HOF CLASS of 21-22

Dan grew up here in Washington, Edmonds, Seattle and finally Snohomish in 1960 with one year spent in Austin, Texas in 1965. He attended Snohomish High School graduating in 1970, participating in football as a freshman, then cross country, basketball and track. His family wasn’t all that athletic as far as my parents, although they played baseball on a regular basis as a family . Three of Dan’s sisters participated in track which at that time was one of the few sports available to girls. He went to the College of Idaho his first year but transferred to The University of Washington graduating in 1975, majoring in History and English Literature He has remained a proud Husky ever since. Go Dawgs! Dan didn’t participate on any of the college teams but regularly participated in intramural sports playing pickup basketball games at the IMA against guys like Detlef Schrempf and lived and ran with members of the UW cross country and track teams. Dan became a teacher late, in 1988, first teaching World History at the Snohomish Freshmen Campus and the US. History and AP U.S. History at Snohomish and then Glacier Peak High School. He got involved in coaching as a result of running from Snohomish High School and using the track for speed work. He began running with the athletes at SHS and became a volunteer assistant coach for a couple years in he early 80s.

In the late 80s the coach at Snohomish died of brain cancer and he was replaced by teacher who didn’t really want the job. Dan started writing the workouts and running the practices. That carried into track season as well. In 1988 he applied for the head coaching position at Snohomish and the rest is history. Dan coached at Snohomish from 1988 to 2007 before moving to Glacier Peak from 2008 through 2019. The most rewarding part for him was the ability to convince athletes they could do what they never thought they were capable of doing and then to have them continue to apply that confidence to all aspects of their lives. Dan was also able to consistently field competitive teams that ran honest races, bought into the pack running mentality and valued team achievement over individual glory.

Dan’s coaching statistics are phenomenal with 43 league titles, Boys -16, 11 at Snohomish and 5 at Glacier Peak, Girls – 27, 17 at Snohomish and 10 at Glacier Peak. His teams won 37 district titles. The boys had 12, 9 at Snohomish and 3 at Glacier Peak, and the girls had 25, with 14 at Snohomish and 11 at Glacier Peak. They won state meet 9 times, all with the girls teams, 4 at Snohomish, 1995, 1996, 2002, 2003 and 5 at Glacier Peak, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2018. Probably the most memorable (well they were all memorable but…) were the first , the last, 2003 when we scored 31 points and the Glacier Peak team that scored 41. It was a fantastic feeling when we won when we weren’t supposed to but on the other hand we sometimes lost when we were picked to win. On any given day… Laura Snipes was state champion with the Snohomish team in 1995 and, of course, Amy Eloise Neale was state champ for Glacier Peak in 2009, 2010 and 2012. Overall he had nearly 50 individuals on the podium at state with the highlight being 5 in 2003. Dan was also the distance coach in track at both Snohomish and Glacier Peak, and spent 4 years as head girls track coach at Snohomish, winning the state titles in 2001 and 2002, finishing 2nd in 2003. He also coached all his kids in Snohomish Junior basketball.

His wife of 42 years is Kris and was his biggest supporter, totally enabling Dan to do something for which he had a passion while getting the real work done along the way. He and Kris have four children, Erin, Nate, Savannah and Shea all of whom ran cross country and track for Dan at Snohomish which certainly was a highlight of his life.

Dan’s long time involvement in our sport, his incredible success, and his support of coaches and athletes are among the many reasons that the Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association welcome him into our Hall of Fame.

HOF CLASS of 21-22

John grew up in Bellevue and graduated from Bellevue HS in 1986. He was a student

athlete in Cross Country, Soccer, as well as Track & Field. John ran in the State Track Meet his junior and senior years.

John graduated from WSU in 1991 where he was captain of the Cross Country team in 1988 and 1989….and co-captain of the track and field team. He was an All-American in the 3000 steeplechase in 1991.

Coach Hill graduated with a degree in History. He continued to pursue his running goals post-college and qualified for the 1996 & 2000 US Men’s marathon Olympic Trials. John’s best time was a blistering 2:17.44.

In 1991 Cliff Nixon (also a WSCCCA Hall of Fame member) invited John to assist him in coaching at Interlake High School. In 1994 Cliff moved to Newport High School and John again followed his mentor. And in 1995, the Cross Country position opened up at Bellevue and John coached there until 2018.

John worked on helping young athletes find something inside themselves to go beyond their physical and psychological limits and imagination through athletics. He built programs that were all-inclusive and celebrated each level of talent and personality with dignity and respect. Coach Hill coached numerous boys and girls League titles in the always rugged Kingco League. He coached 10 girls teams and 13 boys teams at the state meet. Four of the boys teams and also four of the girls teams were on the podium, and 15 of his teams finished in the top 10. Two of his outstanding girls at state were Marie Foushee and Kelsey Walker. For his boys at State, Mike Hill and Spike Sievert were two of his best.

In track and field, John helped coach the 2003 Girls State Champions and the 2014 Boys State Champions.

John has two daughters…..Zia and Kalea. He is currently the Athletic Director at Bellevue High School and Meet manager at numerous athletic events including the Bellevue Invitational, one of the larger meets in the state.

John’s involvement in the sport has affected numerous lives in a positive way. His success speaks for itself, and it is our honor to welcome him into the Washington State Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame.

HOF CLASS of 21-22

Dennis grew up in Davenport Washington and graduated in l970, where he played football, basketball, and track and field. He attended Eastern Washington for 2 years and then graduated from the University of Washington in l976. He then worked in the microbiology field for a few years before getting a teaching degree. He started at Central Valley High School in 1984. At Central Valley, Dennis taught all the sciences.

Dennis started coaching cross country right away and coached for 34 years. He coached both boys and girls but concentrated on the girls program in the last part of his career. While coaching he had some incredible success. In fact, from 2002-2106 he had 12 teams at state. All were in the top 10, and three were on the podium (3rd place, 2 in 4th place, 5th place, 2 in 6th place,7th place, 2 in 8th place,2 in 9th place, and 10th place). The team that was probably his most talented finished in 4th place at the 1993 state meet, running without their top athlete. Along the way, his girls won 8 GSL league titles, and 6 regional titles (as well as the last district title before the move to a regional format). Along the way was a run of 6 titles in 9 years.

Dennis’ teams were noted for being strong pack runners, rather than relying on 1-2 top athletes. Still, he had several girls on the podium, led by Kearan Nelson’s 3rd place in 2016. Kearan went on to place 2nd at the Footlocker West regional meet, and then 6th at Footlocker Nationals before running at BYU.

Despite the obvious athletic success of his teams, Dennis says he is probably most proud of developing a group of girls into life-long runners, goal-setters, and hard workers.

Coach Dennis was also extremely happy to have had the opportunity to coach his children in the sport he loves. He is happily married to his wife, Janet.

In addition to his success in cross country, Dennis was also a highly successful track coach, as well as on of the key organizers for the Washington State Track and Cross Country Coaches convention. His tremendous contributions to our sport, and the many athletes he coached, not to mention the coaches he worked with are the reason we are honoring him with induction into the Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

HOF CLASS of 21-22

Rod describes himself as a lifelong track bum who grew up in Pendleton, Oregon. He attended Pendleton High School through his junior year and then moved and graduated from West Valley HS in 1982. Rod likes to say he was a beg-on athlete at the University of Washington from 1985-1988 where he was a high jumper for the Huskies and a letter winner.

Rod started as a personal trainer for 25 years and part-time coach. He eventually retired from PT and became a full-time track and CC coach. Rod has been at Kings HS since 1992, taking over as head coach in 1996. He has coached 21 boys state qualifying teams and 22 girls state qualifying teams. But when you delve into it a bit more, it is even more impressive. His girls have won 7 state championships and his boys 4 state titles. From 1999-2002 his boys won 4 straight titles and then had 9 more top 4 finishes since then. His girls won 3 in a row from 2001-2003, and four in a row from 2006-2009, along with 8 other top-four finishes. Rod’s boys won 8 district and 6 league titles while his girls took 11 district and 5 league titles. In fact, his teams have won a league title in 16 of the last 23 years (discounting the Covid year of 2020). During that time, there were 37 podium finishes for the boys and 38 for the girls, with four individual titles on each side.

Many of you are also aware of Rod’s annual Washington State history list, which Rod has been publishing now for over a decade, and can be found at watfxc.com.

Outside of his time coaching, Rod still competes in masters track and field. He has won 11 national titles in the decathlon, heptathlon, and pentathlon.

Rod says his family is “the herd of kids with a dream” that he gets the pleasure to work with. So in a sense, he really is “Living the Dream.” Rod’s commitment to our sport, both as a coach and in his work with the annual and in other areas are why he is being inducted into this year’s Hall of Fame.

HOF Class of 2020

Mike Hadway

Mike Hadway began his running career in junior high school, but began to find success in high school at Rogers High School in Puyallup. Under the mentorship of coach Jerry Hendrickson,

Mike’s best year was his senior year where he placed a “disappointing” (his words) 8th place at the 1973 state cross country championships and 3rd in the mile at the 1974 state track championships. In the fall of 1974, Mike enrolled at Spokane Community College where he was coached by John Buck and Max Jensen, a man who would have the greatest influence on him in cross country and track. In the fall of 1975, Mike finished 4th at the NWAACC cross country championships, helping the team score a conference record low score of 16 points (15 is perfect) in winning the team championship. Later that spring (1976), Mike placed 4th in the mile in 4:15.1 at the track conference championships. He was a member of two NWAACC track conference championship teams.

Mike continued his education and running career in the fall of 1976 at Eastern Washington State College (later, EWU) where he was coached by Jerry Martin. He was a member of the 1977 Evergreen Conference Championship team that qualified for the NAIA national championships and also qualified for the 1978 outdoor NAIA national track championships in the 5000 meters with a personal best of 14:26.2. For many years after college, Mike was one of the top road racers in the state of Washington.

After receiving his Bachelor’s degree in teaching from Eastern and a short stay at John R. Rogers High School, Mike began one of the most successful tenures of coaching in the Greater Spokane League and Washington State history at Ferris High School from 1986-2018. His coaching successes in cross country include: 15 state teams, 3 individual champions, 5 team titles, 2-second place finishes, 4 third place finishes, 2 fourth place finishes, and a fifth and sixth place finish. Mike had 28 runners finish in the top 10. In Track, Mike had 3 state champions in each distance event (800, 1600, 3200) and 38 podium finishes, with 9 in the 800, 15 in the 1600, and 15 in the 3200. Mike’s cross country teams qualified for the Nike Team Nationals four times, placing 2nd in 2009.

Mike was named Washington State cross country coach of the year 2004 and is a member of the Spokane Community College and NWAACC Hall of Fames.

Mike and his wife Suzanne have two children (Ashley and Josh) who both became runners and five grandchildren. Mike’s long-time involvement in our sport, his incredible success, and his support of coaches and athletes are among the many reasons that the Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association welcomes him into our Hall of Fame.

HOF Class of 2020

Jef grew up on the north side of Spokane and graduated from Mead High School in 1987, where he participated in track, cross country, and basketball. During his time at Mead, Jef got a new cross country coach in Pat Tyson, who Jef now joins in the WSCCCA Hall of Fame. After Mead, he went to Eastern Washington University and graduated in 1992 with an English major and history minor. In 1994 Jef finished his Masters Degree in US History from EWU. Jef began his teaching career at River View High School near Kennewick in 1994. After one year he then moved to Renton to teach at Lindbergh HS. At Lindbergh he taught a wide range of courses in the English Department. Eventually he switched to the History Department and taught US History, Civics, AP US History , and Multicultural Studies.

Jef began coaching in 1998 when the cross country position opened up at Lindbergh. He also coached tennis for two seasons before taking over the track program in 2001. At the end of the 2018/19 school year, Jef retired from coaching CC and Track. Jef ’s most rewarding and memorable achievements in coaching came from the relationships with athletes and coaches and all the great memories of times spent together. Jef ’s achievements are numerous and notable.

During his career, Jef ’s boys and girls teams won 22 League Championships. He had 22 State Qualifying teams, and his boys won the 2011 2A Boys State Championship. Jef also had 5 teams which placed in the top 4 at State. He coached individual state champions Sam Ahlbeck and Sarah Reiter. In 2011 Jef was named State Coach of the Year.

Jef has been married to his wife Tonja Reischl since 1998. Tonja is a teacher in the Issaquah School District. They have 5 nieces and nephews and a dog named Zadie.

Jef still teaches at Lindbergh. He looks forward to volunteering with the Special

Olympics and returning to working on research and writing projects. Jef travels a lot with his wife and he still runs, hikes, cross country skis, and mountain bikes.

Jef ’s involvement in the sport have affected numerous lives in a positive way. His success

speaks for itself, and it is our honor to welcome him into the Washington State Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame.

HOF CLASS of 2020

Wes grew up in Sumter, South Carolina and graduated from Mayewood HS in l967. He earned all league honors in football, basketball, and was a state placer in the long jump and hurdles.

Wes likes to remind us that he was NOT a distance runner. Wes graduated from Brigham Young University in 1973 with a major in physics and minor in chemistry. He did not participate in college athletics.

Wes began his teaching career at Mead HS in 1973 and remained there until retiring in 2005. He taught physics and chemistry. After retiring he taught part-time and coached at Deer Park High School. In the spring of 1974, Wes became an assistant track coach to Duane Hartman at Mead. When Hartman moved on to Spokane CC, Tom Buckner took his place as the head track and field coach and cross country coach. Wes said he knew nothing about the sports but would be happy to fall under Tom’s tutelage. Wes was an assistant for 2 years and Tom gradually gave him responsibility for the girls cross country program. Two years later Wes became the official girls coach. Wes coached the girls cross country team from 1981 until 2005. After leaving Mead, Wes coached for 10 years at Deer Park and officially retired in 2015.

One of the things that Wes is most proud of is the LARGE teams he had, with his largest team having 88 girls participating. His biggest goal as a coach was always to help the girls become better people.

Wes Player’s teams captured 14 district titles and sent 22 teams to state, where they won a championship in 1988. His teams had 7 second place finishes and 5 fifth place finishes. He calls himself the KING OF ALMOST because 7 times they missed a state championship by one place and 5 times they missed a state trophy by one place! Wes never had an individual state champion in cross country, but 3 of his distance runners in track won state titles. They were Lisa Corp, Sarah Schwald, and Jamie Geissler.

Wes has been happily married to his wife, Kendra, for 47 years and has 4 children, Kristie Rodas, Karen Summers, Dan Player, and Shannon Helm. He has 17 grandchildren and one great-grandson. For now, Wes spends a lot of time doing woodworking. He is currently serving as president of the Deer Park Rotary Club and he also travels quite a bit to visit his children. Wes’ tremendous contributions to our sport, and the many athletes he coached, not to mention the coaches he worked with are the reason we are honoring him with induction into the Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

HOF Class of 2020

Sam was born and grew up in Tacoma. While attending Baker Junior High he was encouraged by Hall of Fame coach Dan Watson to turn out for track. After much prodding he did and a track career began. Continuing in school at Mt Tahoma High School he was coached by Hall of Fame coach Bob Ehreinheim gaining much enthusiasm for track and field. After high school Sam spent his collegiate at Central Washington University where he had his greatest success as a runner. While competing for the Wildcats, he won eight league and regional championships in cross country and track and set three CWU records. Sam qualified for seven national championships and earned NAIA All American honors in 1968 and 1969. While still at Central he participated in the steeplechase at the 1968 Olympic trials.

Sam continued his running career after college, becoming one of the original members of Club Northwest, competing in two cross country national championships and winning the first Sound to Narrows race in 1973. He began his coaching career at Mason Junior High in 1970 with his track team winning the league championship in his second year. Sam briefly coached at the University of Puget Sound in 1974 and 75. His 1975 cross country team qualified for the NCAA II national championships.

Sam jumped to the high school ranks in 1975, joining Hall of Fame coach Jim Daulley. The 1975 team won the state title with many of the Mason athletes Ring had previously coached. They had a remarkable streak with 4 more state trophies and a 1978 title. (during this same time, Sam was coaching the Bellarmine girl’s cross country teams to three state titles).

Sam once again returned to Mason Junior High as track coach in 1980-81. He got the call to return to Wilson and his 1982 squad, led by Darrell Robinson captured the league title. Robinson set the national high school record that year in the 400, running 44.69. That time is still the national high school record today, and at the time it was the world junior record. His 44.69 is considered the top all time running mark of all normally run high school events. In Robinson’s senior year he ran in 4 events, won 4, set 4 new state records.

Sam returned to the University of Puget Sound in 1986 where he coached 36 track and All Americans and four individual event national champions. He also coached four straight national women’s champion cross country teams from 1992-95.

Once again Sam was called from Wilson, and in 2001 he returned as head track coach. In 2006 his team won the state 4A track title, and in 2011 as a 3A school they took 4th place.

Upon retiring from Wilson in 2019 his track teams had captured 11 League championships. Sam is particularly proud of his track dual meet record of 244 wins against 15 losses. Although they may be losing importance in today’s era, Sam loved how dual meets gave track a real-time flavor where more athletes could get involved in team competition. In addition to his induction into the Washington State Track and Field

Coach’s Hall of Fame, Sam is also a member of these other Halls of Fame: Mount Tahoma High School, Wilson High School, Central Washington University, University of Puget Sound Pierce County Athletic, and The Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association.

It is with great honor that we welcome Sam Ring into the Washington State Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame. His tireless commitment to the sport, his important mentorship of his athletes, his collaborative work with all his coaching colleagues, his important contributions, and his service to the WSTFCA, provide us with the opportunity to recognize him with this honor!

HOF Class of 2020

Bob Sheedy began coaching track and field at Manson High School in 1969. He became the head coach at Port Angeles High School in 1972. Forty-three years later, Coach Sheedy decided to step down from his head coaching position at Port Angeles. Very few coaches achieve a successful career that lasts longer than forty years. Coach Sheedy didn’t just achieve that, he became an important mentor to a huge number of athletes who consider him to be one of the most important people in their lives! To have that kind of lasting impact is a testament to the transformational powers of the coaching profession. As many would attest, he is known for always having a story to share with others. Today, we get to share his story, one that provides inspiration to track and field coaches around the state!

Bob was born in Iowa, attended school in Chicago, and ended up in the Shoreline area when his parents migrated from Chicago. He achieved athletic success in high school playing three sports: football, basketball and track and field. Upon graduation in 1959, he attended Central Washington University but was forced to leave after one semester and join the Army. Following his service to his country, Bob played one year of basketball at Peninsula College on the school’s first team in 1963-1964. Needing to make money to continue his college education, he went to work at Boeing and then attended Shoreline Community College. It was his old high school football coach and his old high school track and field coach who gave him tuition and an opportunity. He completed his college education at Western Washington University.

Upon graduating, Bob began a career in education that provided him the opportunity to coach. Over his career, he coached football, basketball, swimming, and soccer. Coach Sheedy was a genuine proponent of the multi-sport athlete! But it is track and field that is Coach Sheedy’s true love!

Coach Sheedy built a successful program at Port Angeles over his forty-two years. He was responsible for starting the girls cross country program and along with the boys team, had great success. His boys and girls teams combined to win 30 cross country league championships, providing a number distance runners who went on to achieve great success in track. Coach Sheedy had eight state champions at Port Angeles and too many individual track and field champions at the league and district levels to list. Coaching at a time when dual meets held great significance, he guided his girls teams at Port Angeles to a period of 15 years without a home loss. He mentored Greg Thomas who went on to jump 7’ 0 ½” in the high jump at WSU after setting multiple school records, Sherri Felton who led the nation in the high jump in 1977 and went on to become the first girl at the University of Washington to jump over six feet in 1978, Karena Greeny who became the greatest female thrower in Port Angeles history and Penny Graves who went on to compete at the University of Oregon as a six-time track and cross country All-American and an important member of the Duck’s elite women’s distance squads in the late 1980’s that led Oregon to a trio of Pac-10 Conference championships and one national team title.

It is with great honor that we welcome Bob Sheedy into the Washington State Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame. His tireless commitment to the sport, his important mentorship of his athletes, his collaborative work with all his coaching colleagues, his important contributions, and his service to the WSTFCA, provide us with the opportunity to recognize him with this honor!

HOF CLASS of 2020

Barry Sartz is best known for his incredible love for kids and a genuine passion for track and field. He believed that Track and Field was the greatest sport on earth and he used that strong belief in his attempt to get every kid involved. It was his unwavering view that every kid mattered and had ability that made him such a powerful force in each athlete’s life. Barry believed that a positive experience in athletics was a great way to teach life lessons that would help kids grow into responsible adults. From the time he began coaching high school athletes as an assistant sprint coach at Shadle Park High School until his untimely death in 2018, he used the platform he was provided as a coach to impact the lives of the athletes he coached and the coaches he called colleagues.

A football player and track sprinter at Shadle Park in the early 1970’s, he went on to compete at Spokane Community College and Eastern Washington University. To many, it was obvious that Barry was going to be a sprint coach. He began his coaching career at his alma mater, Shadle Park but eventually accepted a position as an assistant coach at Mead, one of the best programs in the state at that time.

When he took a teaching position Newport, a tiny school in eastern Washington in 2001 he really began to develop into a Hall of Fame coach. It wasn’t easy. Going from Mead to Newport was a culture shock. At Newport, he was the only coach. Soon, his infectious enthusiasm for the sport spread to the kids he got to turn out. With a dirt track unsuitable to host home meets and no coaches, Barry set out to build a team and program. At first he was coaching every event while teaching volunteers how to coach. Barry rallied the community to build a track, coordinating fundraisers, reaching out to people in the community, turning to the resources of local businesses, talents of local citizens, and a grant from Nike. Not many coaches can say they built the track at their school, but that is exactly what Barry Sartz did. How did he follow that up? He started the Newport Relays to showcase the proud accomplishment of his community. Coach Sartz built Newport High School into a track and field powerhouse. According to The Spokesman-Review, before Barry became the coach, Newport boys had scored a total of 18 points in the previous 15 state meets and never had a state champion. In his first eight years at Newport, Barry coached eleven state champions, guided his boys to scoring 249 points at state and his 2005 team won the title with a record 98 points. By the time he left Newport in 2011, six more state champions had been added to the list. That included two athletes that would eventually compete in the NCAA championships, become All-Americans, and go to the U.S. Olympic Trials.

The number of state champions and state placers he has coached as an assistant at other schools are too numerous to print. Barry was competitive, enthusiastic, and a true proponent of the sport. More importantly, he was dignified, very well respected and one of the most decent men you could ever meet!

Above all, he was a family man who didn’t sacrifice the true blessings of life for the sake of his sport. Barry is proof you can do it right, and still win! It is hard to lose those we respect and love the very most so let it be known that it is with great honor that we welcome Barry Sartz into the Washington State Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame. His tireless commitment to the sport, his important mentorship of his athletes, his collaborative work with all his coaching colleagues, his important contributions to his community, and his service to the WSTFCA, provide us with the opportunity to recognize him with this honor!