BREMERTON — The second-year inductees to the Olympic College Athletic Hall of Fame have been announced and will be honored at a reception June 9 in OC’s Bremer Student Center.
The legendary men’s basketball team from the 1948-49 school year will be added to the Hall of Fame. Also inducted this year will be track and field star Dick McKimson and basketball standout Jill Bekar.
The men’s basketball team took fourth at the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament after winning the conference and regional III championships. The coach, Phil Pesco, was inducted into the inaugural Hall of Fame class last year.
McKimson “single-handedly scored 17 points at the 1952 state championship tournament by winning the javelin, the 100-yard sprint and the 880-yard race, and running on the winning mile-relay team,” according to a OC press release.
Bekar “helped the women’s basketball team to a sixth-place finish at the NWAACC tournament in the 1996-97 season,” the release says. “She was named Northern Region MVP as well as a second-team NWAC All-Star.”
Other 2018 inductees include athletes Bob and Bill Fredericks, men’s basketball and tennis; Mark Keel, football; Charlie Koon, men’s basketball; Renae Ross (Landram), women’s basketball; Mike Latimer, wrestling; and the 1950-52 track and field teams. Jack Stenhjem will be inducted for distinguished service.
The Athletics Hall of Fame was first established in the 2016-17 school year to honor 71 years of athletes, coaches and teams at the school.
At the time, OC’s athletic director Barry Janusch said, “We’ve been talking about this for a couple years. We just decided that this was, well, way, way overdue.”
A committee was formed to start choosing a list of inductees based on a criterion of attendance and accomplishments in either the athletic or private sector. The plan was to have 12 inductees for the first three years, ending in 2019. After that, Janusch said they will choose new inductees every other year.
The celebration of the 2018 inductees will begin with socializing and food at 1 p.m. June 9 at the Bremer Student Center, 1600 Chester Ave. The program will begin at 2 p.m.
“We mainly just want to acknowledge the outstanding people that we’ve had involved in athletics here at Olympic College,” Janusch said, For more information or to read biographies of each inductee, visit olympic.edu/athletics/olympic-college-athletics-hall-fame.
Michelle Beahm is the online editor for the Kitsap News Group. She can be reached at mbeahm@soundpublishing.com.