| School: Jackson | Graduation Year: 1978 |
Sports Played: Gymnastics, Softball, Track and Field, Cheer
Year Inducted: 2023
High School Honors: 4 Gymnastics letters. 1st Team All-PIL as a Sophomore (vault) and 2nd Team as a Junior. Team finished 3rd in State her Senior year where she competed in vault.
1 Track & Field letter as a Sophomore.
1 Softball letter as a Senior, named All-West 1st Team Pitcher. 1 Cheerleading letter as a Junior.
Post High School Career: 1-year Softball letter at Linfield University and 1-year Gymnastics letter (vault) at Portland State University. Coached Little League Softball for seven years; coached gymnastics three years each for the Portland Parks and Multnomah Athletic Club. Coached Varsity Competitive and Sideline Cheer at Grant for 16 years with a 5th in State in 2008. Inducted into Grant Hall of Fame in 2016 for Community Service. Presently in a 15-year career as Softball Coach at Grant.
Commentary:
I am truly humbled and honored with this esteemed recognition. I never dreamed of being inducted into the PIL Hall of Fame, however after dedicating 51 years of my life to competitive sports and coaching athletes, I believe there is merit in this distinction.
Growing up with three athletic brothers and a father (Dick Weitzel) who was well known as one of the great pitchers in the Portland Fastpitch League, I learned how to be competitive at a young age. There were not a lot of opportunities for me early on, but before high school I played for the Lake Oswego Lakettes fastpitch team and also started gymnastics lessons at a community center.
Upon entering Jackson High School, I knew right away that sports would be my passion for the next four years. I have to personally thank my gymnastics coach, Doug Hills, for helping to shape me into a competitive gymnast with little prior experience. He was the driving force behind my high school and college gymnastics career and success. After helping my team to place 3rd in state my senior year, he commented that I was “probably the only high school gymnast in the state meet, meaning a gymnast who learned everything in high school and did not practice with a club.”
I also have my father to thank for teaching me how to pitch and encouraging me to continue my softball career from high school to college. His passion and love for the game offered a guiding compass to my own career and later into my coaching career. My high school coaches inspired me to work with athletes, so my coaching career started early with summer gymnastics camps, and then after high school many years of coaching Little League Softball, High School Competitive Cheerleading, and High School Softball. Over the years of coaching, I have had the opportunity to be a role model to many athletes, developing their skills, and mo
re importantly building character and fostering meaningful relationships.
The softball tradition continued within my own family with my husband coaching high school softball, as well as our two beautiful daughters who played both high school and college ball, and went on to coach high school softball. I am beyond grateful for all of the high school and college coaches who mentored me and taught me how to believe in myself, for my coaching colleagues, particularly Grant’s Debbie Engelstad, who entrusted me as a coach in her program and became a dear friend, and finally to my family and friends who have supported me over the years. I could not have made it this far without them.