2001 SOFTBALL TEAM INDUCTEE 1943-44 HAMMER FIELD RAIDERS SOFTBALL The Fresno-based team of U.S. Army members won back-to-back World Fastpitch Championships in 1943-44 behind balanced play and the masterful pitching of Private First Class Al Linde and Sgt. Kermit Lynch. In ’43, the Raiders beat the best teams in California and the West Coast to…
2000 BOXING INDUCTEE GABE TERRONEZ Born on the very first day of the 1940s, Gabe Terronez came to Fresno from the dusty streets of Corcoran after dropping out of high school following his sophomore year. Corcoran was a tough environment where childhood arguments and jealousies were not debated in a gentlemanly fashion; they were settled…
2000 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE MICHAEL STEWART Michael Stewart, drafted in both baseball and football out of college, chose to pursue the NFL and played ten years for the St. Louis Rams and Miami Dolphins. Out of several NFL-caliber athletes to come out of Bakersfield High School, Stewart was one of the most hard-hitting defensive players ever…
2000 SWIMMING INDUCTEE ART RUBLE Once Fresno State All-American Art Ruble captured two gold medals at the 1975 Pan American Games in Mexico City, a New York television crew chose to film his streamlined stroke technique. The company could have selected any number of record-holding swimmers, but the producer told Ruble that his stroke was…
2000 COACHING-BASEBALL INDUCTEE MERV CARTER Merv Carter was part of the first Fresno State baseball team to compete in the College World Series, coached for twenty-seven years at Clovis and McLane High Schools, and ran the annual City-County baseball game. His high school teams won 425 games including six league titles and two Valley Championships,…
2000 TRACK & FIELD INDUCTEE LACY BARNES Lenora Lacy Barnes dreamed of competing for the USA in the Olympics and there were good reasons to believe that she would attain her goal. In grade school and at Burroughs High School in her hometown of Ridgecrest, California, Lacy was an all-around athlete, but track was her…
1999 COACHING-SOFTBALL INDUCTEE MARGIE WRIGHT Margie Wright was the first Fresno State coach to bring home a National Collegiate Athletic Association title, leading the women’s softball team to the championship in 1998. With dozens of conference, regional, and NCAA achievements to her name, Wright holds a place in ten Halls of Fame and broke the…
1999 TRACK & FIELD INDUCTEE ERV HUNT Erv Hunt played in the NFL and coached track and field for the Cal Bears for thirty-one years, setting a record for most coaching wins. Hunt established an international reputation as a coach and landed a prestigious assignment in 1996: the head men’s track and field coach for…
1999 BASEBALL INDUCTEE REX HUDLER One of the best all-round athletes to hail from the Fresno area, Rex Hudler had a full-ride football scholarship waiting at Notre Dame, but chose baseball, drafting out of high school and signing with the New York Yankees. The 1978 Bullard High graduate played thirteen years on a six major-league…
1999 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE HENRY ELLARD After a record-breaking career as a receiver for Fresno State, Henry Ellard soared to the top of the National Football League, leading the Los Angeles Rams in receiving nine out of the eleven seasons that he played for them. The Rams selected Ellard in the second round (32nd pick overall)…