1968 TRACK & FIELD INDUCTEE CHARLES KASTER In 1930, Charlie Kaster capped a great career as a hurdler when he competed in the British Empire Games as a member of the U.S. shuttle hurdle relay team. In his leg, Kaster held off the British champion, David Burleigh, to help the U.S. team to victory in…
1968 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE LEO HARRIS Leo A. Harris enjoyed success in any athletic endeavor that he tried, highlighted by a twenty- year tenure as athletic director at the University of Oregon, Eugene. The Santa Cruz-born and raised Harris starred in football, basketball, baseball, and swimming at Santa Cruz High School. He was recruited by Stanford…
1968 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE MONTE CLARK Monte Clark was an outstanding football player and earned fourteen athletic letters at Kingsburg High School. He was a three-year starter at tackle for USC and Trojan co-captain in his senior year. Clark was a three-year defensive tackle for San Francisco, a year as an offensive tackle for the Dallas…
1968 ATHLETIC ADMINISTRATOR INDUCTEE HAL BEATTY The old adage of “Jack of all trades, but master of none” is debunked when you are talking about the late Harold J. “Hal” Beatty. He was born in Los Angeles, but raised in Oakland where he competed in football and track at Roosevelt High School, Beatty is one…
1968 BASEBALL INDUCTEE DON BARNETT There were no radar guns when Don Barnett was throwing heat for the 1951 Fresno State baseball team, but no collegiate pitcher could get the ball to the plate any faster. “Don most certainly threw in the mid-90s,” said teammate Jake Abbott. “He was just wild an enough that batters…
1967 RIFLE SHOOTING INDUCTEE ROBERT E. PERKINS When Robert Perkins joined the cadets at Fresno High School in 1929, he learned to shoot. Two years later, he won the .30 Caliber California Championship. In 1946, he won his first of eleven consecutive California state championships. In 1952, the single point, hitting the center ring 3,187…
1967 BASEBALL INDUCTEE MONTE PEARSON The World Series has always been the showcase of baseball. Few stars shined brighter in the fall classic than Monte “Hoot” Pearson, an Oakland native who moved to Fresno as a child. Pearson received his baseball baptism in the Fresno Twilight League. After attending Fresno High School and the University…
1967 DIVING INDUCTEE SAMMY LEE Dr. Sammy Lee was born in Fresno on August 1, 1920 to Korean-American parents. In 1932, the Olympic Games impressed him so much, he told his father that one day he would win an Olympic gold medal. His father said, “In what?” to which young Sammy replied, “I don’t know…
1967 AUTO RACING INDUCTEE DUANE CARTER The Central Valley has long been known as a major source of exciting automobile racing. Many sons of the San Joaquin got their racing starts here, winning both locally and on the national scene. A trio of native Fresno drivers soared to fame around the country and into the…
1967 COMMUNITY LEADER INDUCTEE THOMAS J. CAROTHERS Thomas J. Carothers-“Soup” as he was known to his large circle of friends-did not reach Fresno until 1941 when he opened the Mid-Valley Sports store. The native of Franklin, Tennessee was a center in football and he played for the U.S. Navy team in Honolulu for four years.…