Spokane sporting legends selected for honors

Two people who burst onto the sporting scene in Spokane during the 1960s have been selected to halls of fame, it was announced Thursday.

Rogers graduate Gerry Lindgren, who set national prep records from 1 mile to 10,000 meters and competed in the Olympics the summer after graduating from high school, will be inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame in Utica, N.Y., on July 8.

Tommy Lasorda, who managed the Spokane Indians baseball team from 1969-71, will become the first manager of the modern era (post-1957) to enter the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo.

At Washington State University Lindgren won 11 of the 12 NCAA events in which he competed. He also set the 6-mile world record in 1965 and the 3,000 and 5,000 U.S. records twice.

Lindgren’s hall of fame class will include Marty Liquori and Patti Catalano Dillon.

“This class reminds us of the hard work and dedication that it has taken for this sport to be recognized worldwide,” said John Petrone, assistant director of the hall.

Lasorda’s 1970 Indians team finished 94-52, won the PCL Championship and was named the best minor league team of the 20th century by Baseball America in 1995.

Lasorda managed the Los Angeles Dodgers for 20 years, winning eight division titles, four National League pennants and two World Series.

A member of five other halls of fame, Lasorda will be presented with the PCL plaque during a pregame ceremony at Dodgers Stadium on May 19.