Alan Stockdale (1959) - Basketball, Track

Alan earned a varsity letter in basketball his junior and senior year and lettered in track all 3 years.  At 6 ft. 5 in. his height made him a perfect starting center for the basketball team and couple that with his right handed hook shot, he was hard for  the opposition to check. Alan scored in the double figures every game and was the leading scorer in the SWW  Conference scoring a total of 253 points his senior year with an average of 16.4 ppg.  Alan was voted Honorary Captain his senior year by the players and was the only player from R.A. Long named to the SWW Conference All-Star team that year.  He was voted by his peers as the Outstanding Athlete of his Senior Class.  Alan also went out for track and was very successful in his events; broad jump, long jump, high jump, the 440 yard dash and the 880 relay.  His track coach Wayne Mann asked Alan, “don’t you ever get tired”, since he went out for so many track events.  Alan’s response was, “you’re not suppose to get tired in athletics.”  Mr. Mann asked him the question right after he won 1st in the 440-yard dash, broad jump and the high jump.  Alan was offered a basketball scholarship to attend Lower Columbia Junior College (LCJC) and continued his prowess on the court for the Red Devils his freshman year.  After LCJC Alan continued playing basketball for the Shamrock Tavern in the Longview City League.  The Shamrock Tavern team played AAU basketball teams and many JV college teams in the Northwest.  The team won many Gold Ball Tournaments in Longview, sponsored by the YMCA.  Alan earned MVP basketball honors many times for the Shamrock team during the many Gold Ball Tournaments.  He once scored 46 points in one game to set a new individual scoring record for the Lower Columbia gymnasium defeating the Lower Columbia JV team 100-57 in 1963.  Alan went through the Carpenter Apprenticeship Program at LCC and became a Journeyman Carpenter.  When the construction business went into a slump Alan went to work at the Weyerhaeuser Pulp Mill working his way up to a shift engineer until he retired.  The hard work that motivated Alan to become and outstanding athlete has followed him his entire life.  Alan and his wife Heidi have been married 50 plus years and have three daughters.