Euclid City Schools

 Jackie and Ron Potokar had two children who were exemplary student-athletes at Euclid High School. Dave, from the Class of 1987 was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. Now this year his sister Wendy has received her just due as she also becomes a member of this Hall of Fame for her many honors and achievements in volleyball and swimming, but especially in track.

In looking back at her life in sports, Wendy attributes one of her elementary-school physical education

teachers as playing a major part in first giving her "the true taste of competition and working to be the best she could be, both on and off the playing field." Chet Nolan at Lincoln Elementary School had that distinction, and Wendy has never forgotten his early morning gymnastics lessons and the track meets for 4th, 5th and 6th graders.

At Shore Junior High School Coach Lou Tomasi nurtured her development so much that she "fell in love with the hurdles" in 7th grade, a track event at which she would become a star in high school. Volleyball also became a passion for her, especially the reliance on the team concept inherent in that sport.

It was at Euclid High School that Wendy really blossomed as a sports star, with volleyball and track consuming most of her time. Swimming also attracted her, however, and she excelled in the aquatic sprints.

Awards started to pile up for her. As a sophomore she performed at such a high level in volleyball that she was given the Most Valuable Player Award while also becoming the top hurdler on the track team. As a junior she was selected as the Most Improved Player in volleyball, chose to go out for the swim team, and became a star on the track team. That year she earned a trophy for Most Team Points Scored (204), was named the Most Valuable Player, and set the school record for the 100-meter hurdles (14.6 seconds), the latter honor a haunting memory for her because she "wasn't the conference champion. Second place was bitter sweet."

Focusing on track as a senior, Wendy ran on the Indoor Track Team in the winter for Coaches Pete Schwenke and Bob Ramlow and did so well in the 300-meter hurdles event that Coach Schwenke, the girls track coach, had high hopes for her. In the spring for the outdoor season, she became a Greater Cleveland Conference Champion in the 100-meter hurdles, helped her team defeat Bedford for the Conference Title, and personally made it to the State Regionals. Despite her effort, however, a hamstring injury early in the outdoor season lingered on and made it impossible for her to go beyond the Regionals.

Wendy earned seven varsity letters: two in volleyball, one in swimming, one in indoor track, and three in outdoor track. As a senior she received the Fraternal Order of Police Outstanding Female Athlete Award. An outstanding student as well, she was a member of the National Honor Society, Senior Class Cabinet, Varsity Chorale, and the Euclidian Yearbook Staff.

Wendy attended Miami University where she had won a scholarship. She ran track for one year before injuring her knee and in 1987 earned her bachelor's degree in K-12 physical education and health with a minor in photography. (She got her master's degree in curriculum and instruction in 1992 at Ashland University.) She returned to the Euclid Schools to teach and coach for nine years. In 1993 she coached the varsity volleyball team to a 19-2 record, a Conference Championship, and District Runner-up Honors. "It was a great experience," Wendy graciously notes, "to go from a coach/athlete relationship to a colleague relationship with Pat Buck (a Sports Hall of Fame Coach) as she became my freshman volleyball coach and taught me so much from this point of view."

Still fiercely competitive, Wendy kept playing in sand and indoor volleyball tournaments, ranging from co-ed doubles to full-court women's matches, at the Open and A levels from 1988 until 2000. In 1998 Wendy moved to the Bay Village, Ohio, Schools, where she has taught and coached volleyball and track teams and has been successful in training sprinters and hurdlers to move on to state competitions. Now she coaches middle-school track athletes, allowing her more time to spend with her husband and four-year-old daughter Rachel. Her minor in photography has given her the background to start a second career taking photographs of weddings, family groups, babies, and senior graduations.

She currently lives in Avon, Ohio, with her daughter and her husband Chris. Still grateful for her Euclid experiences, she writes, "I could not have asked for a better place to grow up than Euclid and couldn't have asked for a more supportive fan base than my parents." When she was still a performer in high school, her loving and very proud father would occasionally tease her with a comment that was intended to prod her on to more excellence. "Not bad, for a girl," he would say, tongue in cheek. This night the public can see Wendy in all her earned glory. Her goals are still high and her quest for excellence has not diminished. If she wanted to, she could probably say to her father, "Not bad, for a girl, right, Dad?" And he would undoubtedly say right back, "Not bad, Wendy, for anyone."

Inducted October 2, 2008