Hall Of Famers Share Same Theme Six Inductees Speak About The Foundation Of Friends, Family And High School

The inductees are varied in their accomplishments - two are athletes, two coached and two will go down as contributors - but the sentiment of the class of ‘95 was unanimous.

The early influences - family, friends and the high school coach - do the most to shape who you are and share in what you were.

It was the recurring theme Wednesday at the Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame induction and lunch at the Ridpath Hotel.

The six Hall of Fame inductees:

Ray Washburn, who pitched Whitworth College to the 1960 NAIA World Series championship before embarking on a major league pitching career that included nine seasons and two World Series appearances with the St. Louis Cardinals;

Launi Meili, gold medalist in three-position smallbore rifle at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona;

Bob Curtis, for 40 years the voice of the University of Idaho football Vandals.

Gene Smith, whose 505-153 record as Reardan High School basketball coach is eighth on the state of Washington’s all-time list;

Elmer Jordan, who went 425-183 in 23 years as basketball coach at Coeur d’Alene High School;

Hank Coplen, the only coach to win Northwest CC basketball championships at different schools, Spokane Falls and Columbia Basin.

Also honored were the late Gus Bouten and Tom Lefebvre, the 23rd and 24th names to be added to the Greater Spokane Sports Association Scroll of Honor.

Bouten owned Spokane hockey clubs on three different occasions and is credited with keeping the sport alive here in the early ‘80s.

Lefebvre coached more than 1,500 Spokane amateur boxers in a 36-year career, among them Fred Hatfield, Lenny Hahn, Harvey Steichen, Rowdy Welch and the Vassar brothers, Dan and Frank.

Filling in for Hall of Fame master of ceremonies Dick Wright was Bud Nameck. Wright is recovering from surgical removal of two cancerous tumors.

“Dick said it was fourth and long a little while ago but it’s first and 10 now,” Nameck said. “We expect him back up here in two years, when the next Hall of Fame class is inducted. Our hopes and prayers are with him.”

When Coplen’s many professional stops were recounted - he coached at Ritzville, Garfield, Davenport, Odessa, Snohomish, Hood River and Medical Lake - Nameck cracked, “Sounds like train stops.”

Coplen was presented by Clayton Dunn, who said Coplen was “a stickler for dress, grooming, sportsmanship and leaving places better than you found them.”

Jordan was presented by Don Monson, who described his Coeur d’Alene High School coach as a “gentle man with a gentle manner but when he told you something you busted your butt to get it done.

“The respect he had and the dignity he carried sticks in my mind,” Monson said.

When Monson stepped down Jordan said, “Let’s see if he goes to the bathroom.”

The two-hour presentation, without a pit stop, was long, often comical and occasionally eloquent.

Former EWU basketball coach Jerry Krause was touching when talking about Meili, after leading off with a line.

“I had Launi in my co-ed basketball camps,” Krause said, turning to Meili at the head table. “You did choose the right sport.”

Krause praised Meili both as an athlete - the area’s first and only individual-sport Olympic gold medalist - and as a person.

“Kipling reminds us that if you can meet with triumph and disaster, and treat those two imposters just the same,” you embody success, he said.

“I remember in the ‘88 Seoul Olympics when Launi led all shooters going into the final round and didn’t medal. She lost. I also remember the ‘92 Olympics when she led going into the final round and won.

“She was the same humble person in both situations,” Krause said. “To me it was what Emerson called success coming and going but only character enduring.

“Today’s athlete,” he added, “most commonly lacks class. She gave us a very strong reminder that how you do it matters.”

Krause borrowed from a poem written by Meili’s father, Hal. It reads in part, “Nothing on earth compares to sunlight dancing from your children’s hair. Your love goes with them as life unfolds, whether failure or success, in reaching their goals.”

Meili, hoisting the symbol of her success, her gold medal, was moved to tears.

Saying her induction is special to her and her sport, Meili described standing at the medal ceremony after 18 years of striving for Olympic gold.

“There is an immense amount of joy and pride, a little bit of belief and disbelief,” she said. “As fast as that moment went by I had a chance to reflect on what it took to get there and I felt very lucky to be from a community like Spokane, and Cheney, where people get behind their athletes.

“I certainly didn’t feel like I was alone up there.”

Washburn, meanwhile, came to Whitworth from Burbank, Wash. His 72 big-league wins include a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants - the day after San Francisco’s Gaylord Perry no-hit the Cards.

One of his finest moments at Whitworth when he struck out 18 of a possible 21 batters in a seven-inning game in the ‘60 NAIA World Series.

Washburn said he cherishes the memory of his big-league career but helping Whitworth win a national championship “is the single-most satisfying thing to me.”

Jay Johnson, former Reardan High athlete, said Smith taught in three sports the difference between losing graciously and being a good loser.

“He didn’t want good losers,” Johnson said. “I don’t know anyone who hated to lose more than he did.”

Besides his record on the field Smith is an outdoorsman of some repute.

“Pat McManus (Spokane humorist) must use Gene as a model,” Johnson said. “He’s the guy who puts a boat in the water, can’t get the motor out of reverse and trolls backwards all day.”

Smith said if he had life to live over he’d find a small school, surround himself with winners and spend his life teaching and coaching.

Smith remembered his job interview at Reardan.

“It was before affirmative action,” he said. “It went something like this.

“You like to fish?”

Yes.

“Hunt?”

Yep.

“You got a huntin’ dog?”

Nope.

“I got one.”

That was the administrator talking. Smith had to feel confident that he had a new hunting partner, as well as a job.

Former Big Sky Conference commissioner Ron Stephenson introduced Curtis as the “most recognized voice in the Northwest.”

When Idaho plays Eastern Washington Saturday, Curtis will call his 430th consecutive UI football game, Stephenson said.

“Bob’s the ultimate Vandal optimist,” he added. “He’s the only guy in broadcasting who can look at a crowd of 5,000 in the Kibbie Dome and call it a partial sellout.”

Curtis introduced members of what he called his two families - his own, and “the University of Idaho.”

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