PORT ANGELES — There’s still a lot of catching up to do for the Port Angeles Roughrider Hall of Fame Committee.
A year after selecting 17 athletes and coaches for the inaugural class, the committee selected 15 names for the second year, including a trio of legendary Port Angeles coaches.
The 35-member committee came together last year at the suggestion of Port Angeles High School Athletic Director Dwayne Johnson.
“We’re still really playing catch-up,” said organizer Bruce Skinner. The committee came up with 29 finalists for the second year and winnowed that number down to 15.
“Easily, all 29 people could have gone. There’s a number of noteworthy people who will get in,” Skinner said.
One of the most well-known names is Jack Elway, who coached football in Port Angeles from 1953 to 1960. Elway was the father of former Denver Broncos quarterback and current Broncos general manager John Elway. Jack Elway passed away several years ago, but Skinner said that John Elway, who was born in Port Angeles, will be invited to the April 20, 2019 induction dinner.
Last year, all of the athletes and coaches were still alive for the inaugural class and 16 out of the 17 inductees were able to attend the Hall of Fame ceremony. This year 11 out of the 15 are alive and have been invited. Elway, Bob Klock, Leonard Johannes and Don Fairbairn have all passed away.
Selected for the second class of the Hall of Fame are:
John Camp, 2009 graduate, wrestling — Camp went 40-0 in the heavyweight division during his senior year, pinning every opponent, and won all four matches en route to a state championship.
Cec Coulson, 1986 graduate, softball and basketball — Coulson starred in softball and as a guard in basketball for the girls team that had its highest state tournament finish ever in 1986. She went on to play basketball and softball at Skagit Valley Community College, and despite never playing competitive fast pitch, she was recruited by the University of Oregon. She started at second base and right field, and had the winning hit that sent Oregon to the College World Series in 1989. Placing fifth in the CWS, that team was inducted into the University of Oregon Hall of Fame.
Kay Dill, basketball and tennis coach — Dill coached Port Angeles’ only state championship team, the 1985 girls tennis squad. She was named state coach of the year, and all five players placed at state, accomplishing this in a community that doesn’t have indoor courts.
John “Jack” Elway, Port Angeles football coach from 1953-1960 — Elway coached baseball, basketball and football in Port Angeles from 1953 to 1950. He coached arguably the greatest football team in Port Angeles history (1959), which produced eight college football players, including two Division I athletes. Elway went on to coach at Gray’s Harbor Community College, as an assistant at Montana and Washington State, and as a head coach at Cal State-Northridge, San Jose State and Stanford. He also coached the Frankfurt Galaxy of the World Football League.
Don Fairbairn, boys and girls swim coach — A member of the Washington State Swim Coaches Hall of Fame and the state swim coach of the year in 1982, Fairbairn coached at Port Angeles for 32 years and coached the 1967 boys team that finished second in the state, its highest finish ever.
Gary Gagnon, 1960 graduate, football — Gagnon set the state passing record in 1959, breaking his own mark set in his junior season. Recognized as the best quarterback to play at Port Angeles High School, he also finished fourth place in the state tennis tournament in 1960. He was the first player to win a singles championship for Port Angeles’ storied badminton program. He went on to be a two year starter at Idaho, and had an outstanding coaching career at Evergreen High School, where he was twice named Coach of the Year, and mentored future WSU quarterback Jack Thompson. He also was a player personnel evaluator for the Seattle Seahawks.
Karena Greeny, 1997 graduate, basketball, soccer — Greeny was one of the Roughrider’s greatest all around athletes. She won league MVP honors in basketball and soccer, and was the greatest thrower in Port Angeles girl’s track history, holding school records in the shot put and discus, while having the second-best javelin mark. She became the second Port Angeles female athlete to earn a full ride to a Division I school, and served as captain of the Hawaii basketball season during her senior year.
Hester Hill, 1967 graduate, badminton — Hill won several national junior doubles titles in 1963, 1965 and 1968, and also won numerous state and international championships during that period. She went on to Western Washington, where teaming with another local star, Judy Brodhun, won the national collegiate doubles crown while leading Western to the team title in 1971. Hill and Brodhun were the first women inducted into the Western Washington University Hall of Fame in 1976. She returned to Port Angeles to teach and take over coaching the Port Angeles Junior Badminton program. During her tenure from 1972—86, her junior players won over 100 state and national titles.
Caroline Jensen, 1965 graduate, badminton — Jensen started playing badminton at nine years old and won numerous national junior badminton titles while growing up in Port Angeles, the first at age 12. With Tina Barinaga, she was a member of the first all-teen team to capture the U.S. Open women’s doubles title. She was a member of two U.S. Uber Cup teams (badminton’s equivalent to the Davis cup), with the 1963 team, winning the women’s world team championships. She won two events, doubles and mixed doubles, at the U.S. championships in 1969, and won the doubles title in 1968.
Leonard Johannes, 1925 graduate, football — Johannes was the first great Port Angeles football star. Johannes, a fullback, rushed for what is still a school record 316 yards against Kent in 1924 and 223 yards in a Thanksgiving classic against Port Townsend. The 1925 team only lost one game, which stood as the school record until he was head coach of the Roughriders team that finished undefeated in 1941.
Bob Klock, Port Angeles teacher/coach/athletic director — Klock had the best basketball won-loss record in Port Angeles history. His 1966 team, which featured 2018 inductees Lee Sinnes, Mike Clayton and Bernie Fryer, finished second in the state, the school’s highest finish ever. He was an assistant football coach for 18 years and served as athletic director for 21 years. A starter on the 1955 Washington State basketball team, he also played basketball in the Army.
James Madison, 1995 graduate, basketball, baseball, football — Madison is the most prolific boys’ scorer in Port Angeles basketball history, averaging 22.6 points per game, which broke 2018 inductee Bernie Fryer’s school record. He went on to be a four-year starter for Cleveland State, and is the sixth leading scorer in that school’s history. He was also a two-time All Olympic League shortstop.
Jessica Madison, 2011 graduate, basketball – Jessica broke her brother James’ school scoring record, tallying 1,896 points during her career. Like her brother, she led the state in scoring her junior year and was second in her senior season. She was named first team All-State in both her junior and senior years, leading Port Angeles teams to 37 straight Olympic League victories. The Riders won the West Central District championship in 2011. She went on to play at the University of Anchorage Alaska, where she helped the Seawolves reach the NCAA Division II national title game.
Carrie Morrison, 1975 graduate, badminton — After winning several junior national doubles badminton titles and numerous state and international doubles titles between 1970-75, Morrison earned a scholarship to Arizona State. She won national singles and doubles titles at the NCAA Collegiate Nationals, leading ASU to two team championships. She was inducted into the ASU Hall of Fame, and after college became one of the top 50 UW women’s marathoners in 1984, missing the Olympic trials by five seconds after finishing in 2:50:21.
Greg Thomas, 1979 graduate, track, football, basketball — Thomas holds the state record in the decathlon high jump at 6-10, and is the only Port Angeles graduate to jump 7 feet (at Washington State in 1984). In high school he was a multi-sport star, and was all-league in football and basketball. He currently holds school records in the 110 high hurdles (14.9), high jump (6-10) and decathlon (5,594 points). After graduating from WSU, he served in the Navy from 1984 to 2009.
Port Angeles graduate and new Port Angeles Roughrider Hall of Famer Jessica Madison went on to play at the University of Alaska-Anchorage.
