Kathleen Hart
High School Honors
4 cross country letters: On four successive PIL Championship teams. Third in state as a Sophomore, second in State as a junior and senior.
4 basketball letters: On PIL Championship team and third in state as a freshman, second in state as a sophomore and junior; PIL Champions and third in state as a Senior. 1st Team All-PIL last three years.
4 track & field letters: PIL 440 Relay Champions all four years; PIL Mile Relay Champions last three years; PIL Champion in 110yd high hurdles as a sophomore and junior (set record, 14.5 seconds). On PIL Champions team as a junior and senior; third in state as a sophomore and second in State as junior and senior.
Lincoln’s first Gatorade All-American Athlete as a senior. Outstanding Senior Athlete; Lincoln Hall of Honor(Legends of Lincoln), National Honor Society all four years. Cousin of Molly Morton Salazar, fellow 2026 PIL HOF Inductee, who collaborated on starting Lincoln's cross country team in first years of Title IX.
Post-High School Career
University of Washington, 1979-82. Earned on basketball letter and Most Inspirational award as a freshman honor.
B.A. degree (cum laude) in International Finance.
Worked as a commercial loan officer for U.S. Bank. Elementary school teacher in Reynolds District, 2008-18.
Enjoyed slow-pitch softball in her 40s, along with numerous volunteer activities.
Commentary
Thank you so much to the PIL Hall of Fame for this tremendous honor. I am humbled and honored to be a part of this talented group of athletes and leaders. And I am so grateful to Title IX and the opportunity it gave me to play sports at Lincoln High School. It was one of the best times of my life
Growing up as the youngest of five girls, my dad Hal Hart had us all out in the streets, playing softball or football. I loved it all! He coached our Ainsworth Angels softball team, where I played shortstop from 4th to 8th grade. And we even won the City Championship at Irv Lind Stadium. We learned from an early age the value of teamwork and to cheer each other on through life’s ups and downs. I can’t thank my family enough for all of their love and support over the years.
At Lincoln, I again was so fortunate to have wonderful supportive, demanding coaches. We may have been the luckiest women student athletes in the PIL. Dave Bailey, Jerry Carr, and Fred Freimark were passionate about their jobs and got the best out of us. They didn’t care if we were boys or girls, they wanted us to work hard and do our best.
One of the important life lessons they taught us was the joy of working together for a goal and in most cases achieving it. Even in times of disappointment (and there were many), we learned how to face adversity and how we could do better next time. They taught us lessons that have lasted a lifetime.
I also was very fortunate to have the BEST teammates, many of whom are Hall of Fame members or definitely should be. In Cross Country, I ran after my cousin Molly Morton, Mary Hanlon and Lori Foote for years. In basketball, I passed the ball to Patty Montgomery (a future WNBA player) and Karla Neupert. In track, I was lucky to run with Melanie Baptiste, Robin Marks, Tammy Nelson, Helen Gould, and Wanda Paden. And that is just to name a few.
All my life, I have loved competing in different sports. In my 40’s, I got to play softball again at Tualatin Hills Rec Center with my sister and grade school friends on Hal’s Angels, yep my Dad was still coaching. We had come full circle and I’ll be forever grateful.
Thank you again for this incredible honor. I am so proud to be part of the PIL Hall of Fame and so grateful for the family, coaches, teammates, and community that made this journey possible.
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