Stadium Athletic Hall of Fame

Some might say it’s about time while others would say: The time is just right to establish a Hall of Fame to honor the student-athletes who have excelled during Stadium High School’s 115-year history. Many of those athletes went on to star and win medals in the Olympics, become collegiate All-Americans, and compete in the baseball football and basketball professional lea , and regional championships a Her nickname w deemed her the “most athletic g iing skill on the slopes of Parad adium Ski Club. Later, after she considered an unbelievable ath way: “It was as if a pick-up team f d States and beat the New York Ya n Kunigk-Fraser, the first America y winning a gold and silver medal o one of the first women athletes eaties.

While at Stadium , y playing the lead in the opera “The Pirates of Penzance” and down on the playing field in the Stadium Bowl to hone his skills as a star tackle on the Tiger football team. He went on to start as a lineman on the UW Husky football team that played Alabama in the 1926 Rose Bowl and then won a silver medal in the shot put at the 1928 Olympics. However, his love was for acting. In Hollywood he went by the stage name Bruce Bennet where he played Tarzan, Daniel Boone, Cole Younger, and as Humphrey Bogart’s sidekick in “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” as well as many other roles in a 40-year film career.

When Dori Kovanen graduated from Stadium, and scholarships were limited, she had 32 offers for five different sports. She eventually chose the University of North Carolina and started as a first-year student on the 1981 Tar Heel soccer team that went undefeated and became the national champions. In her fourth season, she was selected to play for the national team at the world championships. She finished her career at UNC garnering first and second-team NCAA All-American honors, a regional tournament MVP, and earned three-time all-conference recognition.

The 1958-59 Tiger basketball team coached by Jack Heinrick played above the rim on offense and was known for its oppressive full-court press on defense. During its run at the AA State Championships, it began by rolling over undefeated Lake Washington, defeated Olympia by holding it to 29 points, and won the State Tournament by a lopsided 70-50 win over Burlington-Edison. Herman Washington and Jim Johnson were named first-team All-State and Rich Brines and first-year student Charlie Williams were named to the second team. Williams went on to star at Seattle University and then teamed up with the great Connie Hawkins to lead the Pittsburg Pipers to the 1968 championship of the American Basketball League.

Stadium High School athletes have competed with honor, integrity, and the pursuit of excellence throughout its rich and storied history. The athletes mentioned here are just a few who have helped establish Stadium’s on and off the playing field. The Stadium Athletic e where we can honor and recognize former and r athletic contributions to Stadium, the Tacoma ld.