Hall o’ Fame inductees (clockwise, from bottom left) Jim Wheat, Craig Pedlar, Rich Wilson and, representing the 1924-25 CHS boys’ hoops team, captain Robert Engle.
A little something for everyone.
When you take a look at the 65th class inducted into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, diversity is the name of the game.
An athlete, a coach, a contributor and a team all come together today, ready to be enshrined inside these hallowed digital walls.
So, with that, we welcome to the podium Craig Pedlar, Jim Wheat, Rich Wilson and the 1924-1925 Coupeville High School boys’ basketball squad.
After this, you’ll find them with their brethren atop the blog, under the Legends tab.
Our first inductee, Wilson, was a two-sport sensation who still holds a CHS track and field record 16 years after his graduation.
His mark of six feet, four inches in the high jump in 2000 hasn’t been topped since, leaving him just three years shy of matching his predecessor.
When he broke the mark, it had stood since 1981, the year of Wilson’s own birth.
And, in a fun side fact, his wife Yashmeen (Knox) Wilson, already a Hall o’ Famer, holds the CHS record in the same event on the girls side.
Her mark of 5-02 has held since 1999.
Track wasn’t Wilson’s only area of expertise, however, as he was a bruising two-way star on the gridiron who racked up tons of tackles and churned out big yardage.
The only thing keeping his offensive numbers down a bit was his career crossed paths with that of Coupeville’s greatest weapon, school career rushing leader Ian Barron.
But if you look at the time period when Barron went down with a broken ankle, Wilson seizes the spotlight and runs with it, one of the best backs to ever wear the red and black.
Our second inductee, Pedlar, has a strong history at two Island schools, and he was in the prime of his Oak Harbor days when I worked with him while I was a young Sports Editor at the Whidbey News-Times.
But, as much success as he achieved at OHHS, his CHS days stack up quite nicely.
He was an assistant basketball coach, working along side legendary hoops guru Bob Barker, but his biggest impact probably came in his stints working with Wolf runners.
The cross country program, which boasts a deep collection of league, district and state meet accomplishments as part of the school’s new Wall of Fame, was his baby and he turned it into a powerhouse.
A big part of his success came from his skill at reaching each individual runner and finding what they personally needed to succeed.
Natasha Bamberger, who went on to win a state title in cross country, and four others in track (making her the only five-time individual state champ in CHS history), vouches for Pedlar’s impact.
“Feeling believed in is very powerful,” she said. “I never felt that before and I credit those coaches with it, all starting with Coach P.”
Our next inductee, Wheat, could go in as a coach (he was a key part of the staff of the 2002 CHS softball squad which finished 3rd at state), but today we’re inducting him as a contributor for his work as an umpire.
He has a sterling touch on the field, where he is highly-respected for his game-calling skills, but he continues to make an even bigger impact as the head of umpires for Central Whidbey Little League.
Whether it’s recruiting and training other umps, working with them on the field, or all the work he puts in behind the scenes helping to keep CWLL a roaring success, Wheat is The Man.
Putting him in the Hall o’ Fame? It’s just the right call.
Wrapping up our class we’re reaching back in time to induct the earliest team yet to enter the Hall.
The 1924-1925 CHS boys’ hoops squad, led by high-scoring (for the day) Roy Armstrong, won a county championship, drubbing Oak Harbor and Langley twice each, then found a bit of postseason glory.
A 13-10 win over Index gave the Wolf farm boys a district title and sent them on to the Northwest Tournament, where they went 1-2 against big-city schools.
While the name of their coach is lost to time (at least it’s not listed in the 1925 CHS yearbook), we want to reach back and honor the letter winners from that early round-ball juggernaut.
Inducted, together, as a team:
Roy Armstrong
Lewis Berry
Robert Cushen
Robert Engle (captain)
Sam Kieth
Joe Libbey
Marion Sill
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