Four Athletic Alumni Named “Falcon Legends”

WHILE THE REST OF THE Puget Sound region may recognize him as a trainer to basketball stars, Seattle Pacific University remembers Frank Furtado ’61 as the godfather of a great wrestling program.

On February 2, during Homecoming 2007, Furtado will be among four inductees to the Falcon Legends Hall of Fame. Joining him will be the late basketball great Orville Anderson ’59, plus two sensational athletes from the 1980s: multiple track and field threat Anita Sartin Behrbaum ’87, and Seattle Pacific’s first women’s basketball All-American, Linda Johnson Cooper ’89.

Furtado started the wrestling team from scratch in 1965 while also serving as athletic trainer. In the cramped quarters of what is now the Falcon Lounge in Royal Brougham Pavilion, he built champions. Five of Furtado’s teams finished among the top 20 nationally, including two in the top 10. Two individuals were NCAA runners-up.

When the wrestling program was cut in 1974, Furtado went on to serve as the trainer and traveling secretary for the Seattle Super- Sonics, who won an NBA title five years later. The Sonics named their practice facility in honor of Furtado and his wife, Sarah, who collectively served the team more than 50 years.

Anderson earned honorable mention All- America as a senior. He still holds the single game record for rebounds (25) and ranks among the top eight in both scoring and rebounding.

Sartin and Johnson both arrived on campus in 1985, leading a resurgence in both women’s track and basketball. Johnson joined a program that had not fashioned a winning record in seven years. By her junior year, the team went 16-11. Smooth and efficient, Johnson averaged nearly 20 points over her final three seasons.

Sartin won the 1987 NCAA championship and went on to represent the United States in international competition. She graduated with school records in everything from sprints (100 and 200) and hurdles to javelin.

This year marks the fifth class of Falcon Hall of Fame inductees, bringing the total population to 24. Tickets to the luncheon and ceremony are $30 and may be purchased by calling 206-281-2085.

Send This Page

Send-to-Printer

Back to the top
Back to Home

Beyond Intellectual Mastery
President Philip Eaton offers a more complete view of education: Learning is “a bigger story than our own little pieces of intellectual mastery.”

Advising Future Physicians
In 2006, SPU achieved a 100 percent medical school acceptance rate through its unique, longtime approach to “shepherding” premed students.

Fiction on a Small Canvas
A new volume celebrates the best in Christian short stories — and leads off with a creation of SPU Adjunct Professor Mary Kenagy.

Goodwill Goalkeeping
Star soccer player Marcus Hahnemann ’93 wins fans in Europe, and represents America in the 2006 World Cup.

My Response
Principal and SPU doctoral student Karol Pulliam considers the classroom implications of John Medina’s 12 brain rules.

Back-Cover Art
Class of 2000 alumna Anne Faith Nicholls gives Response readers a “Page One Examination.”