EVERETT, Wash. – Six former athletes, one coach and three teams will be inducted into Everett Community College’s Athletic Hall of Fame at a dinner June 5.
The event is at EvCC’s Student Fitness Center, 2206 Tower St. Social hour is at 6:30 p.m. Dinner is at 7 p.m. Participants are required to RSVP in advance.
The keynote speaker for the event is Jack Thompson, who played quarterback at Washington State University from 1975-79. He set numerous records at WSU before playing in the NFL for the Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The players selected for EvCC’s Athletic Hall of Fame include golfer Art Abrahamson, javelin thrower Fred Andrew, basketball and track star Al Clise, hurdler Larry Lian, tennis, basketball and field hockey player Carol West and basketball and baseball player Bill Yeager.
Legendary coach Dick Rowley, an Everett firefighter who was an award-winning tennis player for Everett Junior College and coached tennis and basketball for the college, will also be inducted.
Teams selected this year include the 1954 Trojan football team, which won Everett Junior College’s third straight conference title; the 1959 Trojan men’s basketball team, which won a state championship; and the 1972-73 women’s basketball team, which holds the record for the highest place finish for an EvCC women’s basketball team.
See below for more information about the inductees.
Members of the Hall of Fame were selected by a committee of community members, coaches and EvCC leaders.
The event is open to the public. Dinner is $50 per person for adults; $25 for youth, with reservations required. To RSVP, call EvCC at 425-388-9535 by May 29.
For more information, visit www.everettcc.edu/alumni or call John Olson at 425-388-9555.
Athletes
Art Abrahamson
Art Abrahamson played on two Everett Junior College state championship golf teams in 1954 and 1955. He was the undisputed leader of the team, finishing as the Junior College State Medalist in both years. Art left EJC after two years and transferred to the University of Oregon. While at Oregon, his teams won both the PAC-8 Northern Division championship and the PAC-8 championship. He is retired and lives in north Everett less than a mile from the Everett Community College campus.
Fred Andrew
One of the most successful javelin throwers ever to compete at the junior college level, Fred Andrew competed for EJC in 1965 and 1966. In 1965, his 203’2/1/2” toss won the WAACC title and contributed to the team’s second place finish overall. He continued to compete for Central Washington University. At the NAIA level he placed in two national meets (3rd and 4th). NAIA competitors were also allowed to compete in the NCAA National Meet, and Andrew finished in fifth place in 1968. Between 1972 and 1978 Andrew coached cross country and track at Bellevue Community College; he then went to work as a self-employed contractor. He is a member of the NWAACC Hall of Fame, and currently lives in Bothell.
Al Clise
Al Clise played basketball at Everett Community College during the 1967-68 season. His basketball career continued at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, where he played from 1969 through the end of the 1972 season. A multi-sport athlete from Bellevue High, Clise also competed as a high jumper and pole vaulter. He is a member of the NWAAC Hall of Fame. Clise is the president of Clise Properties, a family-owned business focused on property development.
Larry Lian
In a 1973 article in the Everett Community College student newspaper, The Clipper, Larry Lian said that the most important aspect of running hurdle races is technique – “with hard training and mere guts a close second.” Lian combined all these aspects to become the school record holder in both high and intermediate hurdle races. He won the 1973 NWAAC championship in both the 110 meter 400 meter hurdle races, recording school records that still stand today. A long-time resident of Lake Stevens, Lian coached AAU and junior athletics for over 20 years.
Carol West
Lake Washington High School graduate Carol West was a multi-sport athlete at EJC. In field hockey, she led the team in goal scoring consistently and had one 9-goal game in 1965. She also was a team leader in scoring on the basketball team. Her state level success was in tennis, where she won the 1964 Junior College Women’s Singles championship and participated as the number one singles player on the 1965 state championship team. She went on to get her BA degree from the University of Washington, where she played three sports and was the president of the UW Women’s Athletic Association. West taught and coached at Hazen High School from 1968 – 2001. Her athletic career continued after college; West played field hockey, basketball, slow pitch softball, soccer, golf, and tackle football.
Bill Yeager
Bill Yeager played both basketball and baseball at Everett Junior College. Yeager joined the basketball team in the winter of 1965, averaging 11.6 points per game. The leading scorer in 1965-66, he averaged 18 points and 13 rebounds per game. He hit a clutch home run in the 1966 state championship baseball game that helped propel the Trojans to a state title. Already inducted as a member of that 1966 baseball team, Yeager now enters as one of several multi-sport individual athletes in the Hall of Fame.
Athletic Hall of Fame – Coaches and Administrators
Dick Rowley (deceased)
Rowley played tennis for EJC, winning both the individual state championship and the team championship in 1948. He returned to EJC in the 1960s as a tennis coach, winning state titles in 1964 and 1969. He also coached the JV men’s basketball teams. A respected Everett firefighter, Rowley was deeply engaged in youth athletics and has a scholarship fund named for him through the Blue and Gold Club at Everett High School. The softball complex at Kasch Park is named after Rowley, who was selected as the 1979 Herald Man of the Year.
Athletic Hall of Fame – Teams
1954 Trojan Football Team
With only four returning players from the previous season, the 1954 team, coached by Walt Price and Bob Gambold, won EJC’s third straight conference title. This young squad, according to the 1954 yearbook editor, “ran roughshod over every Washington jaycee team they played.” Two significant non-conference games showed the strength of the team. In one, the Trojans handily defeated Shasta JC by a score of 37-19; and one of the strongest teams in the nation that year, Boise JC, gave the Trojans their only defeat by a single touchdown. Team member Ron Cooley was voted to the all-American junior college squad following the season.
1972/73 Trojan Women Basketball
The highest finish for a women’s basketball team was recorded by the 1972/73 squad with a second place showing in the Women’s Northwest District Basketball Tournament. Led by Hall of Fame coach Joan Dugger, the team lost the championship game to Flathead CC (Montana) after recording earlier round victories against the University of Alaska and Pacific Lutheran University. Team member Carol Zimmerman set a school record for most points in a game by an individual (31). Her teammates included Sharon Sherman, Terry Padgett, Anne Simkins, Debbie Hefner, Laurel Brown, Nancy Ward, Mindy Decker, Monie Johnson, Maureen Cote, Margaret Bell, Marlene Sprague, and Candy Johnson.
1959 Trojan Men’s Basketball
Paul Blowers coached the 1959 men’s basketball team to a state championship. They began with a thrilling 71-70 victory over the Seattle University freshman squad, and ended the season with a 14-4 league mark. The league had four teams finish with identical records and, with no playoff system in place, a four-way tie for the state title was the end result. The team was led by Tom Hollis, Brad Wilson, Terry Nixon, Mike Crowley and Doug McClean. Other team members were Rich Broeker, Jerry Thompson, Gary Smalley, Bill Kohlwes, Larry Anderson, A. C. Chocklon, John Smith, Ken Fitch, Charles Gulley, Dick O’Leary, Bill Esswine, Jim Thornton, Buster Carter, Ted Uerling, and Tom Beaman.
