Mike Price joins humbled group in Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame

Former Washington State Coach Mike Price said he had come to hate the drive from Pullman to Spokane. But on Tuesday, he said it was a joy as he joined several other inductees into the Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame.

“This is a great honor,” said the now retired Price, who this summer bought a home on Lake Coeur d’Alene. “It’s great. I’m so excited to be back.”

Price, 69, who in 1997 led the Cougars to its first Rose Bowl in 67 years, headlined the group that included former U.S. track champion Annette Hand Peters; The Spokesman-Review columnist John Blanchette; Eastern Washington wrestler Lanny Davidson; and St. Maries girls volleyball coach Mitch Santos.

Also inducted into the Hall’s Scroll of Honor were Maury Ray, who oversaw the growth of sports at Community Colleges of Spokane; and Jim Stinson, a longtime coach who wrote three books about the State B basketball championships.

Price, who played and coached in Pullman for a total of 21 years, earned three 10-win seasons, two Rose Bowl berths and went to five bowls total from 1989-2002.

“I don’t think anybody worked better with the Cougar kids,” said 86-year-old Bob Robertson, who has broadcast WSU games for more than 50 years. “A great guy. I am very, very, very glad to see (Price) get the recognition he so richly deserves.”

Price, who dedicated the opening portion of his speech to a joke about Blanchette, credited those around him for his legacy.

“We were fortunate to have a lot of great players and coaches,” he said. “I’m not kidding you. I didn’t like them, I loved them. I just stood on the sidelines and cheered.”

Annette Hand Peters: She went from a state champion distance runner from Greenacres to Montana State and eventually Oregon where won four Pac-10 titles and a team national championship in 1987.

Peters also won three U.S. Championships and was a member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team.

“It does feel like another life that I lived,” she said. “I feel very honored to be part of this … by those who remembered what I did.”

John Blanchette: Now semiretired from The Spokesman-Review, Blanchette has chronicled local sports for more than 30 years. He was named the top sports columnist in the country in 2009 for newspapers of similar size.

“It’s awkward a little bit because I look at the people who are in it,” Blanchette said of the hall of fame. “It’s incredibly flattering … that people thought my work was good enough to be considered for something like this. I’m proud to be in their company.”

Lanny Davidson: A farm kid from Ephrata, Washington, Davidson won three individual NAIA national championships at EWU and a team national title in 1977.

Davidson finished his collegiate career record of 159-6, including 78 pins as a 177-pound wrestler. He said he hated losing so much that he never made it home with a second-place trophy. “It went into the closest trash can I could find,” he said. “I don’t feel like I’m worthy to be in this group, but I’ll take it.”

Mitch Santos: He arrived in St. Maries as a 23-year-old teacher and retired when he was 57. During a 25-year run coaching the girls volleyball team, Santos coached 11 A2 state titles, including 10 championships in a row. His teams once had a winning streak of 145 consecutive matches.

“It’s an honor to represent a small Idaho town,” he said. “It was my first job and my last job. I wouldn’t pick anywhere else to live but here.”

Maury Ray: He accepted a job in Spokane as he waited to find a better coaching job. Instead, he became athletic director of CCS from 1974-2006 and built most of the sports programs from the ground up.

“It’s a great tribute,” Ray said. “I’m truly honored to be a part of it.”

Jim Stinson: He worked 38 years teaching and coaching the Davenport girls basketball team to two state titles. He also coached track, cross country and the boys basketball team at Northwest Christian. He then wrote three books about the state B basketball tournament in Spokane.

“I’ve traveled 90,000 miles in the state of Washington and have been to every B town,” he said. “I didn’t want the history to be lost when many unpopular changes came about.”