Athletics...
Hazen’s athletic teams fared well in those first years. Coaches and athletes came to their respective sports with a determination to be viable opponents in the North Puget Sound League. Students participated in gymnastics, swimming (practices were held at the old Aqua Barn pool), tennis and track. Football got started without the benefit of summer workouts, but the team won 3 out of 8 games with one tie against Kentridge High School. According to the sports writer of the Lonach, the team had a bad case of “fumbl-itis”. But, it was a beginning and a foundation upon which to build. By the 1970-71 school year, Hazen finished 2nd in NPSL knocking off Renton High School 23-18 before a crowd of 6,000 fans. The final touchdown was made by Frank Reed with 30 seconds left in the game.
All Star Team
That year, three Highlanders were chosen as part of the NPSL All-Star Team: Mark Carr – defensive tackle, Nevin Miller – linebacker, and Tom Lambro – place-kicker.
Hazen’s athletic teams fared well in those first years. Coaches and athletes came to their respective sports with a determination to be viable opponents in the North Puget Sound League. Students participated in gymnastics, swimming (practices were held at the old Aqua Barn pool), tennis and track. Football got started without the benefit of summer workouts, but the team won 3 out of 8 games with one tie against Kentridge High School. According to the sports writer of the Lonach, the team had a bad case of “fumbl-itis”. But, it was a beginning and a foundation upon which to build. By the 1970-71 school year, Hazen finished 2nd in NPSL knocking off Renton High School 23-18 before a crowd of 6,000 fans. The final touchdown was made by Frank Reed with 30 seconds left in the game.
Hazen Baseball
Baseball found itself in a similar situation in that they were short on experience but long on enthusiasm. The team had no lettermen, and out of 15 players, 9 were sophomores.
But it was the Basketball teams that put Hazen on the map. That first year, the Highlanders won 8 out of 18 games against great teams in the North Puget Sound League – considered one of the toughest leagues in the state. The Lonach declared that a year of growth and the ability to practice in our own gym could make the Highlanders real contenders. By 1971, the Highlanders were in the middle of the pack with good standing among the tough crowd of NPSL.
Coach Myron Huckle, affectionately called “Huck” by his players. He was a man of high emotion and determination, a molder of young men.
Coached by Myron Huckle, Hazen’s 1972 Basketball team was the dark horse in the competition; after all we had only been in existence for 3 ½ years. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Royal Brougham, commented about Hazen in his March 20th column: “We all know about Richland’s championship Bombers, we’re familiar with Tacoma’s Lincoln, Puyallup…. But who ever heard of Hazen? Talk about moxie, the new school from Renton was buried under a 41-24 halftime count by the unconquered Mercer Islanders, who hadn’t lost a game since they built the floating bridge. Final Score, Hazen 64, Mercer Island 61. Coach Myron Huckle, welcome to the League.”
At the State final tournament for the AAA crown, Hazen met the Richland Bombers. The Highlanders were hot and managed to play an extraordinary game against a team that was projected to win the state competition. In the last seconds of the game, Richland made a last-ditch effort and scored the winning basket for 54 points to Hazen’s 53.
Coach Huckle
Basketball
The final game against the Richland Bombers; #24 Loring Larsen and #25 Bill Hansen Note the plaid shorts and the gold suede tennis shoes – these guys were stylin’!
Hazen Raisins!
The Hazen student body was cheering on their team. By this time, the negative moniker “Hazen Raisins” had been embraced by the student body. And why not? #2 basketball team in the state!
Modern high school students will notice the lack of women’s sports in the early years of Hazen’s history. It was accepted that high school girls took home economics while boys took wood shop; girls were encouraged to become secretaries, thus the need for shorthand, while boys took physics. As a result, females were not part of the competitive sports programs that men dominated throughout American sports history. Until 1972. Title IX was an amendment to the 1965 Higher Education Act, passed by Congress and signed into law by Richard Nixon. In essence, it stated that no person could be excluded from participation in any educational program or activity that received Federal financial aid.
As a result, many girls’ sports clubs and intermural athletics at Hazen were converted to competitive teams. The Lonach begins to record “new and competitive sports” for girls in 1974.
The Blue Dolphin synchronized swim club was replaced by a girls’ swim team in 1974.
The Lady Highlanders did very well that year with a 7-2 overall season and they sent four swimmers on to State.
Synchronized Swim Club
Gymnastics
Hazen girls’ gymnastics had been an intermural sports team prior to 1974. That year the girls competed in 18 meets, were undefeated, and captured the NPSL Gymnastics Championship.
More Gymnastics
The effect of Title IX on the educational landscape was immense. There has been an explosion of opportunities for female athletes to not only compete in their given sport, but to earn athletic scholarships as well. Those scholarships have always been a way for talented and gifted athletes to attend a university and acquire a post-secondary education – now the same opportunities were open to women. In 1972 only about 7% of high school girls participated in any sports activities. As of 2017, the 45th anniversary of Title IX, almost half of all high school girls participated in over 60 different competitive sports.
Girls Volleyball
Also in 1974, Hazen’s Lonach noted that girls’ volleyball won 8 matches out of 12 – not bad for a new sport!