OTTAWA — Orlis Cox’s biggest challenge may not have been coaching winning high school teams. His biggest victory was integrating the Ottawa swimming pool, said Deb Barker, Franklin County Historical Society. Cox took a great deal of public criticism but was probably the only person who could sell the pool’s integration to the community, she said. Cox will be named to the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame this fall. The long-time Ottawa High School coach and physical education teacher had a lengthy list of accomplishments, she said. That includes coaching a Cyclone track relay team that beat a team anchored by future Olympic superstar Jessie Owen in 1933, she said. He also helped start the Ottawa Recreation Commission and was the city’s first recreation director. Cox could do handstands after he turned 65 and did 75 pushups a day until the day he die, she said.
