Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame: Daren McGavren

Don Cantrell

One of the strongest voices to speak for one-time Newport Harbor

High athlete Daren McGavren, Class of 1941, is Edward Stephens, 1942

student body president.

“McGavren was the man for all seasons at Harbor High. He did

everything and did it well,” Stephens said. “Among other things he was a

track star, a hurdler and pole vaulter, and a swimmer and diver. In the

summers, he was on the city lifeguard force.”

Another friend unveiled news in the not too distant past that McGavren

was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame at the University of the

Pacific in Stockton. The celebration took place at the 16th annual

program at the Spanos Center.

McGavren lettered in track and field at Newport in 1941 then at UOP in ’42. He entered the Army Air Corps in 1943. Upon returning in 1947, he

once again lettered in track and field, but also participated in diving,

earning a varsity letter in 1948.

After graduating from Pacific, he competed for the Corona del Mar

Track Club in the high hurdles, low hurdles and pole vault for several

years.

McGavren graduated from Pacific in 1948 with a bachelor’s degree in

radio speech communications. In 1948, he received the James Corson award

for citizenship.

He founded Daren McGavren Co., a regional radio station sales rep.

firm in 1952. He later opened a New York office in 1958, becoming the

national company now known as the Interep Company, which represents 1,400

radio stations throughout the United States. In 1965, he was named UOP

Alumnus of the Year, a distinction he followed by being named to the

Board of Regents in 1970.

He is married to Jean, a 1948 graduate of Ohio State. They have four

children, Michael, Steven, Daren Patrick and Marilyn.

McGavren has always praised one of the big influences in his life,

Coach Al Irwin.

“Al was my hero (still is),” McGavren said. “He won 15 varsity letters

at Newport Harbor, which I don’t think would be possible today. Al was my

lifeguard captain and Boy Scout leader and was responsible for my

attending the University of the Pacific, a born leader in every way.”

Irwin, a 1936 graduate of Harbor High, coached at Newport, Orange

Coast and UC Irvine, and finished his career as the athletic director at

Irvine.

McGavren vaulted over 12 feet in high school, but pushed it higher in

college at 13 feet. It is fair to say that he had to use bamboo poles in

the old days, not fiberglass, which limited his climbs.

He was also sharp at sports editing during prep years for the school

paper and yearbook, and helped bolster a popular cheerleading group that

included Beverly Claire, Jean Elliott and Donna Stanley.

“He played drums and did a terrific trumpet solo on Tuxedo Junction,”

Stephens said. “He was an outstanding ballroom dancer.”