Late NK coach, longtime bowling family and Bulldogs title team lead Kitsap HOF list

Posted by Admin December 2, 2024 Sports

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Chuck Stark
| Special to the Kitsap Sun

The Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame is a place to honor excellence and connect generations. It’s a place to celebrate accomplishments of some of the very best athletes, coaches and contributors to come through our little corner of the world.

And it’s time, once again, to announce the latest class.

North Kitsap’s Dave Snyder, a beloved and respected coach who suffered a heart attack and died while attending a summer football camp in Ellensburg in June, will be among those inducted on Feb. 1, 2025, at Kiana Lodge in Poulsbo. Eight others, along with three special award recipients and a championship team, will be recognized during the ceremony for the class of 2024.

The Kitsap Athletic Roundtable took over sponsorship of the annual event in 2005, when the Hall of Fame was expanded to include all sports.

This year’s Rex Brown Distinguished Service Award goes to the Tom Myers Family for their dedication and service to Kitsap’s strong bowling community through their ownership and management of Hi-Joy Bowl in Port Orchard and All Star Lanes in Silverdale. They’ve been involved with Hi-Joy since 1970 and opened All Star in 1985. Tom Myers, Sr. and wife Pat, both deceased, were the original owners. Tom Myers Jr. and wife Laurie, continue to own Hi-Joy and sold All Star in 2023. Tom Jr.’s sisters Teri Goodwin, Mickie Hoem, Jackie Havill and siblings Tom Myers III, Tim Myers and Kylie (Myers) Hicks are among those who have been part of the family business, as has longtime general manager Jim Monahan.

Deanna Dowell: The longtime Kitsap resident is the 14^th recipient of the Dick Todd Award, which goes to a sports official in our community. The first recipient was her husband Lane Dowell, who got Deanna involved in track and field officiating (or as the Dowells like to say, “field and track”). In addition to high school, college and senior meets, she’s worked the Olympic Trials, Drake Relays, and NCAA championships, and traveled to South Africa, Barbados, and Australia for Senior Games events, always working the hammer, discus and shot put events.

John Sitton: The 1968 West High grad and former Central Kitsap coach and athletic director will be recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his decades of contributions as an athlete, coach, administrator, broadcaster. The former baseball and basketball standout at West and Olympic College is renowned for his positive mentorship and guidance to so many young students over 38 years of coaching. Sitton was an assistant to Hall of Fame coach Les Eathorne at Bremerton High when West and East merged in 1978, and was the head coach at CK from 1982-2001, winning four Olympic League titles. He was a fastpitch assistant at CK from 1995-2013, staying involved after he retired from teaching in 2006. While at CK, he was also the ASB advisor, announcer for games, developed the school’s leadership curriculum, and taught leadership classes. He’s still a volunteer announcer for West Sound Community Television.

The 2007 North Mason softball team will also be honored. Led by Hall of Fame coach Paula Grande, the Bulldogs won the Class 2A state title a year after losing in the Class 3A championship game. North Mason advanced to 11 straight state tournaments during that era, but the 2007 team was the only one to bring the championship back to Belfair.

The following are the 2024 individual inductees (in alphabetical order): Rachel Davenport: The Central Kitsap grad, current superintendent of schools at North Kitsap, was first-team All-Olympic League in fastpitch, basketball and volleyball as a junior and senior, and later coached those sports at Klahowya, CK and Olympic. The 1996 Kitsap Sun Female Athlete of the Year was a high school All-American in fastpitch, played for the Kitsap Braves, which was coached by her dad, Tom Davenport, and played four years at the University of Mississippi.

KC Fossum: The 2007 North Kitsap grad re-wrote the volleyball record books at Olympic College, where she was the North Region MVP and the Rangers’ first Volleyball Coaches Association All-American. The middle blocker was second in the Northwest Athletic Conference in hitting percentage (.389) with 401 kills while leading Olympic to a 46-6 record and second-place finish at the Northwest Athletic Conference championships.

Tleena Ree Ives: The North Kitsap grad and member of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe is a leader in the national American Indian sports community. Ives played on the Olympic College women’s basketball team that won the NWAC North and placed sixth at the conference championships in 1996 and won the Miss Indian USA title in 1997. The certified kickboxing and Kaia Fit instructor ran the Boston Marathon in 2016, completed a pair of 140.6-mile Ironman triathlons and was a longtime puller for the Port Gamble S’Klallam canoe journey.

Frank Jackson: A top all-around athlete at West Bremerton, Jackson was a baseball star at Washington State from 1970-72. The hard-hitting first baseman earned All-Pac-8 first-team and honorable mention All-American honors as a senior when he was team MVP (.344 average, 9 home runs, 38 RBI in 42 games). Playing for legendary Chuck “Bobo” Brayton, Jackson was a co-captain and helped the Cougars to 30-11, 34-15 and 29-13 records during his years in Pullman.

Mark Knowles: A long-time PGA golf pro and/or general manager at Trophy Lake Golf & Casting, and Gold Mountain, the 1986 North Mason grad is currently the area director of golf for Columbia Hospitality, which manages eight state Washington courses, including Gold Mountain and McCormick Woods. The former All-Pac-10 golfer at Washington State remains a competitive player when he enters tournaments. Knowles won the PNW Senior Players Championship in 2023 and qualified for the 33^rd Senior PGA Professional Championship in 2021. Knowles was also one of the top-rated men’s basketball officials in the area and is a past president of the Peninsula Basketball Officials Association.

Jackie Miller: The Central Kitsap graduate was a team MVP and captain in volleyball at Central Kitsap, but fastpitch is where she left her mark. She led the Cougars to a third-place finish in the state tournament in 2000 and was Olympic League MVP in 2001. Miller pitched two years at Division II Cal State Stanislaus, and transferred to DII powerhouse Cal State Dominquez Hills, where she was a double threat as a pitcher and hitter. Miller earned second-team honors as a pitcher (18-4, 1.57 ERA) in 2005 as the Toros (46-12) won the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) championship. In 2006, she was first-team CCAA pitcher (20-4, 1.54 ERA, 167.2 IP, 182 K, 23 BB) and hit .282 with a school-record 10 HRs for the Toros (46-11).

Bobby Reece III: The 2014 Kingston grad won four straight Class 2A wrestling titles, compiling a 149-2 record during his career. Reece won 102 straight before losing his first match, and he was ahead 12-1 when he was disqualified for an illegal move in his other loss. Reece won at 140 pounds as a freshman in 2011, 152 as a sophomore in 2012, 160 in 2013 and 170 in 2014. He’s one of 18 boys in state history to win four straight titles. Reece, who wrestled one season at Grand Canyon University, was also an accomplished quarterback, leading Kingston to the 2A state tournament in 2012 and 2013, throwing for 1,557 yards and 21 touchdowns as a senior.

Rod Scheyer: The former Washington Husky lineman will join his father, legendary Bremerton football coach and East Bremerton principal Dwight Scheyer, in the Hall of Fame. Rod was a lineman from East High who was a team captain, lineman of the year on both sides of the ball, an All-Pacific Coast tackle and honorable mention All-American in 1962 at Washington. He was a sophomore on the 1960 team that was 10-1 and beat Minnesota 17-7 in the Rose Bowl. Scheyer was also the sixth man and record-setting rebounder on the East High basketball team that was 19-1 during the 1958 regular season and placed fifth at state.

Dave Snyder: The beloved teacher and coach started his career in the North Kitsap School District in 1996. He joined North Kitsap’s football program as an assistant in 2002 and became an integral part of the staff as a dedicated and inspiring defensive coordinator/assistant head coach. He was the head track and field coach since 2004, guiding the Vikings to a state championship in 2012. He was also an assistant for the Vikings’ first girls flag football team last winter. Snyder’s impact and influence as a teacher and coach won’t be forgotten. His death stunned the North Kitsap community.