Eastern Washington University Athletics

A 1941 graduate of Eastern who participated in football and track, as an Eastern coach he had nearly 300 baseball wins in 26 seasons and a 29-52-4 record in 10 seasons as football coach. In his final season as baseball coach in 1981, he was Pacific 10 Conference Northern Division Coach of the Year as Eastern set a school record for victories by finishing 32-20. He was NAIA District 1 Coach of the Year five times (1963, 1966, 1967, 1978 and 1980), and his teams won District 1 titles in 1963, 1966 and 1967 as well as five Evergreen Conference championships. In 1970 Chissus was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame. He was also honored in 1980 with a 25-Year Award presented by the American Association of Baseball Coaches. He served on the United States Baseball Federation Board of Directors and served on the NAIA Baseball Coaches Association executive board. As an Eastern athlete in the late 1930's, Chissus was a sprinter and hurdler on track teams coached by Red Reese. Chissus won a total of four Tri-Normal and Winco conference titles in the high and low hurdles, and ran a leg on the mile relay team with won four-straight conference titles. He also played football and boxed while he was at Eastern. A native of Birmingham, Mich., Chissus moved to the Yakima Valley at the age of 10. He graduated from Wapato High School and came to Cheney as a freshman in the fall of 1937. Before returning to Eastern to become football coach in 1953, he spent 10 years teaching and coaching at four different Yakima Valley High Schools and directed successful American Legion baseball teams. He passed away in 1987.