ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME
GARY BOGGS
Track & Field 1959 – 1961
Gary was born August 26, 1941 in Kentucky and his parents moved to Vancouver when he was two.
He went to Hudson’s Bay High School where he was named Athlete of the Year his senior year in 1959.
Following a very successful high school athletic career, he graduated and attended Clark College for two years. Gary was a member of Penguins' WSJCAC Championship track teams in 1960 and 1961, where he threw the shot put. In his freshman year at Clark, he made an immediate impact and broke the record in the shot put. The next year, he bettered his performance in the shot again, but teammate Bill Swain out-threw him by a foot. Boggs was also a standout wrestler on the Clark wrestling team. He placed first in the heavyweight division at the Oregon Collegiate Championships and the team finished the season undefeated that year. For all of his accomplishments at Clark, Boggs was named Athlete of the Year in 1961. Gary has also been inducted into the NWAC Hall of Fame class of 2002.
After Clark, Gary went on to Lewis & Clark College where he won national honors in three sports: football, wrestling and track. He was a First-Team NAIA All-American offensive guard and twice named to the First-Team All-Northwest Conference team as a lineman. He was a two-time NWC shot put champion in track & field, setting a Lewis & Clark record in the event of 51-7. He went on to finish seventh in the NAIA National Championships. In addition, he won the 191-pound Conference Wrestling Championship two times and was sixth in NAIA Nationals as a senior. Boggs is also a member of the Lewis & Clark Hall of Fame, inducted in 1979.
Upon graduating from Lewis & Clark, he went on to teach and coach in the Vancouver School District at Fort Vancouver High School, where he was the head football coach for the Trappers for 34 years from 1967-2001. In that time as head coach, Boggs overall record was 163-149-3 and his teams won five league championships. He was also honored with numerous awards and accolades for his leadership at Fort Vancouver HS over his 34 years at the helm.
Gary Boggs passed away in 2011, but he will always be remembered by those he met as a coach and teacher who helped youngsters achieve more than they thought they ever could. He was a motivator and had a great ability to bring out the best in those he coached. His oft-used quote was, “You seldom exceed your own expectations.”
