Community support key to ‘athlete-centered’ meet

Larry Eason isn’t among the biggest names in Snohomish athletics.

That status is reserved for the likes of baseball greats Earl Averill and Earl Torgeson or football stars Curt Marsh and Rick Fenney. Or more recently, Adam Eaton, Milena Flores and Jon Brockman. Eason’s name, however, will reign supreme Saturday as Snohomish High School plays its annual tribute to him with one of the largest prep track and field invites in the state. More than 50 teams and almost 1,000 athletes, including some from Canada, will compete in the 18th annual Larry Eason Invitational at Veterans Memorial Stadium. A pair of female athletes headline this year’s field: Cascade’s Whitney Hooks, one of the state’s all-time greats in the shot put, and Decatur’s Princess Joy Griffey, one of the top sprinters in state history.

Bringing such a wide variety of teams and talent to Snohomish for a single meet was Eason’s vision. Eason, who died in 1987 of a brain tumor, coached track and field at Snohomish for 21 years.

“He demanded the best out of his athletes,” Cascade girls track and field coach Craig Bertrand said. “He had very high standards.”