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 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…
2007 MOTORCYCLE RACING INDUCTEE GEORGE HOLLAND III George Holland displayed his talent early when he won the Grand National 80cc Modified Expert Class Motocross at age eleven in 1977. But that was just the beginning for the Kerman resident, who became a legend in his sport before an injury forced his retirement prior his 25th…
2007 COACHING-TRACK & FIELD INDUCTEE BOBBY FRIES Bobby Fries spent two years in the Marines after graduation from Fresno State where he competed as a distance runner. He coached track and field for thirty-six years beginning in 1955 at Fowler High School where he started the school’s cross country team. In 1956, he took over…
2007 TRACK & FIELD INDUCTEE MIKE AGOSTINI Fresno can claim Mike Agostini as one of its own after the world-class sprinter flew into town on a whim. Agostini, who once owned the title of “The Fastest Man in the World,” competed in the Melbourne Olympics and was ranked among the top ten sprinters in the…
2007 BASEBALL TEAM INDUCTEE 1977 BULLARD HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL Mike Noakes, winningest baseball coach in Central Section history, produced many great teams at Bullard, but this one was his favorite. The Knights went 31-1-1, won the school’s first section championship, had three players -center fielder Rex Hudler, shortstop Dave Meier and pitcher Steve Ellsworth -…