Siuslaw Hall of Fame inducts individuals, teams

Sept. 13, 2022 — After an over two-year wait, the Siuslaw Booster Club held its Siuslaw Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Sept. 10. This ceremony comes after a long hiatus, as COVID twice prevented the annual gathering from happening.

The induction was held at the Florence Events Center and hosted by KCST’s Bob Sneddon. Lunch was served and there was a ‘no-host’ bar. Nearly every table at the gathering was full.

After Sneddon, the person most often found at the podium during the event was Chris Johnson. The Siuslaw athletic director and cross country and track coach was up front often because he was coach of four of the six teams that were inducted on the day.

Here are the inductees:

Rob Dimick was a four-sport standout for the Vikings. He lettered 9 times before his graduation in 1975. He set the Siuslaw single-season rushing mark in 1974 when he ran for 1,375 yards. He was named all-league on offense and defense and all-state as a running back.

Jesse Schutte is considered one of the greatest Viking golfers to ever step on the links. He won three consecutive individual state titles, 2004-06 and a team title in 2005. The Siuslaw golf team did not finish lower than fourth at state during his time on the team. Schutte could not attend the induction ceremony as he was playing or otherwise detained by a PGA Tour event. 

The 2004 Boys Cross Country Team is one of the greatest in Siuslaw history. They won the 2004 state title with a score of 45 points, at the time the second lowest-ever scored in the classification. The team was coached by Chris Johnson. Team members were Adam Pino, Brian Stevens, Connor Vaccaro, Adam Kotaich, Kyle Kotaich, Jack Lindsay and Torrey Wenham.

The Siuslaw Viking Girls Cross Country Team, coached by Chris Johnson, won three consecutive state titles from 2004-2006. The ’04 team had five runners in the top 23 with only 55 seconds separating the runners. The ’05 beat North Bend in the state title race, 81-110. With the ’06 team’s state title they join the 1984-86 Track & Field Team and the 1991-93 Cheer Team as the only Siuslaw teams to win three consecutive state titles.

The team members for those three years were: Leah Twombly, Kaylee Gruber, Jennifer Hague, Sierra Lee, Mercedes Smith, Gretchen Dunning, Jennifer Young, Rachel Salsbery, Samantha Pummer and Clarita Twombly.

The 2006 Siuslaw Viking Football Team is considered by most the best team in the storied program’s history. The team finished the regular season 9-0 then rolled through the first three rounds of the playoffs outscoring their opponents 116-14 before reaching the title game. There they beat Sisters in dramatic fashion, 21-14 in overtime.

The team was coached by Tim Dodson, Jan Jaroncyk, Delbert Reavis, Jeff Gray, Matt Boshaw, Andy Grzeskowiak, Clint McClellan and Chic Hammon. The players were: Max Perry, Jason Garcia, Ryan Boshaw, David Mesa, Luke Sims, Henry Chiang, Mick Barrett, Jack Mitchell, Zachere Priest, Jordan Rainwater, Randy Holton, Henry Schueneman, Kody Reavis, James DiCarlo, Anthony Robinson, Joel Bechtold, Trevor Smith, Cameron Thrall, Kyle Brown, Drew Schaffner, Rick Spalding, Cody Satnowski, Sean Campbell, Jairone Adviento, Kenny Lemmonds, Denver Conrad, Tyler Mais, Kody Thrall, Julian Laney and Kenny Thrall.

The 2005 Siuslaw Vikings Boys Golf Team won the 2005 3A state title at Eagle Crest in Redmond. They beat second place Taft by six strokes.

The team was coached by Pat Zahner, Willie Chiang, Bill Lochow and Tom Thompson. The players were Jesse Schutte, Torrey Wehnham, Aaron Van De Hay, Mike Bartlett, Henry Chiang and Jason Garcia.

To keep updated on future inductees or more information on the Siuslaw Hall of Fame, visit www.facebook.com/groups/SiuslawHOF/.