Page 11 - Mid Valley Times 5:21:20 E-edition

Sanger High's Hall of Fame inductees
MVT Staff Report
The banquet for this year's induction ceremony into Sanger High's Hall of Fame, originally sched- uled for May 2, has been postponed until further notice due to the COV- ID-19 pandemic. To honor them, Mid Valley Times has provided profiles of this year's inductees.
Scott Jett
Scott Jett was the fast- est swimming sprinter in Sanger High history, ac- cording to Coach Dave Hasegawa. Jett was a four- time Valley Champion in the 50-yard and 100-yard
Danny Jimenez / Photos Contributed
Reedley College’s Andy Pierre-Antoine raced to the end zone on a touchdown reception against Gavilan last season. The sophomore wide receiver has signed a letter of intent to play for Northwestern State in Lousiana.
Reedley College football sending 13 players to four-year schools
Scott Jett
freestyle in 1990 and 1991. He also pro- vided that speed dur- ing water polo games. He attend-
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
A total of 13 players from Reedley College’s Northern California Football Association American Division champion- ship team have signed to play for four-year schools through mid-May, according to head coach Eric Marty.
The players all were key contributors to the Tigers’ 10- 1 championship season, which was capped by a 23-14 victory over Foothill College on Nov. 23 at Reedley High School.
Five players will attend Football Championship Series (FCS) schools while one has signed with an FBS program. The rest of the signees are with Division II and NAIA pro- grams.
The players who have signed letters of intent with four-year schools are:
• Sophomore wide receiver Andy Pierre-Antoine, North- western State (La.)
• Freshman defensive end Okiki Olorunfunmi, Weber
State (Utah)
• Freshman defensive back
Cameron Lockridge, University of Hawaii
• Sophomore defensive back Charles Peeples, Towson Uni- versity (Md.)
• Freshman defensive back Keenan Fyles, Chadron State (Neb.)
• Sophomore tight end Riv- er Walker, Midland University (Neb.)
• Sophomore defensive back D’Angelo Johnson, University of Mary (N.D.)
• Sophomore defensive lineman Kolade Ogunjemiyo, Southwestern Oklahoma State
• Sophomore offensive line- man Devin T. Rahney, Concord University (W.V.)
• Sophomore offensive line- man Isikeli Langi, Colorado Mesa
• Sophomore defensive end Jay Vance, Duquesne Univer- sity (Pa.)
• Sophomore tight end Dan- iel Baca, Duquesne
• Freshman defensive line- man Marcus Farias, Presenta-
tion College (S.D.)
Lockridge, a native of Tam-
pa, Fla., was the lone player to sign with a “group of five” school. Marty said he played a number of different roles on the Tigers’ defense, making 47 tackles while collecting four interceptions and nine pass breakups.
“His flexibility and talent on the backend really helped our secondary," Marty said of Lock- ridge. “He was another fresh- man qualifier who was able to sign to a D1 program after just one semester at RC.”
Sophomores Baca and Vance both parlayed successful JC careers to earn scholarships to Duquesne. Edison High product Vance (6-2, 230) was the Ameri- can Golden Coast Conference defensive player of the year, collecting 13.5 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss as part of his 50 total tackles. He also forced a fumble and recovered a fumble while breaking up three passes.
“A true pro from the day he showed up, Jay didn’t care about where he was on the
depth chart, he just worked,” Marty said. “Very quickly he cracked the starting line up and was taking over games.”
Baca was the Tigers’ third- leading receiver with 34 catches for 413 yards and five touchdowns, and was the Play- er of the Game in the win over Foothill. He led state tight ends in receptions, yards and touch- downs in both 2018 and 2019.
The other three FCS signees were Pierre-Antoine (team-best 44 receptions for 706 yards and eight TDs), Olorunfunmi (18 tackles, 5.5 sacks and a fumble recovery) and Peeples (three in- terceptions, 25 tackles and eight pass breakups).
Eleven other RC players — including quarterback Bubba Hickson and running back Jamon Chambers — have re- ceived offers from four-year schools but still haven’t signed letters of intent. Two of the players, sophomore defensive end Emylle Jones and sopho- more offensive lineman Joshua J Reba, have received offers from FCS schools.
ed Auburn University on scholarship and earned All-American honors. He missed qualifying for the 1996 U.S. Olympic team by just .018 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle.
Mark Wallin
A second aquatics star and a versatile three sport star complete a unique triumvirate within their families with their induc- tions this year. Mark Wal- lin, the oldest of the three Wallin brother in the hall of fame was perhaps the best
Mark Wallin
water polo player in school his- tory. After setting all of the scor- ing records at Sanger High, he be-
came an All-American at Stanford University. Mark was the first building block in the Sanger High water polo rebirth that continues in both boys and girls pro- grams today.
Tony Herron
The second family trio is completed by Tony Her- ron, the son of one hall of fame member and the fa- ther of another. Tony was a three-sport star. He played strong safety on the 1976 Valley Championship foot-
CVRSL season over before it begins
Reedley College’s Camerone Lockridge raced upfield with an interception in a bowl victory over Foothill College last season. The freshman defensive back from Tampa. Fla. has signed a let- ter of intent to play for the University of Hawaii in 2020.
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Tony Herron
ball team. His name is still found in the school’s basketball records for single season and career scor-
By George M. Villagrana
Mid Valley Times
The thought of can- celling a season due to the current pandemic became a reality for the teams in the Cen- tral Valley Recreational Swim League.
In a majority vir- tual vote, coaches from the CVRSL decided to cancel the season, ac- cording to Dinuba Aqua Emps president, Wesley Forbes.
“Everybody saw the writing on the wall,” Forbes said. “There was a discussion of any chance reconciling any- thing for the season, but all the coaches voted to forego the season. We let our board members, parents and swimmers know.”
With the shelter-in- place order made by Gov. Gavin Newsom,
the league would have had to follow guidelines that included prohibit- ing large-scale events and gatherings.
The decision was a difficult one as teams were gearing up for the upcoming season.
Forbes said back in March they were able to get kids in the pool at Dinuba High School for about two weeks. Dinu- ba Unified then closed its schools and its fa- cilities to help slow the spread of the pandemic.
“It stinks being a parent,” Forbes said. “I have two kids on the team and being a high school counselor, I feel bad for all the athletes.”
The CVRSL has 21 teams participating during the three month season, which begins in May and wraps up in mid-July with the CVRSL All-Star Finals.
ing and rebounding that resulted in his later induc- tion to the Sanger High Basketball hall of fame. In baseball his fastball led him to Fresno State where again he was later induct- ed into the Fresno State Baseball hall of fame. He signed with the Boston Red Sox after Fresno State and rose to Triple A status at Pawtucket before an inju- ry ended his career on the cusp of reaching the major leagues.
George M. Villagrana / Mid Valley Times
Swim meets for the Central Valley Recreational Swim League will not take place this summer as the league recently made the decision to cancel this year's season due to the ongoing pandemic. The league consists of 21 teams from the Valley and swim meets would normally be held from May to mid-July.