Four multi-sport stars from the 1950s, 1990s and 2000s are getting a place in the Eatonville High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
Liz Clark, Marvin Snell, Conan Kempf and Sarah Painter were formally inducted Sept. 22 during a ceremony at halftime of Eatonville's football game with Steilacoom. Before the game, a public reception was held for them at 5:30 p.m. in the school's commons.
Cruiser fans who don't already know or remember the newly anointed hall of fame members will find out about the athletic exploits that carried Clark to Europe's professional basketball stage, Snell to a coaching career that included a state championship, Kempf to national recognition as a football player, and Painter to seven state tournaments.
Their accomplishments got the attention of a committee that annually reviews nominees for the Eatonville sports memory book. Here, from the committee, is the story behind each of them:
Liz Clark
Year graduated: 2001
Sports: Volleyball, basketball, fastpitch
Clark was named to the hall of fame in 2011 but couldn't attend the induction ceremony. Better late than never for the only Eatonville athlete to play women’s basketball player professionally.
At Eatonville, she was an All-League choice a combined 11 times (three of them as Most Valuable Player) in three sports. She was All-State in basketball twice and was part of four teams that reached the state tournament, placing sixth in 2001. In volleyball, her teams also were in state tournaments four consecutive years (fifth was their highest finish) in her senior year. And she and her fastpitch teammates appeared twice in the state tournament, finishing seventh in 2000.
Off the courts and diamond, she was class president and a top-5 student academically.
Following high school, she attended George Fox College, where she started 71 games and was part of an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Division 3 tournament. That team was inducted into the George Fox Athletic Hall of Fame.
After she graduated in 2005 with a double major in exercise science and health education, Clark signed with a German basketball club, BG Bonn Rentrop. She also coached boys basketball at Bonn International School.
Since then, she has coached for George Fox and at Wood River High School in Sun Valley, Idaho. She also was the director of player development for Oregon State University in 2016 when OSU reached the NCAA Division I Final Four. Two players from that team were drafted by WNBA teams.
Clark lives in Sun Valley and works as a college and career counselor and as a strength and conditioning coach.
Conan Kempf
Year graduated: 1992
Sports: Football, basketball, baseball
Kempf was a three-year letterman in football and basketball and also lettered in baseball. He was voted Most Outstanding Male Athlete in his graduating class.
He was a wide receiver and a safety on the football team that captured the 1990 class A state championship. He was named All-State as a receiver and All-League at both positions.
In 1991, Kempf repeated the All-League honors and was captain of the team that returned to the state playoffs. He also was selected as one of the top 50 high school receivers in the nation by Street and Smith’s Magazine. He finished his high school career with 105 receptions for 1,525 yards and 19 touchdowns.
He played football for one year at Hastings College in Nebraska. He returned to Eatonville to serve as an assistant football coach at the middle school and high school.
In basketball, Kempf led the Cruisers in steals and assists for two years. The 1991 team reached the state tourney. He was a team captain and winner of the Most Inspirational Award.
In baseball, he once batted .538 with three home runs, three doubles and 12 runs batted over a four-game stretch.
Kempf is employed by Tacoma City Light and continues to coach.
Marvin Snell
Year graduated: 1959
Sports: Football, basketball, track and field
Snell played football for four years on the offensive and defensive lines and was All-League in his senior season. He went on to be a two-way lineman at what is now Pacific Lutheran University for four seasons and was named to the All-Evergreen Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team as a nose guard in 1963.
Snell also was a four-year participant in:
• Track and field. He won the 100 and 220-yard dashes in the district track meet in 1959 (he held the school records in both sprints) and became the first Cruiser to compete in the state track meet in 30 years.
• Basketball. He lettered in his junior and senior seasons.
From college, Kempf went into teaching and coaching at the high school level. He coached football, track and cross country at Lynden in the late 1960s and early '70s. At Mount Baker High, his 1988 girls track team won the state championship.
He retired from teaching in 1995 but continued as an assistant coach in track and football until 2002. He lives in Bellingham with his wife, Sharon.
Sarah (Painter) Rashoff
Year graduated: 2006
Sports: Basketball, soccer
Painter (Rashoff is her married name) was a four-year letter winner in soccer and basketball and played in seven state tournaments. She also was a seven-time Nisqually League Scholar Athlete Award recipient.
In soccer, she was a right midfielder for teams that placed fourth and sixth in the state tournament. That was a warmup to 2005, when the Cruisers ran off a 20-0 record and won a state championship. She scored three goals and had 11 assists that year.
She was a power forward on the basketball team. In 2003-04, the Cruisers won the district tournament and reached the state tournament. Eatonville matched those feats the next season, with Painter scoring 210 points.
That was followed by two more district championships and state tournaments. Painter was the Nisqually League's Offensive MVP both seasons. In her senior year, she scored 340 points and collected 140 rebounds, 39 assists, 10 blocks and 27 steals. She finished her career with 988 points.
She was recruited to St. Martin’s University, where she played for one year. She earned a degree in nursing from Yakima Community College.
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