Bruce Hooper
Bruce graduated from Montesano in 1964 and coached cross country there for 14 years. His teams won 14 League titles and 6 District titles. He coached 13 top 8 team finishes at the state meet.
He also coached 2 Individual State Champions, 9 District Champions, and 13 League Champions.
His runners set and broke the league and district course records 6 times. One state champion Brent Hooper set the 1A State Course Record.at 14:56 in 1988.
His fondest memory was being able to be part of coaching his two sons, Brad and Brent Hooper. “I was lucky to get a front row seat to two individual state championships, 4 district championships, and 5 league championships, and over 20 course records of my two sons. It was an absolute blessing.” Bruce also stated, “My wife Pat and my two boys helped my success in coaching. The tireless work they all did set a tone for success of Montesano High School Cross Country. I couldn’t have done it without them. Lastly, the town of Montesano treated Cross Country like most small towns treat football–they valued it so much. We would get a car procession out of town as we left for the State Championships. The students in this town wanting to run and run at a high level was the crowning factor of Montesano being so good for so long in Cross Country and allowed me to be successful here. I love this place!”
George Olsen
George Olsen grew up in Yakima, attending Eisenhower High School (’61). He ran track for the legendary coach Don Holder and was coached in his distance events by fellow WATFXC Hall of Fame member Art Hutton. The mile was the only distance event run in high school at that time and cross country was not yet an official high school sport. In the fall of his senior year, he heard from coach Hutton about an open cross-country race in Seattle at Green Lake. He entered it and finished 14th, his first foray into the sport. He recalled that the state started an official state cross country meet the following fall, 1961.
George continued his education and running at Yakima Valley College (’63) and Central Washington University (’67), running the mile and 2-mile events. By that time Art Hutton had moved on from Eisenhower to CWU, so their paths crossed again.
George started coaching at A.C. Davis HS in 1969 and continued for 28 years until his retirement in 1997. His boys team placed 2nd in state in 1975 and 3rd in 1976. Athletes he mentioned that did well in his program at Davis and went on to have successful college careers include Jim Hennessy, Toby Suhm, Tom Hamel, Matt Knox, Jose Garcia, and Matt Humann.
Jose Garcia returned to Yakima after attending Occidental College and took over the cross-country program when George retired in 1996. After a successful running career at Central Washington University, Jim Hennessy followed in George’s footsteps and had a 25 year career coaching Cross Country at Franklin High School in Portland, Oregon.
In 1975, he teamed up with his former high school and Central Washington U. coach Art Hutton and Ferris High School coach Herm Caviness to start the Clear Lake X-Country camp. It was one of the first running camps of its kind at the time. George coached at the camp for 10 years. It continues today, 47 years later under the leadership of Eisenhower High School coach Phil English, as the Clear Lake/White Pass cross country camp. It is the oldest continuously running cross country camp in the Northwest.
When asked who where his inspirations for pursuing a career in teaching and coaching, George mentioned his junior high and high school track coach Don Holder and his high school and CWU distance coach Art Hutton. He said “I remember thinking at the time if I could influence even one athlete the way Don Holder influenced me, I’d feel like I’d been a successful coach.” It is safe to say that George Olsen influenced hundreds of athletes during his coaching career.
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