EWU Athletics Hall of Fame Web Site
Lisa Sorrell knows her way around the track and field complex at Eastern Washington University quite well.
Still the holder of a record she set exactly 40 years ago when she last laced up her spikes for EWU, she will be among the 19th class of inductees into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame on Sept. 28, 2019, in conjunction with EWU's football game versus North Dakota at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash.
Sorrell competed at EWU's stadium back when it was known as Woodward Field, and in 1979 she broke the school record in the 400 meters with a blistering time of 54.80 seconds in Eugene, Ore. Her mark is nearly a second better than the next-best time at EWU of 55.57.
The performance in Eugene helped her qualify for the third-straight year for the AIAW (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) National Championships in the 400 and broke three school records – two of which still stand. She also competed in 1976 for Eastern, and eventually earned her degree in business administration with an emphasis in professional accounting.
Formerly from Tenino, Wash., she later coached track and field and cross country from 2004-2013 at Orting (Wash.) High School -- a regular entrant at the WIAA State Track and Field Championships which have taken place in Cheney since 1996. The girls' team won the 2012 State 1A title and the boys finished fifth at the field since renamed Roos Field.
Eastern will host the WIAA State 1B-2B-1A Championships at Roos Field this Thursday through Saturday (May 23-24) – the 24th-straight year EWU has hosted the season-ending event for smaller classifications in the state of Washington.
Sorrell is the first individual inductee to be announced in this year's class. The 1980 men's track and field team has previously been announced as an inductee this year. Coached by
Jerry Martin, that 1980 team was very dominant, finishing fourth in the NCAA Division II Championships, sixth in the NAIA Championships and more than doubled runner-up Central Washington's point total in the NAIA District 1 Championships (289-144).
The induction and 40th anniversary of the success by the 1980 team will also serve as a tribute event in honor of Martin, who was inducted into Eastern's Hall of Fame in 2001. All of Martin's former student-athletes from his 18 years as head coach are invited to attend and celebrate his legacy. Martin's 1982 NCAA Division II National Championship cross country team was inducted in 2007.
The induction breakfast and ceremony is expected to start at approximately 8 a.m. on Sept. 28 at the Pence Union Building's Nysether Community Room on the EWU campus in Cheney, and the public is invited to attend at a cost of $25 per person. Guests must register via a link that will be available in July at
http://goeags.com/HOF. Inductees will also be honored at halftime of EWU's football game against North Dakota later that day (kickoff is TBA), and recognized the night before at EWU's home volleyball game versus Portland State.
Established in 1996, the Hall of Fame currently consists of 88 individuals and 17 teams. In addition, there have also been 20 individuals and one organization honored as recipients of the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame Service and Contribution Award. All of the inductees and induction classes may be viewed at:
http://goeags.com/HOF.
Lisa Sorrell (Athlete/Track & Field & Contributor)
Sorrell competed in three national championship meets in the late 70's for Eastern, and the time of 54.80 in the 400 meters she recorded outdoors in 1979 in Eugene, Ore., still stands as a school record (entering 2019). She had a time of 55.9 indoors that also still ranks No. 1 all-time at Eastern, and her best 800 time indoors of 2:14.0 was a school record for 26 seasons until broken in 2005. In the 300 meters, her indoor time of 39.6 is a school record but is an event rarely held. She qualified in the 400 for the AIAW National Championships in 1977 (at UCLA), 1978 (at the University of Tennessee) and 1979 (at Michigan State University). The AIAW (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) was the only women's national competition at the time, and Eastern was still a NAIA school for men's sports. She advanced to the semifinals in 1978 and finished 12th. Sorrell won the AIAW Region Nine 400 meter title in 1977 and 1978. She was actually third in that meet in 1979 when she set her school record in Eugene. The winner was Kathy Weston, who had transferred to Oregon State that year and had competed for the United States at the 1976 Olympics in the 800. Sorrell was edged at the finish line for second by Oregon's Dawna Rose. Sorrell was originally from Tenino, Wash., and redshirted at the University of Nevada Las Vegas before joining the program at Eastern. She also competed for Eastern in 1976, and eventually earned her business administration degree with an emphasis in professional accounting. She went on to coach track and field and cross country from 2004-2013 at Orting (Wash.) High School -- a regular entrant at the WIAA State Track and Field Championships which have taken place in Cheney since 1996. The girls team won the 2012 State 1A title and the boys finished fifth. She coached athletes who still hold seven school records entering 2019), including three involving her specialty, the quarter-mile. She coached the record holder in the boys 400 (Jacob Patton, 49.53) and both the boys and girls 4x400 relay teams. She was the Nisqually League Coach of the Year for both track and field and cross country in 2011. Her girls team won the league title four-straight seasons from 2009-2012.
