WVC will add to Athletic Hall of Fame honor roll on June 6, 2009; Golf Classic June 5

Wenatchee Valley College athletics will be featured in the fourteenth-annual WVC Knights Golf Classic on Friday, June 5, and the fourth-annual A Knight to Remember hall-of-fame celebration on June 5 and 6, 2009.

Registration and a putting tournament begins June 5 at 11:30 a.m. with a shotgun start for golf at 1:30 p.m. at the Highlander Golf Club in East Wenatchee.

On Saturday, the college's two all-time basketball scorers plus two coaches are among those who will be honored with membership in the WVC Hall of Fame. The festivities will be held in Van Tassell Center on the Wenatchee campus beginning with a social hour at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6:30 p.m. Induction ceremonies will follow.

Jill Greenfield and Byron Williams combined for more than 2,000 points during their two seasons with the Knights. Greenfield starred for the women's championship teams in 1978 and 1979, and Williams for the men's championship team in 1980.

Coach Tom Parry led Knights' football for seven seasons, in two stints. Frank Cumbo coached two teams, tennis and skiing, to championships in the 1950s. Both are retired. Parry lives in Yakima, and Cumbo in Wenatchee.

Others to be honored at the event are:

The 1954 tennis team, which played many four-year schools to set the stage for their state junior college championship. Team members included Vern Ball, Roger Barnhart, Gary Clifford, Jerry Chapton and George Stillman.

• The 1957 skiing team of Oddvar Ronnestad, Knut-Einar Istad, Torstein Gjestrud, Doug Nicholson, Ken Paton, Bud Hatley and Cal Vaughn.
• Long-time Knights booster Jeff Mertes, instrumental in starting the school's athletic booster club.

Tickets for A Knight to Remember are $35, with proceeds benefiting WVC athletics. For reservations, contact the WVC Athletic Department at 509.682-6886. Seating is limited. For information about the golf classic, contact Bob Rust, WVC athletic director, at 509.682.6886.

 Hall of Fame notes:

• Greenfield played for two of Coach Jim Sollars' championship teams (1978 and 1979). She averaged 17.2 points per game, hitting double figures in 52 of 55 games. She was an all-tournament team selection and MVP in 1979. She starred at Hanford High School and still lives in Richland.
•  Williams averaged 21.2 points in two seasons with Coach Bill Pandiani, capped by the 1980 championship. He missed double figures only once in 56 games, was team MVP in 1978 and all-tournament and MVP in 1980. Between his two seasons at WVC, Williams went to the University of Nebraska. He is a pastor in Oakland, Calif., and is a columnist for the Bay Area News Group.
• Parry coached the Knight football team to titles his first two years (1956 and 1957) and had a 6-0-2 season in 1962. After his WVC days, Parry had a long and successful tenure at Central Washington University in Ellensburg. He is retired and living in Yakima.
• Special recognition will be given to the late Mike Dempsey, a WVC graduate and long-time booster. He also served on the Hall of Fame selection committee. Dempsey, a sportscaster at KPQ Radio for many years, died in 2008.