PORT ANGELES — Two of the most important teams in Port Angeles High School history — one that changed the landscape of Port Angeles athletics forever and the other kicked off an almost two-decade long run of football excellence — will be inducted into the Port Angeles High School Roughriders Hall of Fame on Aug. 26.
Organizers will honor the 1956 football squad, which ended the season ranked fifth in the state, six years after the Roughriders won only one game in two seasons. The other team is the 1972 swim team, which was the first Riders’ girls team after the passage of Title IX. That team in its first year of existence finished ninth in the state under Coach Don Fairbairn, who was previously inducted into the hall of fame.
Coached by Bill Madden and assisted by Jack Elway — future Port Angeles head coach and father of former NFL great John Elway — the 1956 football squad had a 7-1 record and was an offensive powerhouse. The Roughriders averaged 35 points a game while holding opponents to eight points a game.
Powerful fullback Sam Hurworth led the state in scoring and was one of three athletes in the history of Port Angeles High School to be offered a scholarship and play at the University of Washington.
Halfback Ron Suslick averaged 152 yards per game, gaining 309 yards against South Kitsap. He was named to the UPI All-State team and played in the All-State game along with Hurworth.
“As an offensive coordinator, Elway was way beyond his time,” said Hall of Fame organizer Bruce Skinner.
Tackle Harry Leons is arguably the best interior lineman to play for the Riders, and received a tryout with the Detroit Lions, only one of two Port Angeles graduates to do so with an NFL team. He was named as Western Washington University’s most valuable player in 1970.
Hurworth, Suslick, Leons, Bill Grover, Bill Helwick and Jim Heckman were named All League. Leons was named honorary captain following the season, while Hurworth was selected as the most inspirational player.
Elway was inducted into the Port Angeles Hall of Fame in 2019, Hurworth in 2021, Suslick in 2022 and Leons will go in as an individual this year.
Swim team
The 1972 girls swim team was the forerunner of things to come — the squad competed interscholastically three years before Port Angeles High School was able to field a full complement of girls sports.
The Roughriders won all but one of their nine dual meets before finishing ninth at state.
The top point-makers for the team were Linda Beil (the mother of Kelley Berglund, who will be inducted into the hall as an individual this year), Lynn Dee Spencer and Sharon Roark.
Beil placed third in the 100-yard backstroke, Roark was fourth in the 100-yard freestyle and seventh in the 50 freestyle, and Spencer was sixth in the 100-yard butterfly and seventh in the 400 freestyle. The 200 medley relay team, comprised of Beil, Anna Zachweija, Spencer and Roark, placed sixth. Eleven girls swam at first girls state championship meet held at Highline College.
Skinner said Fairbairn was the coach of a club team in Port Angeles and thus had the high school team prepared.
“They knew Title IX was coming and were ready to go,” he said.
The two teams will be joined by 12 individual members of the sixth Hall of Fame Class who excelled at Port Angeles High School and also after their high school careers were finished.
In addition to Leons, three of the athletes were track stars. Two of them — Alison Maxwell and Frank Prince — excelled on the national stage, while the third, Larry Beaty, is the most successful community college track and cross country coach in state history.
Five excelled in basketball — Kelley Berglund, Terry Clayton, Jon Madison, Mandy Wood and Dave Denny. Berglund, Clayton, Madison and Wood excelled at the collegiate level, while Denny was one of the most successful Washington State high school coaches in history.
Joni Jacobs performed at a high level at both the high school and collegiate level in swimming.
Two others — Skinner and George Hill — performed on a different stage after graduation from Port Angeles High School, going on to careers in athletic administration and broadcast television. Skinner was the executive director the Fiesta Bowl in the 1980s and early 90s and helped turn the game into a major New Year’s Day bowl. Hill was a statistician for Monday Night Football, Brent Musberger and many other television play-by-play announcers.
The event will be held outdoors on the field at Civic Field. Tickets can be purchased at www.pahshof.org or by calling 360-417-7144.
