| School: Madison | Graduation Year: 1997 |
Year Inducted: 2018
Sports Played: Football, Baseball
High School Honors: 4 Football letters, 1st Team All-PIL as a Senior and 2nd Team as Sophomore and Junior.
3 Baseball letters, 1st Team All-PIL and All-State as a Senior; 2nd Team All-PIL as a Sophomore and Junior. PIL Player of the Year, Captain of the State Championship team; played in State-Metro All-Star Game.
Post High School Career: Received Old Timer’s Baseball Scholarship for a “redshirt” year at Portland State; year of Baseball at Glendale Community College; Bachelor of Arts at PSU; coached several years of Youth Baseball and Basketball. Career in accounting and business analysis; currently with Kaiser Permanente for 13 years, now as a Director with oversight for the medical record system in both Oregon and Washington.
Commentary:
Being inducted into the PIL HOF is such an honor and I am grateful the selection committee has considered me for this achievement. As a husband, father, professional and leader I often reflect at some of those great lessons that athletics provided me. Whether that be from a close loss in a game or a teaching opportunity identified by my various great coaches or my parents along the way. It would be difficult to single out one person or situation that I reflect on most often.
I played with a great group of guys and had some of the most supportive coaches a player could have ever expected. I would like to pay special appreciation to Madison High School coaches Jeff Erdman and Ron Eilers. Coach Erdman was one of the first coaches to believe in my abilities on the baseball field and that boost of confidence made all the difference to me as a young athlete. Ron Eilers was my football coach for four years and his steady patience and persistence with me and my fellow teammates showed us how to win, lose and grow as young men. In addition, I could not have succeeded to this level without the consistent support I received from my parents Gary and Cheryl.
The experiences gained through my many years of athletics has helped develop me into the person that I am today. As a parent of two boys my wife Melanie and I often share these lifelong values we gained from athletics with our boys.
Thank you for such a great honor in joining the PIL Hall of Fame!