EVERETT — It was a night to honor some Snohomish County sports legends, and the setting was a gala banquet at Xfinity Arena’s Edward D. Hansen Conference Center.
In the sixth induction banquet in as many years, the county’s Sports Hall of Fame welcomed its 2015 inductees — football player Shane Pahukoa of Marysville, softball player Herb Mathis of Everett, basketball player Lori deKubber of Snohomish, football coach Keith Gilbertson Jr. of Snohomish, basketball coach Jack deKubber of Snohomish, coach and administrator Kim Wilson of Lynnwood, and the 1960 Everett High School football team.
It was an evening of fond memories and funny yarns. Among the latter, keynote speaker Damon Huard, a former University of Washington quarterback, recalled being recruited by Gilbertson, then the UW’s offensive coordinator. Huard, who was also being recruited by USC, was on a visit to the Seattle campus and was in a car with Gilbertson.
“He said, ‘Damon, Los Angeles? Really? C’mon, man. You’re from Puyallup. If you come here to the University of Washington, and if you do it right in the classroom and on the football field, you’ll be able to set the foundation for the rest of your life right here in your hometown.’ And he was right. Thanks for talking me into being a Dawg, coach.”
A short time later Gilbertson was making his induction remarks. He recalled leaving Washington a few years later and becoming the head coach at California. When the two teams met, Huard threw a touchdown pass on the last play of the game to beat Cal by one point, “and the second that kid came down with that touchdown pass I said, ‘I wish to hell (Huard) had gone to SC.’”
Gilbertson, with a knack for self-deprecating humor, also recalled hearing about his forthcoming induction in a phone call from Hall of Fame chair Frank Foster. In the car with his wife Barbara at the time, Gilbertson said he hung up the phone, turned to her and said, “Barbara, it’s finally happened. They’re running out of candidates.”
Pahukoa, a starting safety on Washington’s 1991 national championship team, said he was “very humbled to come back home … (and to receive) a great honor, so thank you.” He credited many of his coaches, among them Everett native Jim Lambright, who was the UW defensive coordinator when Pahukoa played for the Huskies.
“(Lambright) turned a skinny little runt — I must’ve weighed 180 pounds for Marysville — into a super lean, mean, hard-hitting machine. He showed so much confidence in me,” said Pahukoa, who also thanked his UW head coach, the late Don James, for “forming a football dynasty just when I was there. It was unbelievable.”
Then Pahukoa acknowledged his Marysville Pilchuck coach, Scott Stokes, who was in the crowd, but added, “I still have a bone to pick with you about the Shorecrest game (in Pahukoa’s senior season). You took me out at halftime and I had 260 yards of rushing and five touchdowns. I think could’ve broke some state records,” he said to great laughter.
There were also touching moments, such as Jack and Lori deKubber, both expressing the great joy of being a father and daughter inducted together.
And Kim Wilson, a longtime coach and administrator in the Edmonds School District, who said he wanted “to accept this award on behalf of so many who worked and continue to work tirelessly to educate in the classroom, coach on the field and court, and administer the athletic programs in our schools.”
Likewise Paul Lawrence, who spoke on behalf of his teammates on the 1960 Everett football team. He praised the team’s coaches and the reserve players, with the latter including “players who could’ve played on (other) area teams, but they were Seagulls and they made the difference in our season. We became better each day and every week because of the competitive attitude they had. Being 9-0 was not the goal, but being 1-0 each week was.”
This year’s class of inductees raises the Hall of Fame’s totals to 35 athletes, 16 coaches, six administrators and contributors, and nine teams. The inductees are honored in a permanent display in Xfinity Arena.
Also honored Wednesday night were The Herald’s 2014 Man and Woman of the Year in Sports, hockey player T.J. Oshie and basketball player Suzanna Ohlsen, though neither was in attendance. Oshie is in training camp with the NHL’s Washington Capitals and Ohlsen is playing pro basketball in South Korea.
The first awards of the evening were to the College Athlete Man and Woman of the Year — basketball player Zach Pederson from Edmonds Community College and soccer player Lauren Allison from Everett Community College.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
