Sandpoint coaches remember David Lyon

SANDPOINT — His football coach remembers him as a warrior on the field and a gentle giant off it.

His track coach recalls a tireless worker and the kind of student-athlete you want your kids to emulate.

His basketball coach remembers someone who led by example, to say nothing of setting a mean screen.

The Sandpoint Bulldog family suffered a big loss recently when David Lyon, 28, was killed in action in Afghanistan. Formerly David Lissy, Lyon left a lasting impression on many people in Sandpoint, including three coaches who saw firsthand the talent that led to his induction into the Bulldog Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012.

There are lots of three sport athletes in high school, but select few who excel at an elite level in all three, as Lyon did before graduating from Sandpoint in 2003.

“It was his humility,” said Sandpoint football coach Satini Puailoa of what he remembered most about Lyon, a three-year varsity starter.

“Off the field he was a gentle giant, the consummate gentleman. But if you put him in a competitive situation, he was a warrior.”

Lyon, 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds in high school, was physically gifted, able to clock 4.8 seconds in the 40-yard dash, a rarity for a lineman. His senior year he was named the Inland Empire League Offensive and Defensive Lineman of the Year, also earning first team All-State honors as a starting center.

As good as he was at football, his best sport may have been track, where he won two state titles in the shot put and one in the discus, helping lead the Bulldog boys to the state track and field team title in 2003. Despite his natural strength and athleticism, throwing coach Tom Albertson said it was his work ethic that set him apart.

“You would have to tell David ‘that’s enough for the day.’ He never wanted to leave,” recalled Albertson, noting Lyon’s willingness to help all of the team’s throwers get better. “The individual like David was is kind of a measuring stick for who you would want your kids to emulate.”

Lyon saved his best for last at the 2003 state track meet, heaving the shot put 55-2 on his final throw to win, setting not only the SHS school record that still stands today, but the 4A state record at the time. Lyon led a shot put podium sweep for the Bulldogs, as Tanner Aunan finished second and Troy Watson third in an incredibly brilliant and rare accomplishment.

Albertson coached Lyon for four years, and counts the emotional state meet in 2003 as one of his greatest coaching memories.

“David got really nervous when his mom watched him throw. She was hiding in the BSU stadium and he didn’t know she was there until that last throw,” described Albertson. “She came down out of the stands and there was a lot of tears, hugging and celebration. It was a pretty neat moment in sports.”

While not an all-state caliber athlete in basketball, like he was in the other two sports, Lyon was still a solid starter and valuable member of the team. SHS assistant coach Bill Adams called Lyon one of his favorites, and remembers a big and intelligent player on the hardwood.

“He led by example and everybody looked up to him. He just got out there and worked,” said Adams, lauding the man-sized screens Lyon would lay on opposing players. “He set a wicked high screen. I saw more than one guy bounce off him. He’d go to the block with either hand. He was a force down there.”

Lyon’s athletic exploits earned him enshrinement in the SHS Hall of Fame, and he was on hand to receive his honor at halftime of a football game at Barlow Stadium in 2012.

After high school, Lyon went on to leave his mark at the Air Force Academy, where he eventually won a Mountain West Conference indoor title in the shot put in 2008. His mark of 57-11 is third on the Air Force all-time list.

He also played one year of football, but struggled to put on the weight required to play offensive line in college.

“They wanted him to get to 280 pounds, and he struggled to put weight on,” said Puailoa. “He wanted to switch to tight end, but they wanted him to play center, so he focused on track and field.”

Puailoa is hoping SHS will retire the No. 64 jersey that Lyon wore while at Sandpoint. The jersey number, worn by Sandpoint great Jerry Kramer in the NFL, was given to Sandpoint’s top offensive lineman.

“We would talk to the team and coaches, and we put (the jersey) on the best lineman,” recalled Puailoa, noting Kramer’s high school No. 38 jersey is already retired.

“That’s how David got to wear No. 64. He wore it for two years.”