2008 COMMUNITY LEADER INDUCTEE PETER G. MEHAS The Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame president for 15 years at the time of his induction, Mehas’ professional and civic career is a notable example of applying the lessons learned in athletics to other endeavors. Under Mehas, the Hall of Fame expanded on its mission of honoring the…
2008 BASEBALL INDUCTEE TOM GOODWIN Tom Goodwin won an Olympic gold medal for the USA’s baseball team while excelling as a Fresno State Bulldog, and went on to a fourteen-year professional career. At age twenty, he was the youngest member of the USA team that took the top prize at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. “It…
2008 COACHING-TRACK & FIELD INDUCTEE BOB FRALEY Bob Fraley coached track and field at Fresno State for twenty-eight years, mentoring forty-four All-Americans, winning a slew of awards and saving the program from the budget ax by coaching without pay. He gained a world-wide reputation as a pole vault expert and launched the Run for the…
2008 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE STEPHEN BAKER The two most skilled positions on any football team are unquestionably quarterback and wide receiver. The passer must be able to guide the ball accurately to his target like threading a needle. The receiver must become a contortionist, leaping and diving, necessary, to collect the ball. The two players greatly…
2008 COACHING-BASKETBALL INDUCTEE LEE ANGELICH In his second year at Kerman High School, Lee Angelich did everything but blow up the footballs. He coached football, basketball, baseball, track, and also drove the bus. Angelich later focused on basketball, coaching the sport for sixteen years at Kerman, Fresno, and Porterville High Schools. Angelich’s sixteen-year basketball record…
2008 SOFTBALL TEAM INDUCTEE 1998 FRESNO STATE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SOFTBALL Fresno State University’s 1998 Women’s Fast-Pitch Softball team set a record that will stand forever as the first Bulldog squad in any sport to win a Division I National Championship. Soundly defeating the Iniversity of Arizona Wildcats, the stellar squad won big at Don E.…
2007 AUTO RACING INDUCTEE BILLY VUKOVICH III When Billy Vukovich III was fifteen years old, he announced to his parents that he wanted to drive race cars for a living. It was not a surprising goal: he was the son of racing champion and veteran Indianapolis 500 participant Bill Vukovich, Jr. and the grandson of…
2007 BASKETBALL INDUCTEE WENDY MARTELL-TAYLOR A quick 5-foot-4 point guard with a flair for big plays, Martell led Fresno State women’s basketball team to prominence in the 1980s, as the Bulldogs won 81 of 118 games during her four seasons. She was a hit the moment she stepped into the South Gym following a standout…
2007 SPORTSWRITER INDUCTEE TOM MEEHAN Picture a smiling Irishman with a cigar protruding from the side of his jaw and you have Tom Menan. Meehan has worn many different hats, met more world-recognized people, and tried more professions than anyone around. He did everything from promoting a Chocolate Thunder candy bar for NBA client Darryl…
2007 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE ROD HORN Professional Athletes often try to hang on to their careers, even after their playing skills have diminished, but Rodney Horn, an All-American from Fresno, walked away from football just as his career was taking off. Horn played at Hoover High School, University of Nebraska and two years with the Cincinnati…