Sept. 25, 2007

State Sports Hall of Fame to Induct Frosty Westering

Frosty Westering and John "Nellie" Nelson

Former Pacific Lutheran University head football coach Frosty Westering is among four individuals who will be inducted this fall into the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame.

Joining Frosty in the 2007 class is Bob Robertson, long-time voice of Washington State University football and basketball, and in recent years the voice of Pacific Lutheran men’s and women’s basketball. The other inductees are Laurie Niemi, an All-America tackle at WSU in 1948, and Vince Hanson, a Helms’ Foundation All-America basketball player for the WSU Cougars in 1945.

Frosty will be inducted during halftime of today’s football game between PLU and the Puget Sound Loggers by Clay Huntington, the Hall of Fame’s founder and executive director. Robertson, Hanson and Niemi will be inducted at the Arizona State-Washington State University football game in Pullman on Oct. 6.

A member of the College Football and NAIA Halls of Fame, Frosty Westering is a member of a select fraternity: college football coaches who have won at least 300 games. This group – a Who's Who of collegiate football – includes Eddie Robinson, John Gagliardi, Paul "Bear" Bryant, Charles "Pop" Warner, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Joe Paterno, Bobby Bowden and Tom Osborne. Westering picked up his 300th career victory in the second game of the 2003 season, adding to his legacy. Westering compiled an incredible 305-96-7 overall record (.756 winning percentage) in 40 seasons as a college coach. His 32-year career at Pacific Lutheran included three NAIA Division II titles and the 1999 NCAA Division III championship, in addition to four national runner-up finishes. He is known for emphasizing the double-win theme: victory on the scoreboard and the satisfaction of playing to one's personal potential. He is also a popular motivational speaker and author of the book, “Make The Big Time Where You Are.”

Robertson has been acknowledged as one of the top television and radio play-by-play announcers in the Northwest, and has been named State Sportscaster of the Year 12 times. He has covered all major sports in the region including Pacific Coast League baseball, Seattle Totems hockey and Seattle Sounders soccer. In 2004, he won the Chris Schenkel National Football Foundation award and is a member of the broadcaster’s wing of the College Hall of Fame.

The selections were made by a statewide panel of sportswriters and sports historians. The new inductees join 149 of previously inducted athletes, coaches, administrators and media. The Hall of Fame is located in the Shanaman Sports Museum at the Tacoma Dome and was established in 1960.

A list of State Sports Hall of Fame inductees may be found at www.washingtonsportshalloffame.com.

- PLU -