Kamiakin High’s gym should be named for this longtime sports leader

It’s been 19 months since Kennewick’s Randy Dolven passed away in Arizona at the age of 74, due to an infection in his heart valves and blood, as well as strokes.

I’ve written about Dolven in this space before. He was my coach in high school. In later years, he was my neighbor and sometimes golf partner.

In all those years, he was also my mentor. Someone whom I always looked up to.

As the long-time boys basketball coach and then even more long-time athletic director at Kamiakin High School, Dolven oversaw a successful run of the school’s athletic teams for years.

He recounted that when the school first opened in 1970, his basketball teams had to practice over at Highlands Middle School because the gym floor hadn’t been finished. In fact, there was nothing but dirt there when school first started.

His biggest legacy, though, was as the AD. He influenced numerous coaches at Kamiakin, and was equally influential over other area athletic directors, as well as on a state level (being a member of the executive board of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association).

Personally, I still miss him. As do many, many others.

But now there is something we can do to keep his memory alive.

His oldest son, Heath Dolven, had mentioned back in March of 2020 that he’d like to see Kamiakin’s gymnasium named after his late father.

A committee was formed earlier this month to have the gym named after someone.

The Kennewick school district has a link on its website in which community members can nominate someone for that honor. Deadline is Thursday, Oct. 21.

The committee will then meet the following week, and take the top three names to the school board, which will meet on it during one of its meetings in mid-November.

There are always some deserving names out there, but none more stronger than Randy Dolven’s.

The fear is as the years go on, and we get farther and farther detached from the past, people who did a lot for the community are forgotten.

That’s why we honor people: Fran Rish Stadium and Art Dawald Gym in Richland; Emerson Morgan Field in Pasco; Neil Lampson Stadium in Kennewick, to name a few.

And hopefully, soon, Randy Dolven Gym at Kamiakin.

Small-school football

ROYAL 42, ZILLAH 0: The visiting Knights keep on rolling, holding the Leopards’ offense to just 50 total yards on Friday night.

Luke Bergeson caught four touchdown passes from his brother, quarterback Derek Bergeson, en route to the win.

Derek Bergeson added a TD pass to Avery Ellis, and he also returned an interception 23 yards for a score.

Altogether, Derek Bergeson was 11 for 20 for 235 yards and five touchdown passes. Luke Bergeson finished with 6 pass receptions for 161 yards.

COLUMBIA-BURBANK 58, WARDEN 21: Elijah Kinsey rushed for 233 yards on 17 carries, as the host Coyotes routed Warden in a 2B Eastern Washington Athletic Conference game on Friday.

Teammate Michael Lenke rushed for 96 yards on 7 carries, plus passed for another 130 yards, as Burbank remained unbeaten.

Shaun Wilder led the Coyote receivers, grabbing three passes for 106 yards and a score.

For Warden, Cason Cox rushed for 125 yards and a touchdown, while Caden Wood added 120 yards rushing and a score.

RIVER VIEW 72, TRI-CITIES PREP 27: The visiting Panthers forced seven turnovers and went on to score a school record 72 points in an EWAC game Saturday.

Miguel Farias led the way for River View, rushing for 257 yards on 18 carries, scoring four touchdowns. On defense, he had 9 tackles.

Other standouts for the Panthers included quarterback Ajani Fornos, who passed for 202 yards and three touchdowns; Pio Guzman, who caught 8 passes for 106 yards and two TDs, had 10 tackles on defense, an interception return for a touchdown, and a punt return for a score; and linebacker Zane Hickman, who had 10 tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery and two interceptions.

For the Jaguars, Adam Baerlocher caught 4 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns.

Prep quarterback Caleb Sherfey passed for 152 yards and rushed for another 52.

Note

You might notice that Richland has a “home” game this Saturday at 1 p.m. against Southridge, but the game is being played at Lampson Stadium.

The Bombers are done for the rest of the season at Fran Rish Stadium, as construction crews have already started cleaning out underneath the bleachers. It’s part of the 2017 school bond project that will improve the bleachers, as well as tear out the grass on the field and put in turf.

So Richland will finish out the season with home games at Lampson.

2A CWAC FOOTBALL STANDINGS

Prosser 3-0 CWAC, 4-1 overall

Ellensburg 2-1, 3-3

Othello 3-2, 4-3

Ephrata 2-2, 4-3

Selah 2-2, 3-3

East Valley 1-3, 1-6

Grandview 0-3, 1-6

Friday, Oct. 15 scores: East Valley 48, Grandview 10; Prosser 19, Othello 7; Selah 6, Ephrata 0.

Saturday, Oct. 16: Ellensburg 41, Rochester 0

Friday, Oct. 22: Ellensburg at Othello, 7 p.m.; Grandview at Ephrata, 7 p.m.; Prosser at East Valley-Yakima, 7 p.m.; Rogers-Spokane at Selah, 6 p.m.

1A SCAC EAST FOOTBALL

Royal 2-0 SCAC, 7-0 overall

Connell 2-0, 3-2

College Place 2-1, 4-3

Kiona-Benton 0-2, 2-3

Wahluke 0-3, 1-6

Friday, Oct. 15, scores: College Place 28, Kiona-Benton 13; Connell 28, Wahluke 13.

Saturday, Oct. 16: Royal 42, Zillah 0

Friday, Oct. 22: Kiona-Benton at Connell, 7 p.m.; Royal at College Place, 7 p.m.; Wahluke at La Salle, 7 p.m.

2B EWAC EAST FOOTBALL

Columbia-Burbank 3-0 EWAC, 7-0 overall

River View 2-1, 5-2

Mabton 2-1, 2-3

Warden 1-2, 4-3

Tri-Cities Prep 1-2, 3-3

Friday, Oct. 15: Columbia-Burbank 58, Warden 20; Mabton 48, Dayton-Waitsburg 6.

Saturday, Oct. 16: River View 72, Tri-Cities Prep 27.

Thursday, Oct. 21: Dayton-Waitsburg at River View, 6 p.m.; Tri-Cities Prep at Warden, 6 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 23: Columbia-Burbank at Mabton, 1 p.m.