Sullivan Makes Clackamas CC Hall of Fame
Oregon State track and field/cross country coach Kelly Sullivan will be inducted into the Clackamas Community College Hall of Fame this Saturday at the school’s 2014 Alumni Reunion and Hall of Fame Banquet.
The ceremony will be held at the Randall Gymnasium on the CCC campus, starting with a 5 p.m. social hour. The dinner and inductions will begin at 7 p.m.
Sullivan graduated from CCC in 1977 after a standout athletic career, and returned in 1980 to coach the track and cross country programs.
As an athlete, he is still in CCC’s career top-10 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. He advanced to the junior college national meet in cross country and track in both of his seasons there.
As a coach, he led CCC to conference titles in 1981 and 1982 and to national championships in 1981 and 1982. He was elected to the NJCAA Hall of Fame in 1986 and to the NWAACC Hall of Fame in 1994.
“Clackamas CC was home for me two different times,” Sullivan said. “First when I was really green behind the ears having been raised in Nehalem [Ore.] and graduating from Neah-Kah-Nie High School on the coast, and then a second time when Buck Monore, Norm Berny and the administration asked me back once I had graduated from Willamette University.
“The second time was when I got my college coaching career started at a very young age [23], some 34 years ago now! So Clackamas CC is truly a very important place for me. The young men I got to work with during my four years truly was a blessing and I owe all of them a lot.
“What makes this event even more important for me is the fact that the person who recruited me out of high school, Norm Berny, is also being inducted. That in itself means more than my induction, as Norm and the head track and cross country coach Buck Monroe took a big chance on me two separate times.
“If they hadn’t I am pretty sure the 34 years of college coaching probably would of never occurred and especially at the places I've been honored to work at, like here at Oregon State University.”
Sullivan attended Willamette University after graduating from CCC and earned NAIA All-American honors in track and cross country. He coached at Auburn (1984-96) and at Willamette (1996-2004) before coming to OSU in 2004 when the women’s cross country and track programs were re-instated after an 18-year hiatus. He has earned 24 conference or regional Coach of the Year awards and was the USA Track & Field Developmental Chair from 1992 until 2004.
For more information on the Oregon State cross country team, follow the team by Facebook at Facebook.com/OSUTrackCrossCountry or on Twitter at twitter.com/@beavers_track.
