Twenty-five years ago, Philomath High’s girls basketball team beat then-rival Marist Catholic, 35-31, to win the Class 3A state championship. Coached by Terry Thomas, it was a sweet moment in the school’s sports history and represents one of four titles that the program has won over the years.
On Saturday night at the PHS auditorium, many of those players reunited to celebrate induction into the Philomath High School Hall of Fame. Kim West was there and so were Kathy Gellatly, Dani Garvin and Lindsey Hillaire. Teammates Kellie Kettles and Katie Finn were also among those that made their way up to the stage.
Those six players combined to score Philomath’s 35 points in the title game.
“The 2000 state championship team was fast, aggressive, tough and determined,” said Amy Leonard, who was an assistant coach at the time. “The core group of senior girls that Terry coached that year had played together since the second grade. They exhibited those same characteristics even at that age … and those traits stayed with them throughout their high school years and they became a hallmark of that team because they played together for so long.”
Players Melissa Harwood and Karissa Williams along with other assistants and support staff enjoyed the induction event as well. Cody Thomas was there for his late father, Terry Thomas, who passed away in 2014. Rounding out the player roster that season but unable to be in attendance were Toni Adair, Joanna Chadd, Chelsea Gellatly, Kelly Thorsness and Ruth Chadd.
Leonard provided background on the girls basketball program at the time and how it had excelled from 1993 to 2005 under Thomas, a stretch that included qualifying for state 10 of those 12 seasons.
“They were a tough group of girls and they played through injuries and adversity,” Leonard said about the 2000 champions. “They were also really a lot of fun.”
The team’s recognition was part of an evening that also included the Hall of Fame inductions of Geoff Grass (Class of 1989), Tassie Norton Hooper (Class of 1985), Michael Miner (Class of 1983) and Rex Watkins (Class of 1982).
Geoff Grass
Grass was an all-around athlete that included all-state recognition in football, basketball and baseball. Grass still holds the career scoring record for PHS boys hoops with 1,776. His list of awards and accolades runs long. He played on the football program’s state title team in 1988 and on state runner-up teams in basketball in 1988 and 1989.
“Early on, you could tell Geoff was special,” said Greg Yechout, former PHS football teammate who has known him since a young age. “He was not only talented, he was good at competing and winning. As we grew up, Geoff’s natural ability and relentless work ethic made him arguably the most-decorated multi-sport male athlete in school history.”
Grass said that while growing up in Philomath, his life revolved around athletics.
“I loved following the high school sports teams,” he said. “I remember from my parents’ house just down the street on Applegate, football games on Friday nights. … I remember coming to so many basketball games and sitting with my mom and dad on this very stage. I was a fan long before an athlete.”
Grass mentioned owning a debt of gratitude to baseball coach Terry Stephenson, football coach Woody Bennett and in particular, basketball coach Dave Garvin. And he mentioned several others, including his family.
“In my mind, this honor is really a celebration of the teams I was fortunate enough to be a part of,” Grass said. “You can’t succeed in sports if not for my coaches, strong parental support and talented teammates who were all committed to trying to achieve the same thing. I was lucky enough to be surrounded by all of that.”
Tassie Norton
Norton was a five-time state champion in cross-country and track and field. She won two individual championships in cross-country and took first in the 3,000-meter run three straight seasons. Norton still holds school records.
Joe Fulton, Philomath’s current head coach in cross-country and track, described what Norton was like at the starting line of a race.
“She would rock back and forth at the starting line — we called her ‘Snortin’ Norton,’” said Fulton, an assistant with the program in those days. “Because she used to barrel through the forest and get her legs all scratched up, she usually had scratched-up legs at the starting line. So if you can imagine the other girls in the race looking over at this kid rocking back and forth with scratched up legs, let’s just say they knew who was going to win the race before the gun even went off.”
Fulton shared a memory from track and field of a 4-by-800-meter relay race in which Norton was the anchor runner — an illustration of her ferocity in racing. Going up against an exceptional foursome from Washington, Norton took the baton for the relay’s final two laps and was about 100 meters behind the leader.
“She methodically cut the lead all the way down and finally, the crowd started to notice and with about 20 meters to go, I realized that she was just going to be a little bit short,” Fulton said. “She wasn’t going to make it but she didn’t seem to understand that and she dove across the finish line, kind of like diving into a swimming pool. She hit the track on her stomach, got oohs and ahhs from the crowd, had raspberries on her arms and legs but she didn’t win the race. And she came up to me afterwards and apologized for losing.”
Norton was not in attendance at the event.
Michael Miner
Miner had standout performances for the Warriors in swimming, track and field and cross-country. He won the 3,000 in the 1982 state track meet. In 1982, he set a steeplechase record that still stands.
Fulton mentioned how Miner set the Class 4A (formerly 3A) state record for the 10K on the track that still stands 43 years later.
“Michael’s improvement was quick and impressive and he did it well, shining for the Philomath High School swim team and competing in triathlons,” Fulton said. “Of course, he was a very confident kid, kind of a mini-Prefontaine — so confident, in fact, that he wore a shirt with his phone number on it in case any girls from other teams might be interested in going out.”
Miner, who lives in Italy and earlier in the week participated in a mountain bike event in Austria and on the same day found a summit to go paragliding, made his way to Saturday’s ceremony. While accepting the honor, he talked about the influence that running had on his life.
“Running gave me so much,” he said. “It gave me confidence in myself. It gave me a passion for nature, for running out in the forest. It gave me my family of teammates and all the people who supported me in college. It gave me scholarships. … It gave me the time to think and become the person that I really wanted to be — it gave me a way to figure out how to come up with a life that suited me the best.”
Miner mentioned those who impacted his life during those high school years, including Fulton and late coach Paul Mariman.
Fulton went on to share memories from a few of Miner’s races, including an open 3,000-meter steeplechase race in which he beat Henry Marsh, who qualified for four U.S. Olympic teams in the event. Miner broke the state record in the event in the race, which still stands. Later that year, U.S. Track and Field News picked Marsh as the No. 1 steeplechaser in the world, “partially on the premise that he was undefeated all year,” Fulton said.
“But we know differently,” he added. “He actually lost one race to Michael Miner of Philomath High School.”
Rex Watkins
Watkins competed all four years of high school in swimming, track and field and football. He was particularly successful in swimming and set seven school records at the time, including a 200-yard individual medley that was broken this past season by sophomore Lucas Brandt.
In fact, Brandt presented Watkins with his Hall of Fame plaque on stage Saturday night.
Longtime friends Scott Kerr and Mark Maxwell shared comments about Watkins prior to the former standout taking the stage himself. Watkins covered a lot of ground speaking to the crowd, much of it revolving around his perspectives as a longtime coach with most of those years involving state titles at Crescent Valley.
Watkins mentioned others that were part of the evening’s honors — Norton, Miner and Grass — that impacted a coaching career that covered nearly 40 years. He also shared his admiration and respect for veterans, God’s impact on his coaching and the decision to leave after going through the pandemic.
“Thank you for having me here tonight — completely unexpected,” he said while wrapping up his comments. “Not sure I deserve it compared to some but I will put this on the wall. …”
This most-recent ceremony was the fourth for the PHS Hall of Fame. The school recognizes former coaches, athletes, teams and others in three ways:
- PHS Hall of Fame — This group includes “distinguished staff and alumni who are acclaimed through their outstanding accomplishments.” Gary Cox, former athletic director, coach and teacher, had been working on establishing the Hall of Fame before his death in 2021. The first inductees came along in 2022 with Cox among those in the first class.
- The Legends Club recognizes “people in our community that have stood out with their support and service towards Philomath student-athletes and the community over the years.” Earlier this year, Jim Motter was the latest to be inducted.
- The PHS Sports Hall of Fame includes athletes that reach specific criteria for inclusion, such as achieving first-team all-state honors.
