Five other members named to TD Hall of Fame

Ken Dayley had a solid baseball career at The Dalles High School and turned that success into being drafted third overall in the first round by the Atlanta Braves.

He had 33 wins and 39 saves in his 11-year career that included stops in Atlanta, St. Louis and Toronto.

In 16 postseason games, Dayley tossed 20 2/3 innings, went 1-0 with five saves, struck out 15 and walked six with an earned run average of 0.44.

Dayley thanked the late Bob Williams for being a big part of his baseball development.

“We were fortunate to have Mr. Williams here,” said Dayley, who graduated in 1977. “He would take the time and whenever he could, whether it was at 7 o’clock in the morning or whenever, to help me get some throwing in and he would use the little devices he had to help me learn why and where the ball is going and how to get in and out. He was a tremendous asset to somebody wanting to learn the game.”

Ed Urness

Ed Urness is well-known for being one of the first bonus babies to be drafted in 1952 out of The Dalles High School by the Boston Red Sox.

He played for several farm system teams in the Red Sox organization until an arm injury ended his career. He later became part owner of the C.H. Urness Motors organization, taking on the Plymouth, Dodge and Chrysler franchise in The Dalles.

In his playing career, Urness was part of a traveling sports team in Germany, where his teams would play sports, including football, basketball and baseball.

From 1960-1976, Urness managed and coached the American Legion baseball team and he, along with his brothers Jerry and C.R., were the reason baseball resumed in The Dalles after World War II.

Ed Urness was appointed as the Oregon State Baseball Commissioner for the American Junior Legion baseball program during the 1970s.

Aside from athletics, Urness was a member of The Dalles Kiwanis, a Wasco County Fair Board member for 17 years and served on The Dalles Parks and Recreation Commission.

John Dick

John Dick is a big name in the world of basketball as one of the key players on the University of Oregon’s only NCAA championship basketball team.

Dick, now a resident of Eugene, was like an honorary dean of the UO men’s basketball program and remained a stalwart fan throughout his life.

He was a starter on the 1939 “Tall Firs,” the UO team that won the first-ever national college basketball championship, which also was the first national team championship in UO history.

But Dick also was a war hero, having enlisted in the Navy the day after the Pearl Harbor bombing. He became a pilot and flight instructor and flew combat missions in the Pacific in 1945. He continued in the Navy and served during the Korean and Vietnam wars before retiring as a rear admiral in 1973.

The Admiral continued to be a strong link to the UO’s first national championship season, when the Tall Firs, as they then were known, ran up a 29-5 record. The team blasted through the playoffs to win the West regionals in California, then boarded a train for the title game in Evanston, Ill.

They played Ohio State on a Monday night, led 21-13 at halftime and later scored eight straight points when OSU closed within one. With James Naismith, the man who invented basketball in 1891, watching from the stands, the Tall Firs won, 46-33, and 6-foot, 4-inch John Dick led all scorers with 13 points.

After retiring from the Navy, Dick was an active member of the Oregon booster club. He was the first nominee to the Pac-10’s then-new Hall of Honor in 2002.

At The Dalles, Dick was a multi-sport athlete and award winner, and also served as class president and held other posts. He earned a law degree from the UO in 1940 and a master’s degree in international relations from George Washington University in 1962.

Cindy Wacker-Nehring

Cindy Wacker-Nehring reached out to many through gymnastics.

From the early days of driving back and forth to the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland, Wacker-Nehring worked out with coach Marcia Pereira-Wynn and won multiple championships, including a first-place floor exercise (1971) and vault and floor in (1972). She helped lead her team to a championship after firsts in vault, beam, bars and all-around in 1973, and then posted a clean sweep of all events and first all-around in 1974, where her performance paved the way for a back-to-back title.

In 1973, she became the first elite gymnast for Oregon, and attended the Olympic Trials in 1974. Out of 110 gymnasts, Wacker-Nehring placed around 30th.

In 1975, Wacker-Nehring was the 1975 Northwest Regional Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association all-around champion, taking first place in the vault and floor exercises, and second in the balance beam.

She went on to finish 10th in the all-around at the National Gymnastics Championships and was the women’s all-around champion at the Oregon U.S. Gymnastics Federation Championships.

She took second place in the all-around at the 1977 Northwest College championships and was ranked amongst the top 24 gymnasts in the nation.

Bill Hammel

Bill Hammel excelled in football, basketball and track and field while at Wahtonka High School from 1963-1966, and played in the Shriner’s Hospital All-Star game as a senior.

In his three years, Hammel lettered in football, basketball and track and field, and in his senior year, he won all-conference and all-state honors after helping the football team advance to the district playoffs and added an all-state nod in basketball. He won co-Athlete of the Year in high school and played in the Shriner’s Hospital football game. He earned a football scholarship to play at Eastern Oregon University until transferring to Linfield as a sophomore, played defensive tackle, backup offensive tackle and tight end and was a conference all-star.

Hammel earned his business degree from Linfield and mainly works on his farm. He is currently serving on six conservation boards.

“Thanks to the committee for this and to all the coaches I have had that helped train me to get to the next level in the sports that I played in,” Hammel said. “I really enjoyed it. I would like to thank my mom and dad who were very supportive of what I did.”