2023 Hall of Fame Inductees
Kathe McNutt '72
Gene Dagostini '69
Ron Cadarette '65
Girls 880-yard medley relay state champions '70
Gene Dagostini '69
Ron Cadarette '65
Girls 880-yard medley relay state champions '70
Article from The World by John Guenther, November 26, 2023
A couple of people who have dedicated their lives to coaching were among the inductees to The Marshfield Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday at The Mill Casino-Hotel.
Kathe McNutt and Gene Dagostini were joined by the late Ron Cadarette and the pioneer girls 880-yard medley relay state champions from 1970 in the 19th class to be inducted.
McNutt has been the coach for Marshfield’s swim team since 1987, touching the lives of thousands of students either through her coaching the high school and club teams or providing swim lessons to elementary school kids over the years.
She spoke extensively about her pride in the community for keeping the pool at Mingus Park open year-round, which wasn’t always the case. “We just figured out how to keep things going,” she said, noting that the pool now is open 16 hours a day. “This community should be so proud of what we are doing. I have a lot of programs.
“This community, thank you for all you’ve done, thank you for all that you do. I am blessed to be a part of this community.”
McNutt, who swam for the Pirates and graduated in 1972, started as a coach for the Gold Coast Swim Team in 1974 and has been a figure at the pool ever since. “People say, ‘When are you going to retire,’” she said. “I don’t know. I’m having a lot of fun.”
Marshfield athletic director Greg Mulkey, who presided over the festivities Saturday, said McNutt has provided a model example for other coaches to follow and noted the many coaching awards she has received over the years, saying they are “a testament to the leadership, knowledge and positive impact” McNutt has had on students.
“As a person, her kindness, passion, spirit and humble character are why she is here (being honored) tonight,” he said.
Dagostini, who graduated from Marshfield in 1969, made his coaching mark in Albany after a stellar athletic career at Marshfield that included being an all-state lineman in football and placing fourth in the state wrestling tournament. The Marshfield football team lost to Jesuit in the championship game his senior year.
Dagostini went on to play football and wrestle for Willamette University, earning all-league honors in football and three times finishing in the top three in the conference meet in wrestling, before arriving in Albany.
He was a teacher for more than 30 years and coached football and spent many years as the head wrestling coach at West Albany High School.
He noted that he still helps with the wrestling program years after retiring as a teacher because his daughter and son-in-law coach the sport at the school. He is a firm believer in the value of sports.
“Lessons you don’t learn in an academic classroom are learned on the gridiron or wrestling mat,” he said.
Dagostini said he had the great fortune of being at Marshfield in the 1960s, when the Pirates were renowned in the state and he was an athlete for two revered coaches, Pete Susick in football and John Dustin in wrestling. He said success came because of them and the many other coaches in their programs.
“Big shout out and thanks to every assistant coach and sub-varsity coach who helped shape a young Gene Dagostini,” he said.
He also was inducted into West Albany’s hall of fame in 2019.
Caderette, who graduated in 1965 and died in 2008, was one of the best Marshfield athletes of his era, thriving in basketball and baseball.
Mulkey said longtime Marshfield coach Bruce Hoffine considered Caderette the best all-around basketball player he coached.
As a junior, Caderette led the Pirates to the state tournament and was a second-team all-league and third-team all-state selection.
His senior year, he was named first-team all-league and second-team all-state after the Pirates just missed the state tournament.
He went on to play basketball at the University of Oregon on the freshman team, then at Clark Community College and finally at Western Washington University, where he got a teaching degree that led to teaching and coaching football and basketball in Alsea for several years before he returned to Coos Bay where he worked as a general contractor while also coaching his son in soccer, basketball and baseball for several years and serving as a board member for SWOYA.
Longtime friend Nick Nylander said Cadarette was a skilled shooter because of hours and hours and hours of practice, made all his teammates better and also was very coachable.
“His relationship with the coaches led him to go into teaching himself,” Nylander said.
Cadarette was represented Saturday by his children, Ryan and Missy, and his sister, Bonnie Smith.
“I want to thank the hall of fame committee,” Ryan Cadarette said. “This would mean a lot to my dad.”
The champion relay team included Cheryl (Bates) Duman, Barb (Seyler) Benson, Fran (Auer) Worthen and Carol (Knight) Kemnitz and was coached by Nadine Brood.
The quartet, with Seyler and Knight running the 110-yard legs, Bates on the 220-yard leg and Auer on the 440-yard anchor leg, set a record of 1 minute, 54.8 seconds at the state meet at Springfield High School in the first year the race was contested.
The same group had run 1:58.3 in the district meet, with Bates on the anchor leg. She said she initially was upset that Brood switched the two at state, until she saw “Fran passing all the girls from the other seven teams” during that final leg after receiving the baton in eighth place.
Worthen, one of the most decorated track athletes in Marshfield history, said the relay was her favorite event.
She noted the challenges for female athletes in those days before Title IX, when only a few sports were offered and they had to compete in their school PE uniforms in a short season that only included about six meets, with the coach driving an old logging van rather than a regular school bus.
“Coach Brood was an inspiration to me,” she said. “She believed we could exel.”
Brood also talked of the challenges of finding time to practice on the track around the practice for the boys team and with no set budget of their own.
The champion relay was a highlight, she said.
“I owe a debt of gratitude to this relay team for the joy they added to my life,” she said.
A couple of people who have dedicated their lives to coaching were among the inductees to The Marshfield Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday at The Mill Casino-Hotel.
Kathe McNutt and Gene Dagostini were joined by the late Ron Cadarette and the pioneer girls 880-yard medley relay state champions from 1970 in the 19th class to be inducted.
McNutt has been the coach for Marshfield’s swim team since 1987, touching the lives of thousands of students either through her coaching the high school and club teams or providing swim lessons to elementary school kids over the years.
She spoke extensively about her pride in the community for keeping the pool at Mingus Park open year-round, which wasn’t always the case. “We just figured out how to keep things going,” she said, noting that the pool now is open 16 hours a day. “This community should be so proud of what we are doing. I have a lot of programs.
“This community, thank you for all you’ve done, thank you for all that you do. I am blessed to be a part of this community.”
McNutt, who swam for the Pirates and graduated in 1972, started as a coach for the Gold Coast Swim Team in 1974 and has been a figure at the pool ever since. “People say, ‘When are you going to retire,’” she said. “I don’t know. I’m having a lot of fun.”
Marshfield athletic director Greg Mulkey, who presided over the festivities Saturday, said McNutt has provided a model example for other coaches to follow and noted the many coaching awards she has received over the years, saying they are “a testament to the leadership, knowledge and positive impact” McNutt has had on students.
“As a person, her kindness, passion, spirit and humble character are why she is here (being honored) tonight,” he said.
Dagostini, who graduated from Marshfield in 1969, made his coaching mark in Albany after a stellar athletic career at Marshfield that included being an all-state lineman in football and placing fourth in the state wrestling tournament. The Marshfield football team lost to Jesuit in the championship game his senior year.
Dagostini went on to play football and wrestle for Willamette University, earning all-league honors in football and three times finishing in the top three in the conference meet in wrestling, before arriving in Albany.
He was a teacher for more than 30 years and coached football and spent many years as the head wrestling coach at West Albany High School.
He noted that he still helps with the wrestling program years after retiring as a teacher because his daughter and son-in-law coach the sport at the school. He is a firm believer in the value of sports.
“Lessons you don’t learn in an academic classroom are learned on the gridiron or wrestling mat,” he said.
Dagostini said he had the great fortune of being at Marshfield in the 1960s, when the Pirates were renowned in the state and he was an athlete for two revered coaches, Pete Susick in football and John Dustin in wrestling. He said success came because of them and the many other coaches in their programs.
“Big shout out and thanks to every assistant coach and sub-varsity coach who helped shape a young Gene Dagostini,” he said.
He also was inducted into West Albany’s hall of fame in 2019.
Caderette, who graduated in 1965 and died in 2008, was one of the best Marshfield athletes of his era, thriving in basketball and baseball.
Mulkey said longtime Marshfield coach Bruce Hoffine considered Caderette the best all-around basketball player he coached.
As a junior, Caderette led the Pirates to the state tournament and was a second-team all-league and third-team all-state selection.
His senior year, he was named first-team all-league and second-team all-state after the Pirates just missed the state tournament.
He went on to play basketball at the University of Oregon on the freshman team, then at Clark Community College and finally at Western Washington University, where he got a teaching degree that led to teaching and coaching football and basketball in Alsea for several years before he returned to Coos Bay where he worked as a general contractor while also coaching his son in soccer, basketball and baseball for several years and serving as a board member for SWOYA.
Longtime friend Nick Nylander said Cadarette was a skilled shooter because of hours and hours and hours of practice, made all his teammates better and also was very coachable.
“His relationship with the coaches led him to go into teaching himself,” Nylander said.
Cadarette was represented Saturday by his children, Ryan and Missy, and his sister, Bonnie Smith.
“I want to thank the hall of fame committee,” Ryan Cadarette said. “This would mean a lot to my dad.”
The champion relay team included Cheryl (Bates) Duman, Barb (Seyler) Benson, Fran (Auer) Worthen and Carol (Knight) Kemnitz and was coached by Nadine Brood.
The quartet, with Seyler and Knight running the 110-yard legs, Bates on the 220-yard leg and Auer on the 440-yard anchor leg, set a record of 1 minute, 54.8 seconds at the state meet at Springfield High School in the first year the race was contested.
The same group had run 1:58.3 in the district meet, with Bates on the anchor leg. She said she initially was upset that Brood switched the two at state, until she saw “Fran passing all the girls from the other seven teams” during that final leg after receiving the baton in eighth place.
Worthen, one of the most decorated track athletes in Marshfield history, said the relay was her favorite event.
She noted the challenges for female athletes in those days before Title IX, when only a few sports were offered and they had to compete in their school PE uniforms in a short season that only included about six meets, with the coach driving an old logging van rather than a regular school bus.
“Coach Brood was an inspiration to me,” she said. “She believed we could exel.”
Brood also talked of the challenges of finding time to practice on the track around the practice for the boys team and with no set budget of their own.
The champion relay was a highlight, she said.
“I owe a debt of gratitude to this relay team for the joy they added to my life,” she said.