It was a gala evening at Edmonds-Woodway High School as more than 200 teachers, coaches, past and present athletes, family and friends gathered to honor the 37 new inductees to the Edmonds-Woodway High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

This year’s event also had a sponsor, Windermere Realtor Adam E. Cobb.

The 2018 honorees spanned the decades between World War II to the early 21^st century, from the late husband-wife team of 1944 football star Merle Blevins and four-year letter winner Tillie Smeade Blevins to 2008 State tennis champs Ryan Cho and Willy Guo.

The event kicked off with a welcome from current EWHS Athletic Director Angie McGuire.

“This is our fourth Edmonds-Woodway High School Athletic Hall of Fame event, where we recognize the outstanding achievements not only of athletes from this school, but also the schools that merged to create us, Edmonds High School and Woodway High School,” she explained.

“When the schools were merged, there was no Athletic Hall of Fame. We started it 2015 to re-create and honor the history of athletics at our schools. So even if this building isn’t your alma mater, it’s your school. Welcome home!”

McGuire then turned the program over to Bill Hull, Edmonds High School grad and member of the Hall of Fame selection committee, to introduce this year’s inductees.

And this year’s honorees are (drum roll please):

Dale Hoggins, EHS Class of 1950:

• Played football on the 1949 undefeated championship team.
• Returned to Edmonds School District as a teacher at Martha Lake, Maple Park, Esperance, Westgate
• Edmonds School District principal 25 years: Mountlake Terrace, Hazelwood, Snoline, and retired from Chase Lake in 1985.
• Coached for Mid-City Athletic Association 1964-1975
• Coached Little League and Babe Ruth 1964-1975
• Mid-City Athletic Association Board 1975-1985
• State Legislature – served four, two-year terms for eight years total, from 1967-1975
• Evergreen State Fair Board of Directors 1971–73
• Lobbyist, part-time position for Edmonds School District 1985
• Received Golden Acorn Award twice for outstanding educational leadership
• Citizen of the Year Edmonds Kiwanis 2004
• Currently longest working employee for the Edmonds School District with 72 years of service

In accepting his award, Hoggin told a story of his first coaching experience at Esperance, when a young woman named Shirley came out for softball. “She could run, hit and field with the best of them,” Hoggins said.  “But this was the 1950s, and having a girl on the team was something that hadn’t been done before. So I went to the school board and argued for it, and despite some resistance they voted to let Shirley play. We broke the glass ceiling that day!”

Dana Arnim, EHS Class of 1978:

• Multi-sport athlete in cross country, track
• Three-year varsity letter winner in both cross country and track
• Placed 2nd in state at the 440 yard dash (400m) 1976
• Placed 5th in state at the 220 yard dash (200m) 1976
• Member of 1976 EHS State Championship Cross Country Team
• State champion in the 880 yard (800m) 1977
• Set state meet record for the 880 yard dash, 1977
• State champion in the 880 yard (800m) 1978 (breaking own record)
• Holds the Snohomish County All-time record for the 400m at 55.1
• Holds the Snohomish County All-time record for the 800m at 2:08.8
• Holds the All Time WESCO 4A Meet Record in the 400m dash at 56.4 from 1977
• Ran track at the University of Washington
• 4^th All-Time 800m University of Washington 2:06.51, 1980
• All-American at University of Washington (4 x 800 m relay) 1980
• Competed in 1980 Olympic Trials, with a 12th-place finish over all.

In accepting her award, Dana was quick to give credit to all the others who “gave me a boost” to get here. “I particularly want to thank my parents (thanks for the genes!) for supporting me,” she said. “My mom didn’t want me running alone in the dark before school, so rather than keep me home she spent years running with me. Thanks Mom!”

Merle Blevins, EHS Class of 1945:

• Multi-sport athlete in basketball, track and baseball
• Received All-League honors in football 1944, 1945
• Received Best Tackler award 1944, 1945
• Enlisted in Army and served as paratrooper in the 82^nd Airborne
• Won the Army Golden Gloves Boxing Championship
• Attended WSU on football scholarship
• EHS assistant football, basketball and baseball coach and history teacher 1957-60
• Helped open Mountlake Terrace High School 1961 and served as history and industrial arts teacher, head basketball coach and assistant football coach.
• As head coach, led Mountlake Terrace High School to win the State AAA High School Basketball Championship in 1977 with a 28-1 record.
• He created the carpentry program for the Edmonds School District.
• Inducted into Mountlake Terrace Hall of Fame 2000
• Inducted into the Edmonds School District Hall of Fame in 2001
• Inducted into Snohomish County Coaches Hall of Fame 2012
• Husband of Tillie Smeade Blevins, EHS 1948, also inducted into 2018 EWHS Athletic Hall of Fame

Tillie Smeade Blevins, EHS Class of 1948

• Competed pre-Title IX in almost every sport offered at Edmonds High
• Four-year letter winner in high school, a rare accomplishment at that time.
• Member of speedball, basketball, volleyball, track, ping pong, tennis and badminton teams
• Four-year member of Letterwomen’s club
• Girls basketball manager/coach 1948
• Undefeated in ping pong and badminton 1948
• Snohomish County Tennis Champion 1947
• Member of Snohomish County Girls Athletic Association 1944-48
• Earned the prestigious Gold Ball and Chain Award – 3000 points in girls activities
• Played competitive tennis, basketball, softball in to her 40s.

Tillie and Merle’s awards were accepted posthumously by their children, Merle jr. and Debbie. “We proudly accept this award for our parents,” said a choked-up Debbie. “They had a great impact on young minds, and set an example with their lives.”

Heidi Hills, EWHS Class of 1992:

• Four-year varsity letter-winner in basketball (9^th, 10^th grade at Bainbridge Island HS; 11^th and 12^th at EWHS)
• 1^st Team All-Wesco honors 1990, 1991 & 1992
• 1^st Team All-Area honors 1990, 1991, 1992
• All State honors 1991, 1992
• Led team to a 3rd in state finish and 22-4 record 1991
• Led teams to a 44-8 record during her 2 years at EWHS
• Led team to back-to-back Wesco titles 1991, 1992
• Averaged 17.1 pts/game & 11 rebounds 1990-91 season
• Selected to AA State Tournament Team 1991
• Leading rebounder in state tournament 1991
• Earned varsity letter in track & field 1991
• Varsity basketball team captain 1992
• Averaged 15.3 pts/10 rebounds per game 1992
• USA Today All-American Honorable Mention 1992.
• Earned full basketball scholarship to University of Washington
• Played for University of Washington Women’s Basketball Team 1992-1996
• Sister of Molly Hills, also inducted into the 2018 Edmonds-Woodway Athletic Hall of Fame

“Basketball is a team sport,” she said as she accepted her award. “But the team is more than the players. Parents, family, teachers, coaches all are essential to making it work.”

Molly Hills, EWHS class of 1995:

• Multi-sport athlete participating in basketball, volleyball
• Three-year letter winner basketball
• Two-year letter winner in volleyball
• All-time EWHS career leading scorer in basketball — 1,166 points
• 1st team All- Wesco 1994, 1995
• 1^st team All-Area 1994, 1995
• 1^st Team All-State 1995
• Captained her basketball team both junior and senior seasons
• Led the 1995 team in scoring, assists, steals, free-throw & shooting percentage
• Wesco 3A MVP–led league in scoring -21pts per game
• Selected to the ’95 Seattle Times All Area team
• Two-time state tournament participant, helping team finish 6^th in 1993
• AAU career- RCI All-American.
• Earned scholarship to play basketball at University of Washington
• Played for University of Washington women’s basketball team 1995-1999
• Earned All-Pac-10 honorable mention academic honors.
• Received 101 Club scholarship athlete award (’94, ’95).
• Sister of Heidi Hills, also inducted into 2018 Edmonds-Woodway Athletic Hall of Fame

“I’m super-honored to be here tonight,” she said.  “I particularly want to call out Coach (Bruce) Evans. He was calm, talented, patient, and had high standards. He really got me excited about playing basketball.”

Benjamin Somoza, EWHS Class of 1998:

• Four-year varsity letter winner soccer
• Three-year varsity letter winner basketball
• 1^st Team All-Wesco soccer selection 1996, 1997, 1998
• Led 1998 team in points (17), goals (5) and assists (7)
• Everett Herald All-Area Soccer Player of the Year in 1998
• Seattle Times North End Male Athlete of the Year 1998
• Helped lead basketball team to state tournament 1998
• Holds the Edmonds-Woodway soccer career record for assists
• Earned scholarship to play soccer at University of Washington
• Four-year letter-winner University of Washington 1998-2002, Two-time team Captain
• Helped all four UW teams advance to the NCAA Tournament
• 1^st Team All-Pac-10 honoree as junior (started in all 20 games)
• Selected to the National Amateur Team 1999
• Won three league championships in 1998 and 1999, and the inaugural Pac-10 crown in 2000
• Named to the Second-team All-Far West region selection in 2001
• Two-time first-team All-Pac-10 honoree in 2000 and 2001.
• 6^thAll time UW assist leader with 23 assists
• 58-21-2 record at the University of Washington over 4 years
• Played five years of professional soccer – Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders
• Helped lead the Sounders to first USL First Division Championship title 2005
• Served as the University of Washington Huskies volunteer coach in 2007
• UW Assistant Men’s Soccer Coach 2009
• Washington Rush Executive Director since 2009

“I know I wasn’t the easiest guy to coach,” he laughed as he accepted his award. “I was headstrong and liked to do things my own way, but my coaches never gave up on me.  Thanks everyone.”

Matt Storm, WHS/EWHS Class of 1991:

• Multi-sport athlete in football and basketball
• Three-year Varsity letter winner football
• Three-year Varsity letter winner basketball
• 1^st Team All-WESCO in basketball 1991
• 1^st Team All-Area basketball 1991
• All-Wesco honors offensive and defensive line 1989, 1990, 1991
• Played football and basketball at Walla Walla Community College 1991-1993
• Earned Junior-College All-American honors 1993
• Earned scholarship to play football at the University of Georgia 1993-1995
• Honorable mention SEC defensive line 1994
• Received All SEC honors 1995
• Played in NFL for the Giants and Redskins 1995, 1996
• Won the World football league championship with Scotland 1996
• Played offensive line for Pittsburg Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles 1997-98
• Played in the Arena Football league 1998-2001 Orlando Predators
• Won two Arena Football Championships 1998, 2000
• Defensive coordinator for Arena football and Fayetteville North Carolina for the Cape Fear Wildcats 2002-2003.

“I’m honored to be here tonight,” said Storm as he accepted his award. “I’ve lived out of the area for a long time now, but Edmonds will always be home. Special thanks to Angie McGuire and the committee for keeping our heritage alive.”

Ryan Cho and Willy Guo, 2008 EWHS State Doubles Tennis Champs

• EWHS team won four consecutive Wesco South League Championships 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
• EWHS team went undefeated for the 2008 season, 16-0
• Wesco champions 2008; after combining for doubles, Willy and Ryan went undefeated in league tournament play.
• District champions 2008
• Stormed through state bracket, defeating Wilson, Mead, Prairie and then Bellarmine Prep in the championship 6-4, 6-1
• Did not lose a single set the entire post-season—Wesco, Districts and State.
• 4A State Champions 2008

Guo was unable to attend the event, and Ryan Cho accepted for both of them. “I particularly want to thank Coach (Dan) Crist for his encouragement and for taking a chance on us,” he said.

1986 State Champion EHS Boy’s Cross-Country team

Team: Erik Arpe, Frank Fox, Sanjay Sharma, Josh Hansen, Jason Hansen, David Gehrig, James Cotton, David LeWarne, Chris Thompson

Head Coach: Tom Campbell

• Wesco Champions
• Northwest District One Champions
• 2A State State Champions
• Top finishers at State: Frank Fox 6^th, Josh Hansen 12^th, Sanjay Sharma 19^th

Speaking on behalf of the team, Eric Arpe praised Coach Campbell. “Everyone who ran for Coach Campbell knew they were part of something special,” he said.

1987 State Champion EHS Boy’s Cross-Country team

Team: Frank Fox, Josh Hansen, Jason Hansen, David LeWarne, Darryl Lewis, Glen Sprague, Chris Thompson, Joel Hamilton, Danny Richmond

Head Coach: Tom Campbell

• Wesco Champions
• Northwest District One Champions
• 2A State Champions
• Top finishers: Frank Fox 8^th, Jason Hansen 13th, Josh Hansen 18^th

“It’s all about hard work, treating everyone the same, and staying humble,” said team member David LaWarne.  “We’re all so thankful that we had the chance to compete and be coached by Tom Campbell.”

1987 State Champion EHS Girl’s Cross-Country Team

Team: Erika Klein, Tee-Ta Walker, Jenny Eustis, Susan Custer, Marilyn Craig, Erin Pepper, Kathy Dent, Nicole Gehrig, Christy Crow

Head Coach: Tom Campbell

• Wesco Champions
• Placed 2^nd in Northwest District One Meet
• Erika Klein placed 1^st in Districts
• 2A State Champions
• Top finishers at State: Erika Klein—State Champion, Susan Custer 6^th

“We were also coached by the great Tom Campbell,” said Erika Klein, speaking on behalf of the team.  “He set the tradition and the standard, helping this team to literally come out of nowhere to win Wesco and the State championship. These women were so tough and they came through.”

Angie McGuire and Tom Campbell ended the event by congratulating all the honorees and thanking the attendees for their support.

— Story and all induction ceremony photos by Larry Vogel
Historical photos courtesy Edmonds-Woodway High School