NFL honoree Dick Vermeil and Larry Owens among 24 set for Centennial San Mateo Hall of Fame Class

SAN MATEO - The Centennial Athletics Hall of Fame Class at College of San Mateo includes a newly inducted NFL HOF coach, one of the college’s longest serving coaches, a pioneer Olympic women’s track and field star, the world’s first 7-foot high jumper, and an 11-time American race walk record breaker and Olympian.

 

Dick Vermeil, whose first college coaching job was at CSM in 1963, will be honored on Friday evening, Sept. 2 to kickoff CSM’s Centennial Hall of Fame weekend and the opening of the 2022 football season, along with legendary Bulldogs coach Larry Owens. 

 

 

Fittingly, on the 50^th anniversary of Title IX, Pat Winslow Connolly will be among an elite group of women honored, including the CSM 2015 softball team, former softball players Harlee Donovan and Christie McCoy, women’s basketball player Grainne Murray, plus dance/P.E. instructor Angela Stocker.

 

Owens, the second-longest tenured Bulldogs head football coach with 21 years – who also had NFL related duties -- shares the elite football coach podium with Vermeil, as does former head coach Cliff Giffin -- who worked with Vermeil in 1963 at CSM before moving into P.E. and athletics administration with the Bulldogs and developing women’s sports competition. 

 

Football players being recognized include Hugh Loveless, Ryan Boschetti, Dave Hanson, Paul Bradford, Ray Hisatake, the late Doug Ryan, and Ken Haren – who is concluding a long career as CSM equipment manager. Baseball honorees include former player and coach Pete Jensen, plus players Barry Sbragia and Gavin Long.

 

CSM continues to honor its elite world and Olympic heritage with Les Steers, the world's first 7-foot high jumper, 2-time Olympic race walker Tom Dooley, and state hammer throw champion Cami Carroll. Also track stars on the field (in addition to football) were NorCal long jump champion Bradford and conference discus champion Hisatake. 

 

The Centennial HOF class includes Fred Baer, who became CSM’s first sports information director in 1962 and has used community college athletics and research as a springboard to worldwide sports coverage for 60 years, including 16 Olympic Games.  

 

State wrestling champion the late Lars Jensen is among the two dozen honorees, as is Kirk Sandvik -- who has served as football ball boy for 45 years.

 

 

4:30 p.m., Inductee Plaque Unveiling, Hall of Fame Plaza; 

5:15 p.m., Induction Ceremony, Theatre; 

7 p.m., Reception, Bayview Dining Room. 

Tickets (@ $75) can be reserved at: collegeofsanmateo.edu/hof

 

 INFO ON HONOREES:

--Dick Vermeil, after his first head coaching position at Hillsdale High (1960-62), quickly moved up that ladder, becoming Cliff Giffin’s backfield coach at CSM in 1963; then head coach at his alma mater, Napa JC, in 1964; next as an assistant coach at Stanford in 1965. He became UCLA’s head coach and led the Bruins to a Rose Bowl win over No. 1 ranked Ohio State in 1976.

 

Vermeil had a 15-year tenure as an NFL head coach, starting with taking the Philadelphia Eagles to four playoff appearances and a trip to Super Bowl XV in 1980 against the Oakland Raiders. His Super Bowl win finally came in SB XXIV in 1997 with the St. Louis Rams, beating the Tennessee Titans. He is one of only four coaches to lead two different teams to the Super Bowl; also took three teams to the NFL playoffs, including the Kansas City Chiefs in 2003. He is the only coach named conference coach of the year on these four levels: high school (PAL), community college, NCAA DI, and NFL. 

 

--Only CSM’s pioneer football coach Murius McFadden (1923-49) has served the Bulldogs longer than the 21 years by Larry Owens. After coaching baseball, football, and basketball at Woodside High, he came to CSM in 1984 to coach the defensive line. In 1990 he became CSM’s 14th head football coach and has led the Bulldogs to seven post-season victories in 13 bowl appearances. He has also assisted with softball. 

 

Owens spent five spring seasons abroad as an assistant / defensive coordinator for teams in NFL Europe. His Scottish Claymores won the World Bowl Championship. Earlier this year Owens was inducted into the California Community College Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the San Mateo County/Silicon Valley Sports Hall of Fame. 

 

--Pat Winslow Connolly came to CSM in 1962, where she met her first husband, Jim Winslow. “Billee” Pat Daniels had already been a 1960 Olympian after her junior year at San Bruno’s Capuchino High and set an American record in the 800 meters while winning the 1960 Olympic Trials. Pat Daniels Winslow (her married name) was the USA pentathlon champion from 1961-1967 (so throughout her time at CSM) and became the first woman combined event participant when the pentathlon was added to the 1964 Olympics – finally allowing women to compete in Olympic multi-events (but just five). Pat won the pentathlon gold medal at the 1967 Pan Am Games and competed in her third OG in 1968 in Mexico City -- where she broke the American record in the pentathlon for the seventh time (finishing sixth). She also set AR’s at 400 meters and 440 yards and was the 1967 national champion in the long jump. 

 

Pat was UCLA’s first women’s track coach and has coached world record breaker Evelyn Ashford, “the fastest woman of the 20th Century”, and Allyson Felix, the most decorated woman in Olympic track and field history. Felix expressed appreciation for her first professional coach during her own “retirement” press conference at the recent World Championships in Eugene, Ore. 

 

Winslow Connolly was married to 6-time world hammer throw record breaker and Olympic champion Hal Connolly from 1975 until his death in 2010. A current Half Moon Bay resident, she  has been assisting the new track program at Pescadero High School and continues to support CSM’s pioneering work in staging the women’s decathlon national championships on the Bulldogs international track, an event that SID Fred Baer coordinates in his USA Track & Field leadership role.

 

--Fred Baer of Foster City has completed 60 seasons covering JC/CC sports; also starting the current CSM cross country program -- after doing the same at Santa Clara University, where he set college records at 100 & 220 yards as a student-athlete in the “Speed City” era. After covering the 1967 Pan Am Games heptathlon gold medal win by Pat Daniels Winslow in Winnipeg, Canada, he began a “run” of 16 Olympics, working for ABC-TV at the 1972 Games, also founding the Track and Field Writers of America that year -- all beginning with research on JC athletes on the world stage. Baer organized and directs the U.S. Community College Track Coaches Assn. In high school at St. Ignatius, he was editor of INSIDE SI, cross country team captain, and a runner-up in the City (AAA) track and field champs.

 

--Ryan Boschetti, an all-state football player at Carlmont High, had a phenomenal 20 QB sacks in two seasons playing for CSM Hall of Fame coach Larry Owens at College Heights Stadium. He was first team all-state and All-America and rated the No. 2 JC player in the nation. Taking a scholarship to UCLA, he made 43 tackles in 2003, starting every game. He continued in the NFL for the Washington Redskins, playing for legendary coach (and former JC player) Joe Gibbs. 

 

--Paul Bradford, San Mateo County athlete of the year at Carlmont High in 1992, continued his exploits at CSM as an all-state defensive back and kick returner. He won the NorCal long jump championship and qualified for the state meet in that event and the 100 meters. He also represented CSM in the USA Track & Field Junior Nationals. Bradford continued at Portland State, where he an All-Big Sky DB. The San Diego Chargers drafted him in the fifth round, and he appeared in 15 games his rookie season, starting in four games and making 23 tackles and two interceptions, returning one for a 56-yard TD off Seattle Seahawks HOF QB Warren Moon (a former JC player at West Los Angeles).  

 

--Cami Carroll was the 2001 CCC state champion in the hammer throw and placed second in the discus throw for CSM. She also competed in the sprints and relays for the Bulldogs and played on the soccer team at Cañada College. At San Francisco State, Carroll finished third in the 2004 NCAA Div. II hammer throw. She was an all-around athlete at Half Moon Bay High School. Today she works as a personal trainer and group exercise instructor in Buckeye, Ariz. 

--Harlee Donovan was the state home run champion (20) and RBI leader (78) on the 2015 CSM softball team, which is the first team being inducted. They had an undefeated (43-0) regular season, before losing to Palomar in the state finals. Donovan and teammates Lauren Berriatua, Melina Rodriguez, and Leilani Akai were 2015 National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Americans and coach Nicole Quigley-Borg was California coach of the year. Donovan, out of Half Moon Bay High, was the CCCAA state player of the year in 2016 and set a state career home run record of 37. She went on to earn NAIA player of the year honors at Southern Oregon University. 

 

--Tom Dooley set 11 American racewalking records and was on two USA Olympic teams, three World Championship teams, and two Pan American Games teams -- as a USA national team member from 1967-1980. He competed for CSM Hall of Fame coach Berny Wagner and helped the Bulldogs win a conference cross country championship his first season. Dooley entered his first walking race in Millbrae while at CSM. The current San Carlos resident  competed for San Jose State, where he earned a bachelor’s degree, and has a master’s degree from Santa Clara University. He arrived at CSM after a distance running career at Daly City’s Westmoor High School.

 

--Cliff Giffin came to CSM in 1958 from Lake Oswego High in Oregon, where he was athletic director while coaching football (winning four league titles), basketball, and baseball. He served as assistant football coach (to Doug Scovil) and head swimming coach for the Bulldogs. After a trio of Big Eight football title seasons together, Scovil left, in 1963, to become assistant coach at the U. S. Naval Academy. Giffin took the CSM reigns for five years before becoming chair of the physical education department -- adding the duties of athletic director in 1975. He expanded CSM’s sports offerings for women throughout the 1970’s. A Palo Alto native, Giffin was an outstanding football player (all-PAL) and swimmer at Palo Alto High, earning a football scholarship to University of Oregon, where he played three years at tackle. 

 

--Dave Hanson had a record-breaking career at CSM in 1990 and 1991, following an All-NorCal high school season at South San Francisco High in 1989 -- where he set a San Mateo County record 38 touchdowns. He broke O.J. Simpson’s Golden Gate Conference record for career all-purpose yards and set a CSM single season rushing record of 1,123 yards in 1991. That stood until future Super Bowl winner Julian Edelman bettered it in 2005. Hanson still holds CSM career records for rushing (1,945 yards) and all-purpose running (3,702 yards). He became an All-Conference running back at Sonoma State, followed by 15 years of semi-pro football as a player and coach. Hanson is the founder of H3 Elite Sports (high performance training) in South San Francisco and resides in San Bruno.

 

--Ken Haren is completing more than three decades with the CSM athletic department, following a football playing career for the Bulldogs that saw him set a record as a wide receiver -- catching at least one pass in 22 consecutive games. He was an All-NorCal selection on CSM’s 1981 NorCal title team, earning a scholarship to Idaho State.  Haren served on the CSM football staff as defensive backs coach for Larry Owens and as quarterback coach (when his son Steve Haren led the Bulldogs to a league title); then, for the past two decades, as CSM’s athletic equipment manager. 

 

--Ray Hisatake began his football career at CSM in 2005 after starring in other sports at Daly City’s Westmoor High, which did not have a gridiron program. He played on the defensive line for San Mateo for two seasons, which culminated with Bulldog Bowl victories. He went on to University of Hawaii for an undefeated regular season and an Allstate Sugar Bowl berth against Georgia. He had an NFL tryout with the Carolina Panthers, just missing the final cut, and then continued playing with the San Jose Sabercats and the San Antonio Talons in the Arena Football League. At CSM Hisatake was also the conference champion in the discus throw and placed seventh at the state championships. The Foster City resident is a coach and Dean of Students at St. Francis High School. 

 

--Lars Jensen was a state wrestling champion for CSM following a multi-sport career at Menlo Atherton High School. He went on to earn All-America honors at San Francisco State and qualify for two U.S. Olympic Trials. After graduation he became an assistant coach for the Gators in 1980 and then in 1983 took over as head coach. In a 33-year career he had ten national champions and, in 1997, won the NCAA Division II title and was named National Coach of the Year. He passed away in December 2020. 

 

--Pete Jensen, an All-Mid-Peninsula League baseball player and record setting quarterback at Hillsdale High, was on CSM’s 1969 and 1970 All-Golden Gate Conference championship baseball teams and the 1969 NorCal title team. He was team captain in 1970. After finishing his collegiate baseball career at San Jose State, he began  a coaching career assisting CSM coach John Noce in 1973. Jensen also worked as a pro baseball scout. His head coaching career was primarily at Serra High, from 1984 to 2009. 

He served for two years, however, as CSM’s head baseball coach in 1992 and 1993, before returning to coach at Serra High -- where he won 13 conference championships. 

 

--Gavin Long came to CSM as San Mateo County’s Athlete of the Year after All-County campaigns in both baseball and basketball at Westmoor High in 1973. He had a 7-3 pitching record as a Bulldogs freshman in 1974 and was 10-5 in 1975, completing every game he started (including 12 and 16 inning marathons). He had been drafted by the Giants out of high school and the Dodgers while at CSM. Long, however, accepted a scholarship to University of Miami, where he had a 15-0 first year record and was named first team All-America. He was 10-4 in 1977, leading the Hurricanes to top national ranking entering post-season play. He signed with and played with the Atlanta Braves for one season. He later coached baseball in Half Moon Bay for a dozen years and served as a Coastside volunteers firefighter.  

 

--Hugh Loveless played left tackle on head coach Bill Dickey’s 1977 Golden Gate Conference championship team at CSM (alongside fellow HOF inductee Doug Ryan). Loveless was voted MVP on the 1978 team that went 8-2. He then chose to join teammates accepting scholarship offers from Santa Clara University. Loveless helped lead the Broncos to a national ranking and was named the team’s MVP in 1980, along with being All-West Coast and 2nd team AP All-America. He came to CSM as a 2-time all-league defensive lineman at Jefferson High School, where he also competed in track and wrestling. The Loveless family now resides in Redwood City. 

 

--Christie McCoy was the 1995 California CC softball pitcher of the year, concluding a 2-time all-state career with the Bulldogs. She went on to receive 2nd team NCAA All-America honors at the University of Nebraska and then play in the Women’s Professional Softball League; later coached four years at her alma mater, Aragon High -- where she had started as a 4-time All-County pitcher.  

 

--Grainne Murray found immediate basketball success at CSM in 1976, although not having played sports at Burlingame High. Girls prep sports were still in their infancy, but she did compete on the Millbrae Lions Track Club (which also helped launch the sports career of fellow inductee Pat Winslow Connolly). Playing for CSM Hall of Fame coach Tom Martinez, San Mateo won the conference title (with Murray as player of the year) and finished third in the state tournament (where she scored 89 points in three games). Murray led the team in scoring with a 19.3 average. In 1977-78, CSM was undefeated (30-0) heading into the state tournament, losing only in the state finals, and finishing 32-1. Murray led the state in scoring (26.2) and in rebounding (16.2) as an all-state player. She continued playing collegiately at University of Nebraska and USF.    

 

--Doug Ryan came to CSM as a running back out of Sequoia High but transitioned to the line and became a key offensive guard for the Bulldogs, who had future NFL Super Bowl winner Bill Ring carrying the ball. Ryan started every game for two seasons at CSM, helping the Bulldogs to win the 1977 Golden Gate Conference title and being chosen league offensive lineman of the year and honorable mention All-America. Ryan continued playing football at Cal State Long Beach and finished his education at San Jose State. He was an All SPAL player at Sequoia in football, basketball, and baseball. He died in May 2020.  

 

--Kirk Sandvik has served as the CSM football team ball boy for 45 years. His Capuchino High classmates on the Bulldog football team encouraged coach Bill Dickey to add Kirk to the game day staff to start that legacy. He has managed the ball from the sidelines at CSM under the tenure of six different head coaches. It is normal for Kirk to work a Capuchino game on Friday, a CSM game on Saturday, and a Pop Warner game on Sunday (after assisting at St. Andrews Church in the morning). A special “Passion Award” at Capuchino has been named in honor of Kirk. He has been presented with the Carl Reyna Spirit Award; also, the 2018 Keith Connelly Award from DiMaggio baseball. 

--Barry Sbragia was the 2-time Golden Gate Conference pitcher of the year for CSM, in 1969 and 1970. He had a 2-year record of 20-3 and was a perfect 16-0 in league play. He was the first 20-game winner for  the Bulldogs. In 1969, CSM won the NorCal championship and hosted Long Beach CC on campus in the state title game, only to fall short. Sbragia, however, had a 4-0 post season record in his two seasons.

He accepted a scholarship to Washington State, where he was an All-Pacific-8 selection in 1972 and recorded three shutouts, tying the WSU season record. He signed with the Boston Red Sox, playing with several AAA teams, including being an all-star with Winston-Salem and on the Pawtucket Junior World Series champions. He came to CSM as an all-league player out of San Mateo High.  

--Les Steers held the world record in the high jump for 12 years, although there was no Olympics during his career due to World War II. A 3-time state high school champion at Palo Alto H.S. (1935-37), he came to San Mateo JC and was the first National JC Athletic Association high jump champion, clearing 6-7. Steers transferred to the University of Oregon, where he set the world three times, finally at 6-11. At halftime of a Ducks basketball game, he became the first person to clear 7-feet -- although it was an unofficial competition for record purposes. He was the 1941 NCAA champion and a 3-time AAU national champion. He died in 2003.

 

--Angela Stocker is the recipient of the Bulldog Award for Service – for 58 years. She was hired by CSM President Julio Bortolazzo in 1964 as a P.E/dance instructor, serving the kinesiology/athletics/dance division. She holds degrees in dance (bachelor’s) from Miami University (Ohio) and (master’s) from San Francisco State. Stocker has initiated one of the nation’s first community college alcohol and other drugs studies programs in the nation at CSM and continues as its director.