“We want you to teach our students to win with class and to lose with dignity. But we also want you to teach them that there is a lot more to being a winner than the final game score. We want you to teach them to root for their team to win, not for the other team to lose. We want you to teach our kids what to do when they lose. We want you to get them off their duffs and get them back in the fight. Don’t you let them give up. And if we can teach them not to be quitters by the time they finish the 12th grade in Clovis schools, they will probably make it through life.”
–Floyd “Doc” Buchanan, Ed.D.
CUSD Athletics Hall of Fame nominees sought…..
The nomination window for the Clovis Unified Athletic Hall of Fame is open now through March 1st. In its fourth year, the Hall of Fame serves to memorialize the legendary athletes and sports program legacies that make up the rich sports history in the district.
Clovis Unified Athletic Hall of Fame Individual Nomination Criteria
- Must have attended school or been in Clovis Unified during the time nominee was making a major contribution to athletics for which nominee is being considered for induction.
- May be living or deceased.
- Must have reached 30th birthday or has been retired from competition for at least five years. Nominees over 30 years of age must have completed athletic competition before induction can be considered. If athletic competition isn’t completed, more notable accomplishments could still occur thus outdating the Hall of Fame’s record of achievements. If an athlete that is being considered for their individual athletic accolades is a head coach in CUSD, then they will not be considered until they complete their head coaching duties while at CUSD. If inductees are going in for strictly coaching achievements, then they must be finished with any head coaching experiences before they would be considered.
- Must have achieved notable accomplishments at the league, section, state, national, and international level.
Clovis Unified Athletic Hall of Fame Team Nomination or Program of the Decade Criteria
- A team is defined as any two or more persons constituting one side in an athletic contest or competition. The team must have played it home competition in Clovis Unified.
- The team shall have achieved at the league, section, state, national, and international level.
A selection committee will review all qualified nominations and the new class of inductees will be announced in May. A gala celebration will be held Nov. 2nd at the Performing Arts Center to honor the inductees and highlight their accomplishments.
Please view the nomination form and instructions on how to submit HERE. Also available is the Athletic Hall of Fame archive that features video stories about all of the recent inductees.
- 1965-1991 Clovis Unified School District Teacher and Administrator
- Three years in internment camp as a youth during World War II
- Played three years of varsity football and three years of varsity baseball at Fresno State University
- All-Conference center fielder at Fresno State University
- Drafted by St. Louis Browns of MLB, played for two years in the minors before being drafted into the Army
- 1952 Played for the Stockton Ports
- 1955-65 Played for the Hiroshima Carps
- Two-time member of the Japanese All-Star Team
- First Japanese American to play in the Japan Major Leagues
- Long-time baseball scout
- 2008 Gymnasium at Gateway High School named after him for his dedication to at-risk youth
Clovis Unified School District’s
First Girls State Championship Team
Head Coach: Martin Simpson
Assistant Coaches: Brian Weaver, Cherie Santagate
Team Members
Corrine Atkins, Rachel Bauer, Lisa Ford, Tiffany Heilbut, Jocelyn Keller,
Heather Ryan, Shelly Syvertsen
Accomplishments:
1973-74 NYL – Valley Champion
1974 State Wrestling Tournament Winners
Dual Meets 17-0
Team Members:
Doug Arthur
Rod Balch
Fred Bohna
Paul Bolanos
Nick Borjas
Kevin Cookingham
Tom Gongorra
Ken Henderson
Ed Johnson
Jeff Jury
Steve O’Bar
Chino Soltero
Bill Spencer
Head Coach: Randy Blankenship
Assistant Coaches: Darryl Coleman, Bill Crawford, Tom Deel,
James Gambrell, Tosh Nitta, Pat Pickford
Statisticians: Christa Elsasser, Desiree Lompe
Team Members:
Al Abdulla
Chris Adolf
Flyinfolu Akinradeno
Pete Arguijo
Jesse Bacigalupi
John Bartel
Jeff Behrens
Rob Brewer
Cody Burton
Anthony Bustamonte
Matt Castrillo
McKay Christensen
Bobby Cowings
Steven Craig |
Jason Dunlap
Erik Farley
Ryan Farley
Scott Fernandez
Tim Finnegan
George Flores
Kevin Gawley
Tadashi Gibson
Ricky Gravelle
Brandon Green
Jon Gregory
Matt Gurot
Brent Gutierrez
Aaron Henderson |
Rick Hoffman
Aaron Johnson
Eric Johnson
Kevin Kos
Patrick Machado
Tyler Madsen
Brad Martin
Mike Miller
Sean Morley
Steve Morrow
Jeff Nelson
Danny Norrdin
Eric Patmore
Shomari Phane |
Matt Puckett
Ryan Reynolds
Damien Richardson
Eddie Sahyoun
Brenden Smith
Jared Smith
Jason Smith
Mike Soliz
Denver Stairs
Ben Strickland
Bert Venter
Bill Volek
Brik Wiley
|
Clovis Unified History
• Dry Creek Union District
• Clovis High School
High School
• All North Yosemite League – Football
• Two years varsity football
• Three years varsity basketball
• Three years varsity baseball
• All-American Blanket Award
• 1963 City/County All-Star – Football
College
• 1964-1966 Varsity football at Stanford University
• 1967 East-West Shrine Game
• 1967 Hula Bowl
Professional
• 1967 Drafted by the New York Giants in the fifth round
• 1962-1968, 1975 Played in the Canadian Football League for the Montreal Alouettes
• 1967 Most Valuable Player, Montreal Alouettes
• 1970-1973 Played for the Cincinnati Bengals
• 1970, 1971 All-Pro, Cincinnati Bengals
Accolades
• 1998 Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee
• 2018 Clovis High School Football Hall of Fame Inductee
Clovis Unified History
• Weldon Elementary School
• Clark Intermediate School
• Clovis High School
High School
• Four-time North Yosemite League Champion
• CIF Section Champion 110 Low Hurdles and Long Jump
• CIF State Champion 110 Low Hurdles
College
• 1981 All-time record holder in 110 High Hurdles and Long Jump at DeAnza College
• NCAA Division II National Champion 4 x 100 Relay team, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
• NCAA Division II All-American
• Two-time NCAA Division I All-American, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
• Six-time NCAA Division I All American, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
• NCAA Division II National Championship team member, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
Professional
• 1982 Ranked 10th in the United States in the 100m Hurdles
• 1984 Olympic Trials Placed 7th in the Long Jump
• 1984 Ranked 10th in the United States in the Long Jump
• 1985 Ranked 9th in the United States in the Long Jump
• 1988 Olympic Trials Placed 10th in the Long Jump
Coaching History
• 1978-2015 Clovis West High School
Accomplishments
• 1980 (co), 1982,1983, 1984, 1987, 1990 (co) NYL Champions
• 1994, 1995 NWYL Champions
• 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 (co), 2002, 2003 (co), 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 TRAC Champions
• 1983, 1984, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011 CIF Section Champions
• 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2009 CIF Section Runner-Up
• Coached 65 All-Americans
• Coached one Olympian
• Overall record 795-355-1
Coaching History
• 1978-1985 Kerman High School
• 1985-1994 Yosemite High School
• 1994-2012 Buchanan High School
• 1995-Present Central Cal Girls Volleyball Club Co-Director
Accomplishments
• 1982-2012 CIF Central Section 838 wins, second most wins in Central Section history
• 1997, 1998 (co), 1999-2003, 2004 (co), 2005, 2006 (co), 2007, 2009, 2012 (co) TRAC Champions
• 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007 CIF Section Champions
• 1999, 2003, 2009 CIF Section Runner-up
• 2002, 2007 CIF State Southern Section Finalist
Coaching History
- Kastner Intermediate School
- Clovis West High School
Accomplishments
- 30 Conference Championships
- 28 CIF Section Championships (out of 30 opportunities)
- Clovis West Girls Swimming Record 121-1
- Clovis West Boys Swimming Record 119-3-1
- 1997 – 2011 Girls Swimming won 15 consecutive CIF Section Championships
- 1999 – 2011 Boys Swimming won 13 consecutive CIF Section Championships
- Undefeated in League Dual Meets for Boys and Girls for 15 years
- 2004 State Coach of the Year Girls Water Polo, California Coaches Association
- Seven CIF Section Championships in Girls Water Polo
Clovis Unified History
• Liberty Elementary School
• Kastner Intermediate School
• Clovis West High School
High School
• 1999-2008 U.S.A. Nationals qualifier
• 16-Time CIF Section Champion
• 2001-2004 Member of CIF Section Championship Team
• 2003 Member of Junior National Team in Rome
• 2004 Clovis West Female Athlete of the Year
College
• Three-time All-American
• Auburn record holder in 200 fly
• Southeastern Conference (SEC) Champion in the 200 fly
• First team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American
• SEC Academic Honor Roll
• 2006, 2007 Member of NCAA Division I
Women’s Swimming and Diving Competition Team, Auburn University
• 2006, 2007 White House invitation
• 2005, 2007, 2008 Member of Southeastern Conference Championship Team, Auburn University
Professional
• 2000, 2004, 2008 Three-time Olympic trials qualifier