YREKA – The College of the Siskiyous held their sixth annual Hall of Fame and Athletes of the Year banquet on Saturday night. There were five individual inductees, as well as the entire 1977 Eagles football team.

James Gerald (Jerry) Edwards was a member of the Eagle family from 1959-1981, and retired as the Dean of Student Personnel. Edwards was “very supportive” of COS sports. He passed away in 1983.

Frank Holguin was the COS Equipment Manager from 1987 – 2002, and continues to volunteer his time to assist with the COS Athletic Department.

Jiggs Sage played baseball at COS from 1962-64. In 1963, Sage was the Eagles’ MVP, and was on the Golden Valley Conference First Team list. In 1964, Sage received Honorable Mention from the GVC.

Jessica (Saltzman) Fields competed in volleyball, basketball, and track from 1999-2002. She made the GVC All Conference team two years in volleyball. In basketball, Saltzman was MVP of the GVC, All State First Team, and was selected for the All-Tourney team at the California Community College State Championships. She was also the GVC high jump champion, and finished second in the state. In 1999, Saltzman was named to the Pepsi Scholar Athlete Honor Roll. She went on to play basketball and track at Chico State where she set a new high jump record, and was named to the All American Division II Team.

Laurie (Seehawer) Fuhriman played volleyball and basketball from 1984-1986. She was named to the GVC First Team for volleyball and basketball both years that she played at COS. Seehawer went on to play basketball at Weber State University, where she was named to the All Big Sky Academic and All Conference Teams.

For the first time, COS inducted an entire team into the Hall of Fame—the 1977 GVC champion Eagles football team. The team lost its first three non-conference game, and then ripped off six straight GVC wins. Among the teams the Eagles beat were previously unbeaten Yuba, in Yuba City, and the undefeated, number-one ranked Redwoods Corsairs. It was the Corsairs first ever home loss. The team was coached by Jim Ray. Dennis DeRoss was the Offensive Coordinator. Greg Gatlin was the Defensive Coordinator. Robert Sanchez was the trainer. (See end of article for a list of Siskiyou County players on the team.)

Chrislyn “Chewy” Chewning was named as the COS female Athlete of the Year. Chewning was All-Conference for volleyball and softball. She was also the North State Player of the Year in softball.

The male COS Athlete of the Year is Taylor Dunn. Dunn was a two-year standout in football, and received a football scholarship to Eastern Illinois University. He was selected to the Academic All State Football Team, as well as being GVC First Team All Conference. Dunn also played basketball in his first year at COS. Dunn was unable to attend because he has already transferred to EIU, and is participating in spring practices. Eagle football coach Eric Young accepted the award for Dunn.

The Siskiyou County High School Athlete of the Year nominees were Logan Dysert and Tracy Thackeray from Etna; David Schmidt and Cassidy Hammon from Happy Camp, Ramon Rubio and Natalie Sojka from Mt. Shasta; Jose Robles and Kaylin Brunson from Weed; and Jeremy Turner and Kaitlin Weckerle from Yreka.

The male COS High School Athlete of the Year is Logan Dysert. As a linebacker, Dysert led the Etna Lions and the Shasta Cascade League in tackles. He was fourth in the North Section in tackles. Dysert also racked up over 1100 yards in combined rushing and receiving. In basketball, Dysert is known as one of the top defensive players and rebounders in the SCL. In baseball, he leads or shares the SCL lead in every offensive category, as well as leading the section in RBI.

Kaitlin Weckerle is the female COS High School Athlete of the Year. In basketball, Weckerle led the Yreka Lady Miners in scoring, assists, and three-pointers. She was second in blocks and steals. Weckerle was in the top ten in the Northern Athletic League in all of the above categories. As a softball player, she leads the NAL in steals. Weckerle is second on her team in batting average, and third in slugging percentage and on-base percentage.

The COS Siskiyou County High School Athletes of the Year are selected by the sports editors of the Mt. Shasta Area Newspapers, Siskiyou Daily News, and siskiyouyouth.com.

Siskiyou County players on 1977 Eagles football team:

Fort Jones

Greg Ramsdell

Mount Shasta

Ron Fidler

Weed

Kenny Broughton

Ray Higginbottham

Yreka

Dale Asp

Jeff Kutzer

Jimmy Kutzer

Steve McConnell

Dennis McDowell

Don McDowell

Mike Moore

Dennis Roberts