005

Earl Johnson 2005

Jeff Mattingly 2005

Bertha McCormick 2005

Jeanne Naccarato 2005

Margie (Junge) Oleole 2005

Dave Tuell Jr. 2005

Stella “Babe” Penowich 2006

Jim Stevenson 2006

Jerry Ledbetter 2007

Larry Fulton 2007

LuAnn Moore 2007

Frisco Burnett 2008

Denny Krick 2008

Bob Bjorke 2009

Bob Hanson 2016

Mike Karch 2019

BOXING

Freddie Steele 1957

Jack Connor 1963 Promoter/Manager

Pat McMurtry 1965

Harold Bird 1967

Frankie “Chi-Chi” Britt 1972

Jim Rondeau 2005 Boxing (referee)/ Athletic Administrator

Davey Armstrong 2005

Leo Randolph 2005

Sugar Ray Seales 2005

Joe Clough (coach) 2006

Mike McMurtry 2006

Davey Ward 2006

Johnny Bumphus 2007

Dr. Charles Larson 2009 Administrator

George Wright 2009

Tom Mustin 2016

Emmett Linton, Jr. 2019

Bobby Pasquale 2019

Mylon Watkins 2020

CREW

Dan Ayrault 2005

Jim Fifer 2005

George Hunt 2005

Bob Martin 2005

John Sayre 2005

Adrienne Martelli 2023

FENCING

Harald E. Hilleman (Coach/Founder) 2020

FIGURE SKATING

Jack Boyle 2005

Patsy (Hamm) Dillingham 2005

Jerry Fotheringill 2005

Judi (Fotheringill) Fuller 2005

Jimmy Grogan 2005

Pat (Firth) Hansen 2005

John Johnsen (coach) 2005

Lois (Secreto) Schoettler 2005

Al & Iria Beeler 2007 Administrator/Judge

Kathy Casey (coach) 2007

Scott Davis 2008

FOOTBALL

Marv Tommervik (player/ref) 1958 Football/Baseball

John Heinrick (coach) 1959 Football/Basketball

Cliff Olson (coach) 1959 Basketball/Administrator

Joe Salatino 1959 Football/Baseball

Leo Artoe 1961

Phil Sarboe (coach) 1962

Frank Gillihan (athlete/ref) 1963

Don Paul 1963 Football/Baseball/Basketball

Al Ruffo 1964

Ernie Tanner 1964 Football/Baseball/Track

Myron “Chief” Carr (coach) 1965 Football/Track

Chuck Horjes 1969

Carl Sparks (coach) 1969

Mike Tucci Sr. (coach) 1969

Dug Dyckman 1971

Harold “Ox” Hansen 1971

Al Hopkins (coach) 1971

Wes Hudson 1971

Everett Jensen 1971

Vern Pedersen 1972 Football/Swimming

Roy Sandberg (coach) 1972

Frank Spear 1972

John Anderson (coach) 2005

Gerry Austin (coach) 2005

Sam Baker 2005

Ralph Bauman 2005

Frank “Buster” Brouillet 2005 Football/Basketball

Dick Brown 2005 Football/Basketball

Ole Brunstad 2005

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued)

Luther Carr 2005 Football/Baseball/Track

Andy Carrigan 2005

Don D’Andrea 2005

Ed Fallon (coach) 2005

Fred Forsberg 2005

Doug Funk (coach) 2005

John Garnero 2005 Football/Track/Basketball

Tommy Gilmer 2005 Football/Track

Vince Goldsmith 2005 Football/Track

Billy Joe Hobert 2005 Football/Baseball

Ray Horton 2005

Mike Huard (coach) 2005

Glenn Huffman 2005 Football/Basketball/Baseball

Norm Iverson 2005

Jim Jones 2005 Football/Track

Eldon Kyllo 2005

Bob Levinson (coach) 2005 Football/Track

Norm Mayer (coach) 2005

Tommy Mazza 2005

Ron Medved 2005

Bob Mitchell 2005

Don Moore 2005

George Nordi (coach) 2005

Carl Opolsky 2005

Joe Peyton 2005 Football/Basketball/Track

Earl Platt 2005 Football/Basketball/Baseball

Ahmad Rashad 2005 Football/Basketball/Track

Jerry Redmond (coach) 2005

Mark Ross (athlete/coach) 2005

Bob Ryan (coach) 2005

Fred Swendsen 2005 Football/Track

Gene Walters 2005

Clyde Werner 2005 Football/Track

Frosty Westering (coach) 2005

Dave Williams 2005 Football/Track

Warren Wood 2005

John Zamberlin 2005

1944 Lincoln backfield 2005

Art Viafore 2006

Jerry Williams 2006

1980 PLU Football Team 2006

Mike Agostini, Tom Amos, Eric Anderson, John Bley, Paul Berghuis, Ken Bush, Eric Carlson, Jeff Chandler, Scott Davis, Todd Davis, Dean DeMulling, Eric Dooley, Mike Durrett, Travis Eckert, Guy Ellison, Jim Erickson, Donn Falconer, Greg Farley, John Feldmann, Jay Freisheim, Chris Fritsch, Don Gale, Don Garoutte, Jay Halle, Dan Harkins, Rob Haskin, Dale Holland, Phil Jerde, Joel Johnson, Scott Kessler, Steve Kirk, Dave Knight, Mark Lester, Tim Lusk, Dennis McDonough, Scott McKay, Chris Miller, Eric Monson, Neal Otto, Martin Parkhurst, Mike Peterson, Dave Reep, Brian Rockey, Curt Rodin, Glen Rohr, Greg Rohr, Jeff Rohr, Rocky Ruddy, Jeff Shumake, Kevin Skogen, Rob Speer, Barry Spomer, Dave Turner, Chris Utt, Rich Vjranes, Tim Wahl, Tom Wahl, Kirk Walker, Jeff Walton, Garth Warren

Mark Warren, Mike Warsinske, Chris Weber, Scott Westering, Mike Westmiller, Craig Wright, Frosty Westering (head coach), Paul Hoseth (coach), Mark Clinton (coach), Larry Green (coach), Steve Kienberger (coach), Reid Katzung (coach), and Gary Nicholson (trainer).

Mike Baldassin 2007

Pat Hoonan (coach) 2007

Mike Levenseller 2007

Roy McKasson 2007

Ed Niehl (coach) 2007

Brock Huard 2008

Duane Lowell 2008

Bill McGovern 2008

David Svendsen 2008

Ed Bemis (administrator) 2009

Harry Bird (coach) 2009

Gregg Friberg 2009

Billy Parker 2009

Paul Walroff (coach) 2009

Jack Walters 2009

Paul Hoseth (coach/admin) 2010

Dave Kinkela 2010

Steve Ridgway 2010

1979 & 1980 MT. TAHOMA HS STATE CHAMPION TEAMS 2020

George Nordi (Head Coach), Morrie Boughton (Coach), Don Leebrick (Coach), Dan Gurash (Coach), Mike Deutsch (Coach), Ken Baker, Brian Barabe, Fred Baxter, Quinn Baxter, Garland Bearden, Steve Blomgren, Mike Bolte, Anthony Broughton, David Cabrera, Robert Callaghan, Mike Carrington, Ted Carter, Ivan Castillo, Curt Chojnowski, John Cole, Fred Cooper, Charles Dalton, Jeff Daschofsky, Earl Davis, Todd deCarteret, Ron Eckert, Dan Flannery, John Fuhrman, Bob Gibson, Brad Gobel, Ralph Gomez, Todd Goodson, Ken Gosteli, Louis Green, Ken Hanks, Maurice Hanks, Darell Harper, Joel Harper, Kevin Harper, Dan Hart, John Hayward, Dave Helzes, Frank Hobbs, Chris Horn, Steve Hoye, Brian Humphrey, Todd Hunter, Rod Jackson, Jody Jacobsen, Alonzo Jennings, John Johnson, Rich Lamonica, Rob Leonard, Todd Lundey, Vic Melton, Craig Meyer, Don Moore, John Moore, Ramon Moore, Larry Murphy, Robert Murphy, Dan Nelson, Scott Nordi, Alain Patton, Doug Parish, Dirk Pettitt, Todd Pressey, Arnie Richard, Robert Ross, Brian Rychner, Curtis Sanders, Dave Seago, Mike Sonnier, Ken Spencer, Angelo Suarez, Malcom Sorrell, Mike Vindivich, Lacy Walker, David White, James Whitford, Mike Young and Ray Richards (Trainer).

Hillary Butler 2022

Sherriden May 2022

Johnny Spevak 2022

Lewis Bush 2023

Jermaine Kearse 2023

Stafford Mays 2024

GOLF

Charles Congdon 1960

Charles D. Hunter 1960

Shirley (McDonald) Fopp 1962 Golf/Skiing

Jack Walters 1963

Shirley Baty 2005

Ockie Eliason 2005

John Harbottle 2005

Pat Lesser-Harbottle 2005

Joan (Allard) Mahon 2005

Marjorie (Jeffries) Shanaman 2005

Ken Still 2005

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued)

GYMNASTICS

Roni (Barrios)Mejia 2005

Yumi Mordre 2005

Onnie (Willis) Rogers 2005

Tiffani (White) Rowland 2007

Catherine (Williams) Kadera 2008

Lindsey Lauderdale 2009

Elli (Maulding) McDaniel 2010

Hali (Saucier) Riechers 2016

Brad Loan (coach) 2020

HANDBALL

Gordy Pfeifer 2005 Handball/Slowpitch Softball

Lea McMillan 2008

HIKING/MOUNTAINEERING

Fay Fuller 2020

Bronka Sundstrom 2020

HOCKEY

Neil Andrews 2005

Joey Johns 2005 Hockey/Fastpitch Softball

Dick Milford 2005 Hockey/Fastpitch Softball

Louie Weir (player/admin) 2008

HORSE RACING

Harry Deegan 1969

HUNTING

Marcus Nalley 1963

HYDROPLANE RACING

George Henley 2005

Armand Yapachino 2005

KARATE

Steve Curran 2019

MOTORCYCLE RACING

Don McLeod 2005 Motorcycle Racing/Auto Racing/ Roller Skating

Bob Malley 2007

MOUNTAINEERING

Lute Jerstad 2005 Mountaineering/Basketball

Lou Whittaker 2006

Dee Molenaar 2006

Eric Simonson 2022

OFFICIALS

Marty Erdahl 2006 Basketball

Merle Hagbo 2006 Football

Jerry Snarski 2006 Basketball

Chuck Gilmer 2007 Football

Wayne Gardner 2007 Volleyball

Ray Highsmith 2007 Football

Dave Kerrone 2007 Baseball, Football, Fastpitch, Slowpitch

Aaron Pointer 2008 Football/Baseball

Ed Stricherz 2008 Football/Basketball

Bruce Osborne 2010 Wrestling

Jan Wolcott 2010 Football/Basketball

Kirk Dornan 2016 Football

Walt Gogan 2016 Volleyball

Ken Laase 2016 Softball

Jay Stricherz 2016 Football

Terry Beckstead 2020 (Wrestling)

Buddy Horton 2020 (Football)

Dan Spriestersbach 2020 (Football)

Mike Burton 2023 (Football)

Jerry Meyerhoff 2024 (Football)

PHOTOGRAPHER

Bruce Kellman 2016

Bruce Larson 2019

RACQUETBALL

Sid Williams 2007

RIFLERY

Morgan (Hicks) Wallizer 2020

ROLLER SKATING

Lanny (Adams) Werner 2005

Tom Peterson 2006

Lin Peterson 2006

SAILING

Govnor Teats 2008

SNOW BOARDING

Liz Daley 2019

SNOW SKIING

Gretchen Kunigk-Fraser 1957

Joe LaPorte 2007

Marshall Perrow 2008

Rich Nelson 2020

SOAP BOX DERBY

David Krussow 2007

Greg Schumacher 2007

John West 2008

SOCCER

John Best (coach/admin) 2005

Jeff Durgan 2005

Dori Kovanen 2005

Mark Peterson 2005

Jeff Stock 2005

Dan Swain (coach) 2006

Brent Goulet 2007

Frank Hall (coach/admin) 2007

Colleen Hacker (coach) 2007

Danny Vaughn 2010

Joe Waters (athlete/coach) 2016

Tara Bilanski (player/coach) 2020

Brian vanBloomestein (coach) 2020

Gretchen (Gegg) Zigante (player/coach) 2020

Joey Gjertsen 2022

Tally Hall 2023

Mary Rink 2024

SOFTBALL (Fastpitch & Slowpitch)

Lloyd Blanusa 2005 Fastpitch

Vern From 2005 Fastpitch

George Karpach 2005 Fastpitch

Louise Mazzuca 2005 Fastpitch

Jack Hermsen 2006 Fastpitch

Art Lewis 2006 Fastpitch

Vern Martineau 2006 Fastpitch

Kathy Hemion 2006 Slowpitch/Basketball/Volleyball

Betty (Hart) Bland 2007 Fastpitch

Jay Beach 2007 Fastpitch

Gene Thayer 2008 Fastpitch

Dick Yohn 2008 Fastpitch

John Rockway 2009 Fastpitch Player/Softball Administrator

Joyce (Jones) Wolf 2009 Fastpitch player/Slowpitch coach

Bob Young 2009 Slowpitch

Bob Frankosky 2010 Fastpitch

Joe Kilby 2010 Slowpitch

Earl Mahnkey 2010 Fastpitch

Steve Orfanos (administrator) 2010 Fastpitch/Slowpitch

1965-71 Players Tavern/Heidelberg Slowpitch Softball Team 2016

Ken Alban, Doug Armstrong, Dave Bishop, Jerry Brodigan, Ed Burmester, Dick Dahlstrom, Jerry Ehnat, Jerry Foss, Bob Grant, Bill Hain, Bob Hause, Bill Herbert, Ken Laase, Jim Lane, Wayne Lange, Denny Larsen, Don Leaf, Don Kitchen, Marco Malich, Don Martelli, Terry Martin, Ron Moseson, Butch Pasquale, Gordy Pfeifer, Mike Prentice (batboy), Bud Reed, Al Reil, Bill Royne, Dick Samlaska, Steve Sand, Ron Schmidtke, Ken Schulz, Scott Schulz (batboy), Bob Sonneman Sr., Tom Sonneman, Jerry Thacker, Terry Trowbridge, Ted Whitney, Bob Young, Mike Zenk and Dick Zierman

Todd Cooley 2020 Slowpitch

Steve Shackett (coach) 2020 Slowpitch

Cleon Tungsvik (player/coach) 2020 Fastpitch

Margaret Heinrick 2024 Fastpitch

Pat Kelly 2024 Fastpitch

SPEED SKATING

KC Boutiette 2016

SPORTS MEDICINE

Dr. Sam Adams 2010

Dr. Bob Johnson 2010

SWIMMING

Don Duncan (coach) 2005

Janet (Buchan) Elway 2005

Kaye Hall-Greff 2005

Dave Hannula 2005

Dick Hannula Sr. (coach) 2005

Bob Jackson 2005 Swimming/Football

Chuck Richards 2005 Swimming/ Pentathlon

Miriam (Smith) Greenwood 2005

Dick Hannula, Jr. 2006

Dan Hannula 2006

Dan Seelye 2006

Mike Stauffer 2007

Sarah (Rudolph) Cole 2007

Dan Wolfrom (coach) 2007

Susan (Lenth) Moffet 2008

Rod Stewart 2008

Mark Smith 2008

Robb Powers 2008

Dana (Powers) Hubbard 2008

1970 Wilson HS Boys Swimming State Championship Team 2008

Team includes Dick Hannula (Head coach), Jim Boettcher (Diving Coach and Assistant Swim Coach), Dave Asahara, Dave Burkey, Tom Dickson, Jeff Edwards, Jim Gagliardi, Dan Hannula, Dave Hannula, Brent Heisler, Gary Holmquist, Mark Hoffman, Randy Hume, Chuck Johnston, Kevin Kambak, Kurt Knipher, Scot Knowles, Dennis Larsen, Steve Lindeman, Bob Music, Bart Rohrs, Herb Schairbaum, Greg Searles, Brandon Smith, Kelly Smith, Dale Sowell, Bob Tonellato, Rick Unrue, Dave Williams, Hans Wold, and Dave Wright.

Debbie Gratias Williams 2009

Kathryn “K.C.” (Cline) Lemon 2010

Evan Martinec 2010

Jamie Reid 2010

Jim Baurichter (coach) 2016

Megan (Quann) Jendrick 2016

Dennis Larsen 2019

Chris Myhre (coach) 2020

Roxanne (Carlton) Raubacher 2020

Bert O. Thomas 2020

Steve Van Wart 2020

Paige (Wright) Olson 2022

Kellen Harkness (Diving) 2024

2025 Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall Of Fame (continued)

TEAM HANDBALL

Blake Surina (See Track) 2022

TENNIS

Wally Scott 1959

Mike Benson (coach) 2005

Don Flye 2005

Pat Galbraith 2005

Dave Trageser 2005

Sonja Olejar 2006

Marilyn Kropf Appel 2009

1938 Stadium tennis team 2009

Darrell “Righty” Eden, Donald “Lefty” Eden, Bill Guyles, Dick Meyer, and Bill

Taylor

Steve Finnigan 2016

Vern Ball (player/coach) 2020

TRACK & FIELD

Herman Brix 1961 Shot Put

Gertrude Wilhelmsen 1971 Javelin, Discus

Doris (Severtson) Brown Heritage 2005 Running

Casey Carrigan 2005 Pole Vault

Jim Daulley (coach) 2005

Sterling Harshman 2005 Track/Football

Dana LeDuc 2005 Shot Put

Mark Smith 2005 Discus

Chuck Soper 2005 Javelin/Discus

Dan Watson (coach) 2005

Mac Wilkins 2005 Shot Put, Discus

Robert A. “RAB” Young 2005 Race Walking

Mitch Angelel (coach) 2006

Hal Berndt 2006

Bob Ehrenheim (coach) 2006

Jack Fabulich 2006

Ericka Harris 2006

Sam Ring 2006

Darrell Robinson 2006

Rob Webster 2006

Jim Angelel (coach) 2007

Donna Dennis 2007

Keith Tinner 2007

Curt Corvin 2008

Michelle (Finnvik) Biden 2008

Warren Logan (coach) 2008

Jim Martinson 2008

Aaron Williams 2008

Burt Wells (coach) 2008

Joline Staeheli Andrzejewski 2009

Cecilia (Ley) Hankinson 2009

Brian Mittelstaedt 2009

Joel Braggs 2010

Jakki Davis 2010

Patty Ley 2010

Darold Talley 2010

Wes Smylie 2010

Sarah (Burns) Hannula 2016

Richard “Dick” Keniston 2016

Calvin Kennon 2016

Mark Salzman (athlete/coach) 2016

Pat Tyson 2019

Joel Wingard (coach) 2019

Brie Felnagle 2020

Terry Rice (coach) 2020

Tom Sinclair 2020 Javelin

Sarna (Renfro) Becker 2022

Blake Surina (see Team Handball) 2022

Andrea (Geubelle) Norris 2023

Steve Slavens 2023

Joseph Gray 2024

Sheila (Kaskie) Robak 2024

VOLLEYBALL

Laurie (Wetzel) Hayward 2005 Volleyball/Basketball

Sarah (Silvernail) Elliott 2005

Cindy (Pitzinger) Willey 2005

Lisa Beauchene 2006

Lorrie Post Hodge 2006

Karen Goff-Downs 2007

Carla (Reyes) Redhair 2007

Suzanne Vick 2008

1996 Bethel HS Class AAA State Champions Team (34-0) 2010

John Reopelle (head coach), Monica (Lee) Aikins (assistant coach), Christine Nelson (assistant coach), Michelle Barlow, Dori (Bartusch) Shick, Corinn (Breon) Gallegos, Jorden (Gienger) Whittington, Rachelle (Gienger) Downie, Holly (Hobbs) Repp, Joanna Johnson, Jennifer Ladwig, Valerie (Lee) Jackson, Heather (Mayo) Sloan, Malissa Reed, Donja (Walker) Asonte, Vera Wright (scorekeeper), Tynne Swick (manager), and Jim Ball (Athletic Director).

Jan Kirk (coach) 2016

Stevie Mussie 2016

Christal (Morrison) Engle 2020

Christy (Kubista) Brandt 2022

Jennifer Kubista 2022

Kylie (Marshall) Whitehill 2024

WATER POLO

Jerry Hartley (coach) 2008

WRESTLING

Frank Stojack 1959

Jerry Conine 2005

Bob Hunt 2005

Jim Meyerhoff 2005

David Olmstead 2005

Jeff Gotcher 2005

Larry Gotcher 2005

Ron Ellis 2006

Bill Stout (athlete/coach) 2006

Vic Eshpeter 2007

Wrestling/Football

Wrestling/Football

Wrestling/Football/Track

Elsworth Finlayson 2007

Kirk White 2008

Terry Dawson 2009

Jesus Villahermosa 2009

Ray Barnes (coach) 2010

Warren DePrenger (coach) 2010

Les Kleinsasser 2010

Dan Hensley (coach) 2016

Brad Muri 2016

Kylee Bishop 2019

Mike Sowards (coach) 2020

Chris Wolfe (athlete/coach) 2023

SPORTS WRITERS/BROADCASTERS/PHOTOGRAPHERS

Elliott Metcalf 1966

Dan Walton 1968

John McCallum 1971

Ed Honeywell 1972

Rod Belcher 2005

Jerry Geehan 2005

Don Hill 2005

Clay Huntington 2005 Sportswriter/Broadcaster

Earl Luebker 2005

Bob Robertson 2005

Don Davison 2007

Dick Kunkle 2007

Art Popham 2008

Stan Farber 2009

Mike Ingraham 2009

Jack Sareault 2009

Nelson Hong 2010

Ted Pearson 2016

Steve Thomas 2016

Doug Cowan 2024

MEDIA (TEAM TNT 1987-2000) 2020

1987-2000 Tacoma News Tribune Sports Staff: Mike Bainter, Dave Boling, Don Borst, Joe Breeze, Corey Brock, Gary Brooks, Russ Carmack, John Clayton, Patricia (Greenleaf) Clayton, Bob Condotta, Glenn Crevier, Doug Drowley, Ursula (Muecke) Fagerstrom, Roy Gallop Jr. , Greg Gibson, Peter Haley, Greg Harris, Craig Hill, Chuck Hufford, Frank Hughes, Mike Kahn , Dean Koepfler, Robert Kuwada, Larry LaRue, John Lawrence, Arnold Lytle, Casey Madison, John McGrath, Rodney McKissic, Paul Miller, Todd Milles, Bob Mottram, Ron Newberry, Scott Oberstaller, Bob Payne, Dale Phelps, John Piekarski, Paul Ramsdell, Bill Reader, Mike Sando, Bill Schey, John Scott, Gordy Sholtys, Teresa Smith, Sheldon Spencer, Jim Trotter, Rob Tucker, Pete Wevurski, Eric Williams, Lui Kit Wong, Bart Wright and Victor Yoshida.

In Memorium

JANUARY 2024-APRIL

1, 2025

Please join us as we honor and celebrate those individuals who graced us with their athletic contributions as athletes, coaches, officials, administrators and trainers. We congratulate and thank them for their athletic accomplishments and for their contributions to the betterment of our community.

*Denotes induction into the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall of Fame

Apologies to any individuals we may have missed.

July 20, 1935-Jan. 17, 2024

*Vic Eshpeter

age 88

Lincoln HS

Two-time Wrestling State Champion

Official for 39 years

Aug. 2, 1932-Jan. 31, 2024

*John Pregenzer

age 91

Pitcher-Tacoma Giants/SF Giants

Umpire-Tacoma-Pierce County

Baseball coach—Orting HS, Franklin Pierce HS, Washington HS

Nov. 7, 1948-Mar. 25, 2024

Ed Huston

age 75

Basketball guard -Univ. of Puget Sound 1968-71

UPS HOF 1992

Nov. 7, 1948-April 11, 2024

Blaine Johnson

age 75

Longacres Publicity Director 1971-73

Sports Editor-Seattle Times

Sports Editor-Tacoma News Tribune circa 1986-87

July 26, 1921-April 25, 2024

John Hunt Jr

Age 102

Football and Track

Lincoln HS, UPS and WSU

Jan. 5, 1936-May 2, 2024

Bill Winter

Age 88

Senior Slowpitch Softball Player

The Haven & Emerald City Masters

May 7, 1944-May 13, 2024

*Bill Murphy

age 80

Baseball Outfielder -Clover Park HS, Tacoma Cubs, Seattle Rainiers and New York Mets

April 8, 1981-May 16, 2024

*Brendon Merritt

age 43

Basketball forward-Bellarmine and Tacoma CC & Eastern Washington Univ.

Played professionally in Sweden and Switzerland

April 2, 1942-May 30, 2024

Doug Wisness

age 82

Bethel HS head coach-Boys Track & Cross Country

Girls head coach-Golf & Bowling and Track

April 17, 1940-June 5, 2024

*Bob Johnson

age 84

Stadium HS-Basketball & Golf

PGA Golf Professional

Dec. 18, 1936-June 13, 2024

*Duane Lowell

age 87

Lincoln HS and Univ. of Washington Football lineman & Baseball catcher

Mar. 12, 1942-June 15, 2024

Ron Simonson

age 82

UPS Head Coach-Football

Inducted into UPS HOF in 2021

Dave Williams

Age 83

Football-Lincoln HS/UW/St. Louis Cardinals

Track—Lincoln HS and UW

Dave Kinkela

Age 75

Football—Mt. Tahoma and UPS

Rogers HS Football Coach

Sept. 25, 1944-July 26, 2024

Frank Zawislak

age 79

Basketball-Bellarmine

Sponsor-TPC Baseball-Softball Oldtimers

Jan. 1, 1934-July 28, 2024

Diane Jacobsen Boyle

age 90

Figure Skating—Lakewood Winter Club & Ice Follies

April 8, 1963-July 31, 2024

Tracie Manke Frame

Age 61

Tennis, Track, Skiing-Clover Park HS

Tennis Coach-Gig Harbor HS

May 10, 1928- Aug 2, 2024

Harry Nygard

Age 96

Stadium HS 1949- Pitcher

Tacoma Tigers professional baseball team

May 20, 1931-Aug 22, 2024

Marjorie Nygard

age 96

Stadium HS 1949—Bowler

Harry’s #1 Baseball Fan

Sept. 27, 1930-Aug. 30, 2024

Dr. Stanley Mueller

age 93

Orthopedic Surgeon

Specialized in athletic-related injuries

May 29, 1942-Sept. 19, 2024

Art McLarney

age 82

Stadium 1960/UPS 1969-baseball

Slowpitch softball teams-Western WA League

Football & Basketball Coach-Mt Tahoma, Lakes &

Wilson HS

Nov. 13, 1962–Sept. 28, 2024

*Dori Kovanen

age 61

Soccer-Stadium HS

Univ. of North Carolina (NCAA Nat’l Champions)

June 18, 1933-Oct. 11, 2024

Don Martelli

age 91

Bellarmine 1951

PE Teacher-Mason JH & Multi-Sport Coach

July 28, 1935-Oct. 18, 2024

Bruce Taylor

age 89

Founder-West Coast Hockey League

Original owner of Tacoma Sabercats

June 18, 1944-Oct. 19, 2024

Tony Ventrella

age 80

Sports Director at KING 5 from 1982 to 1994

July 1, 1955-Oct. 25, 2024

Hugh Buehler

age 69

20-year member

Tacoma-Pierce County Volleyball Officials Board

June 14, 1936-Nov. 10, 2024

*Sandy Molzan

age 88

Top fastpitch and slowpitch player

Hollywood Boat & Motor, the Cage Tavern, Spud’s Pizza Pete, B&E Tavern, Creekwater Dispensary and B.J.’s All-Stars.

April 20, 1950-Nov. 10, 2024

Alice Textor

age 74

Top slowpitch player

Creekwater Dispensary and BJ’s All-Stars

April 7, 1933 - Nov. 11, 2024

*Robert Iverson

age 91

Puyallup HS and WSU-Football

May 12, 1932-Nov. 26, 2024

*Jim Gallwas

age 92

Stanley Shoemen – Third baseman

1956 National Baseball Champions

April 18, 1940-Nov. 26, 2024

Steven Larson

age 84

President, Tacoma Lawn Tennis Club

July 26, 1940-Nov. 26, 2024

*Joe Reasons

age 84

Clover Park HS wrestling coach

Sept. 4, 1938-Dec. 1, 2024

John Woodworth

age 86

Tacoma Baseball Inc-Saved PCL baseball in Tacoma

Sponsor-Woodworth Contractors

1957 2nd place at AABC National Championships

June 26, 1947-Dec. 7, 2024

*Steve Finnigan

age 77

Tennis at Stadium and UW—TPC Sports HOF

Executive Board-TPC Sports Museum

April 5, 1927-Dec. 10, 2024

Bob Peterson

age 97

Member-Western Washington Football Officials Assoc. Fife HS-Four-sport letterman

Sept. 23, 1931-Dec. 16, 2024

*Dale Bloom

age 93

Pitcher-1956 Stanley Shoemen National baseball championship. College and HS Basketball referee

July 8, 1952-Dec. 16, 2024

Marc Todd

age 72

Lincoln HS athlete

July 3, 1928 - December 17, 2024

Jack Waechter

age 96

Stadium HS/UW athlete

Nov. 2, 1966--Jan. 7, 2025

*Doug Drowley

age 58

The News Tribune Sportswriter

Small colleges and preps reporter

Oct. 4, 1941-Feb. 4, 2025

Jim Stewart

age 83

HS and College volleyball ref-12 years

Refereed three state tourneys

Baseball umpire and basketball referee. Wilson HS ’59. 1957 local Soap Box Derby champion

Raced at National championships

Oct. 8, 1930 – March 6, 2025

Sylvia Hannula

age 94

Heroine of the Hannula family

Ensured everyone knew where to be 24/7 including husband, Dick.

If her children were not at home or in a pool—something was wrong.

Mar. 16, 1948 -Mar. 21, 2025

Rick Keely

age 77

Tacoma Giants batboy in 1961

Football at Stadium HS ‘66, UW and UPS

Little Jim’s Pub slowpitch team. Nicknamed Howard HUGE