Best athletes in Washington history
Phoenix Washington Rams
This is a school rich in athletes, especially in the ‘70s and ‘80s, when the Pagel brothers starred in multiple sports. Karl Pagel, who went on to play Major League Baseball, could have made this list, but there were so many stars who went on to do incredible things beyond high school, making it tough to whittle it down to these five.
1. Charlie Hickcox, 1965
He started to swim seriously when he was 13. That was the start of Olympic gold. Three years after graduating from Washington, Hickcox won three gold medals and a silver at the Mexico Games during the 1968 Summer Olympics. He helped USA set a world record in the 400-meter medley relay in the Games. He was named the World Swimmer of the Year in 1968. He was a 13-time NCAA All-American at Indiana University, where he is part of the school’s Hall of Fame. He won eight NCAA individual swimming championships, leading the Hoosiers to back-to-back national titles in 1968 and ‘69. In 2010, he died at the age of 63 after battling cancer.
2. Mike Pagel, 1978
This talented quarterback led the Rams to the 1977 state football championship game, before they lost their only game to 14-0 Tempe McClintock 14-9. Pagel went on to star at Arizona State, where he passed for 5,196 yards and 54 TDs in his career. He played 12 years in the NFL with the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns and the Los Angeles Rams. For a piece of trivia, Pagel wore the No. 18 jersey for the Colts, before QB Peyton Manning wore it and had such a brilliant career that it ended up being retired by the Colts.
3. Gea Johnson, 1985
She was the Dial National Female Student-Athlete of the Year in 1984. She began her high school career at Tempe Corona del Sol, before transferring. She was a star basketball player and excelled in every event in track and field. Track and field led her to a career at Arizona State in the seven-event heptathlon. She qualified for the Winter Olympics in bobsledding and became a world-record holder in cycling.
4. Stephanie Tolleson, 1974
She got her claim to fame in tennis. In 1976, she was part of the pro tennis team called the Phoenix Racquets that included Chris Evert. She starred in college at Trinity, where she was a twotime All-American. She was a singles finalist in 1975 and semifinals in 1976 at the the STA Collegiate Championships. She was a member of USTA championship teams in ‘75 and ‘76. She was a gold medalist in doubles at the 1975 Pan American Games. She is part of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Women’s Hall of Fame. She competed in the U.S. Open and Wimbledon in the late 1970s.
5. Carlos Artis, 1991
One of the state’s all-time greatest athletes, he had a personality that filled up a gym. He could fill it up on the basketball court, as the state’s leading scorer in 1991. He was Player of the Year his junior and senior seasons. And he was just as good catching the football as a 6foot-3 wide receiver for the Rams. His greatest claim to fame through high school was that he had never missed a day of school since kindergarten. He went on to play football at Arizona State.