Two former members of the staff at Eastern Washington University, Dick Zornes and Dave Cook, were inducted into the Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame in ceremonies Oct. 25 at the Spokane Veterans Arena.
Zornes, hired during Eastern’s transition to NCAA Division I football, is a new member in the coaches’ category.
Zornes laid the foundation for an Eastern football program that now ranks among the elite in the Football Championship Subdivision. He won a Big Sky Conference title and made two playoff appearances, including the Eagles’ first in 1985.
Hired in 1979, Zornes spent 15 years as head coach where was 89-66-2. Prior to coaching at Eastern, Zornes was an all-star safety and fullback as a player. He later served two stints as athletic director.
Cook first came to Eastern in 1985 in a temporary role at sports information director. He left and spent four years at Idaho before returning to Cheney where he spent 32 more years before retiring in 2021. Cook, who wore many hats in his career at EWU was integral in establishing the State 1A-2B-1B track meet in Cheney and joins the hall’s scroll honor.
They join several other Eastern representatives in the hall such as Indy 500 winner Tom Sneva, Olympic gold medalist Launi Meili, coaches such as Ron Cox, Dave Holmes, Pam Parks and contributors like Dr. Jerry Krause.
Paul Delaney is a retired Free Press Publishing reporter and can be reached at pauldelaney53@comcast.net.
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