On Saturday, Jonathan Stewart, the state’s all-time leading rusher in high school football and now a running back in the NFL, and Tom Dutra, a three-time, first-team all-league goalkeeper and now a coach with Seattle Sounders FC, will be among 14 athletes to be inducted into the school’s hall of fame.
“This is obviously a very strong group,” said Pat Geiger, Timberline’s athletic director. “They weren’t just good athletes, they were also good students and good people.”
The 12 other athletes to be inducted are Rachel Casillas, Sara Crowell, Alex Donnelly, Jessica Flamini, Billy Grubbs, Doug La Palm, Nick Maxwell, Todd McClellan, Nate Menefee, Tyler Smith, Jaron Taylor and Robert Thomsen.
“With the thousands and thousands of athletes over the years that have played here, this is quite an honor,” Geiger said.
One coach (John Meyer), one former athletic director (Al Burmester), and two community members (Dr. Lowell Dightman and Bud Deller) will also be inducted.
The event begins with an open house at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the school’s commons. The ceremony begins at 6:30 p.m. in the school’s theater.
All but one of the 14 athletes will have either their father or their high school coach introduce them at the induction. Stewart, now a running back for the Carolina Panthers, will have his former high school coach, Kevin Young, introduce him. Darren McKay, former Blazers football coach, will introduce McClellan, a first-team all-state selection in football.
“That’s the feeling they have about their high school coach and their father,” Geiger said. “That says something.”
Crowell still holds six school records in swimming. In college she placed first in the 100-yard butterfly at the Mountain West Conference championship while at the Air Force Academy. She was selected to swim in the Euro-Nato Swimming Championship in Poland.
Criteria for induction into Timberline’s Hall of Fame includes what athletes accomplished in high school and afterward.
“Not only do they have to do well here, but also beyond Timberline,” Geiger said. “Whether that’s in college or in a prominent community event.”
With this induction, there are now 96 in Timberline’s Hall of Fame. Geiger, John Birbeck, Bob Atwell and Paul Dean selected this year’s inductees. Timberline’s last induction came in 2004. Photos and bios are on display near the gym.
“They serve as positive role models for everyone,” Geiger said.
Gail Wood: 360-754-5443 gwood@theolympian.com
