Bulldog Athletic Hall of Fame
John McMahon, a native of Deer Lodge, Mont., is a 1952 graduate of Western Montana College (WMC) with a Bachelor of Science in education with majors in English and social studies and a minor in foreign languages. McMahon is a rarity in the Bulldog Hall of Fame, he is the only individual to be inducted in two different sports at two different times.
He was inducted into the Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1981 and the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987. When you look at his athletic accomplishments during his Bulldog career, it is easy to see why he was honored twice.
McMahon came to Western after a two-year stint in the U.S. Navy. He was impressive in both sports and made an instant impact from the time he stepped on WMC campus in the fall of 1948. In his four years, the Bulldogs won two Montana Collegiate Conference (MCC) basketball titles and three track and field titles.
He had gained the reputation of being the best “track athletes in the state.” He proved that for three-straight years with individual scoring honors at the Montana Collegiate Conference (MCC) track and field championships.
In the 1950 championships, he alone scored 23 points while second place Northern Montana College scored a total of 22 team points. His first place finish in the high jump was a new conference record.
McMahon also ran a leg on the mile relay team. The team won WMC’s fifth straight MCC relay title with a new conference record of 3:41.04. The relay team competed at the 1952 National Small College Track meet in Abilene, Texas and finished fourth.
He was the Bulldog team captain for both the basketball and track and field teams. He played two years as a reserve tackle on the Bulldog football team. Here's an interesting fun fact, his head coach for all sports was Hall of Fame coach Bill Straugh.
McMahon was an all-star as a student at WMC. He was the junior class president, the senior class vice-president, an officer in M-Club, a member of the student council, of the student activity committee and upon graduation, selected to Who’s Who.
After graduation, McMahon re-enlisted in the navy and served as an education officer at a naval base in Cuba. After his second stint in the navy, he attended Seattle University where he earned the first of two master’s degrees. He picked up the second eight years later at the University of Washington.
After teaching and coaching in Bremerton, Yakima and Shelton, Washington, he landed in Kennewick, Wash. in 1961. McMahon retired from Kennewick in 1987. He passed away on Feb. 2, 2011.
