Max Perry earns Siuslaw Hall of Fame
Vikings standout also won all-American accolades at Southern Oregon
HOF Class of 2024:
Eric Daniel - Forrest Lewis - Alaura Little - Guy Mamac -
Max Perry - Katy Potter - Trevor May - Tyler May
The induction-dinner is 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23, at the Florence Events Center.
By Don Hunt
Siuslaw graduate and Siuslaw Hall of Fame member
As a first-team, all-state performer on Siuslaw’s 2006 state championship football team, a solid contributor in basketball and a district champion in track and field, Max Perry likely punched his ticket into the Siuslaw Sports Hall of Fame based on his high school accomplishments.
But those feats were small potatoes compared to what Perry achieved at Southern Oregon University.
Perry is one of eight inductees named to the 2024 Hall of Fame. The others will be announced at a later date. The banquet will be Friday, Aug. 23, at the Florence Events Center beginning at 5 p.m. with a social hour. Dinner is at 6 with the program to follow.
In the spring of 2012, Perry capped a brilliant All-American track career with the Raiders when he placed second in both the shot put and the hammer throw at the NAIA national meet. He also broke the school record in the latter event with a throw of 194 feet, 8 inches, a mark that still stands.
Perry’s best of 58-2½ in the shot put ranks fourth in SOU history.
Asked why his throws in college were gargantuan compared to his high school marks, Perry said, “I learned to love the weight room.”
Perry managed 49-9 1/2 in the shot put and 140 feet in the discus at Siuslaw.
“I lifted weights in high school but I was far more dedicated in college,” said Perry, who packed on 50 pounds of muscle and strength at SOU and ultimately tipped the scales at 295 pounds.
Perry, the dean of students at Siuslaw High and the throws coach, gives his track athletes a two-word answer when they ask him how they can best improve: “Lift weights.”
Perry’s rise to national prominence occurred gradually. He attended Lane Community College in Eugene for two years and then took a year off from competing to student teach and coach in Alaska before enrolling at SOU in the fall of 2010. There, he met Mike Schaan, the Raiders’ throws coach who became a trusted mentor and taught him the finer points of how to launch the implements.
Perry emerged as the Cascade Conference champion in the shot put in the spring of 2011 and was runner-up in the hammer. He went on to finish fourth in the hammer at nationals.
Perry never quite reached his distance goals of 60 feet in the shot and 200 feet in the discus, but the fact that his school record in the hammer remains on the books a dozen years later is testament to its significance.
Perry’s time at SOU was fulfilling, but his favorite memory in sports was playing football at Siuslaw, capped by the Vikings going unbeaten in 2006 and registering a scintillating 21-14 overtime win over Sisters in the state championship game at Autzen Stadium.
Never mind that Perry broke his ankle in the fourth quarter. He hobbled off the field but returned a couple plays later and finished the game.
“They would have had to sedate me to get me off the field,” Perry said.
The injury caused Perry to miss the first six weeks of his senior season in basketball, but he returned with a bang, scoring 15 points in a win over North Bend. A self-described “rebounder and banger,” Perry helped the Vikings to a Far West League title.