Jon Englund

Growing up in Astoria, Jon Englund learned early that he would have to be something special athletically if he was to carry the family name to the next level. After all, Englund's father, Axel, had grabbed headlines on the local sports pages in 1929, by becoming the first person ever to navigate from Portland to Astoria in a speed boat. Fighting high waves and inclement weather, the elder Englund pushed his boat over the 97 miles in three hours and forty nine minutes. On the football field, the Fishermen were coming off a high point in AHS history, but by the mid 1950s Astoria's gridiron fortunes had hit rock bottom.

Individually, the 6-foot-3, 220 pound Englund earned three letters from his tackle position. As a senior, Englund was named the Fishermen's captain and a 1st team All-Valley Coast League pick.

On the hardwood, it took Englund a little longer to make his niche in AHS hoop history. During his junior year, his first with the varsity, Englund began the season deep on Coach Ward Paldanius's bench. He played in just 16 of the first 25 games, scoring at a 3.4 per-game clip. At the district and state tournaments, Englund blossomed. He scored 24 points in a win over Seaside and finished his last five games with a team leading 14.2 average.

One of the memorable highlights of Englund's junior season was first round match-up at the state tournament against Corvallis. The Spartans were led by 6-foot 6 Dave Gambee. Corvallis won, 38-28, with the future All-Pro scoring 22 points. That experience, before 7,456 fans at McArthur Court, readied Englund for his senior campaign.

Now a senior, and firmly entrenched as the Fishermen's "Go-To-Man", Englund and his AHS mates ran to an early 11-0 record, including four wins over PIL opponents. Astoria closed out it's season with a 24-6 record.

Individually, Englund scored 474 points in 30 games. That season total still ranked him fourth on the Astoria High School all-time list at the time of his 1997 induction. Englund, who was named to the All-Valley Coast League 1st unit, once had a 50 point weekend, scoring 25 points each against Lebanon and Clatskanie.

As a senior, under Norm Welch, Astoria's baseball program played just nine games. Englund was credited with the decision in all but one game and saw action in relief duty in that contest. Six other games were rained out. Englund and his Fisherman mates played home games at three different sites: Tapiola, Gyro and Tongue Point, due to the inclement weather.

On paper, Englund's stats were not overly impressive, but word had reached Eugene about the hard throwing Astorian, and University of Oregon baseball Hall of Famer, Don Kirsch, offered Englund a baseball scholarship. Before his junior season at the University of Oregon, Englund threw out his arm while playing in an intramural league, ending his baseball career.

In his senior year of 1959, playing in that same intramural competition, Duck basketball coach, Steve Belko, spotted the ex-Fisherman. Liking what he saw, Englund, who had not played organized basketball since his days at AHS, joined the Ducks. Although playing time was at a premium, Englund made the traveling squad, along with Knappa High School legend, Pudgy Hunt.