Page 10 - Mid Valley Times 8-8-19 E-edition

ley Christian in Visalia tied a school record with five fIeld goals in a game against Sacramento City college in 2004, and his three field goals against College of the Sequoias helped clinch a Central Valley Conference title for RC. He later was a star kicker for Boise State's unbeaten 2006 team that won the Fiesta Bowl. He now works as a certified public accoun- tant in Visalia.
• Curtis Pasma (base- ball) — The Madera High product had a record-setting career with the Tigers, setting the school's strikeout re- cord as a hard-throwing left-hander both start- ing and relieving. In his sophomore season in 2005, he turned in a 17-strikeout, complete game victory against West Hills. After play- ing four-year ball at
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Noboru "Nobi" Kitaoka, longtime assistant volleyball coach with Reedley College. spoke while accepting his induction into the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame on Aug. 3. Kitaoka was inducted into the Tiger HOF on the day of a Celebration of Life service for his wife of 41 years, Elizabeth Balderama Kitaoka, who died on July 22.
fourth place state fin- ish as a freshman and return visit to state play as a sophomore. During Baley Quinn's stint as setter and play-caller, RC went 37-8 with four of the losses coming in the state tournament. She later starred at the University of Memphis and now is an assistant coach at Oregon State University.
• Abbi Millwee Rid- dle (basketball) — The Bakersfield native was the building block for a two-year run that ended in 1999-2000 with a con- ference championship, the college's first since 1988. As point guard, she led the Tigers to a 23- 8 record while earning co-Central Valley Con- ference MVP honors. She later played at Sac- ramento State and Lub- bock Christian Univer- sity. Now married with
a 10-year-old daughter, Milwee Riddle teaches at Quail Lake Charter School in the Sanger Uni- fied School District.
• Riley Young (foot- ball) — A knee injury prevented the Sierra High product from play- ing most of the Tigers' 2002 state and national championship season. But intense rehabilita- tion and a move to mid- dle linebacker resulted in the sophomore being named the CVC Defen- sive Player of the Year and all-state first team defensive selection for Region II. Before his knee injury, he was a standout for the 2001 RC squad that blossomed the year he was hurt to post a 12-0 record. Young declined a schol- arship offer from Sacra- mento State to complete his academic studies at Fresno State.
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HALL OF FAME Continued from page A1
Kitaoka coached for 15 seasons with Gus- tafson (1980-95), then nine more with coach Shannon Jefferies (1996- 2002, 2017-18). In that span, the Tigers won seven conference titles. Kitaoka also formed the Sierra Pacific Volleyball Club and had seven suc- cessful seasons coaching high school (including Reedley High).
A stroke forced Kita- oka to take a break from coaching, but he returned in 2017 to assist Jefferies at Reedley College. He plans to coach this fall as an assistant to new head coach and former Tiger star Mariah Roby.
A capsule of the other inductees:
• Anthony Montgom- ery (football) — The product of Central Val-
PRINCIPALS Continued from page A1
High School, first as teacher, instructional leader and, most recently, assistant principal.
Andrew Popp is a graduate of California State University, Fresno and grew up in the Fres- no area, having graduated from McLane High School.
In addition to serving as as- sistant principal in Sanger, he also helped with coaching in the school’s football and base- ball programs.
“I’m joining the dream team here in Dinuba,” said Popp.
“I developed a passion for really wanting to serve com- munities where you have one comprehensive site,“ Popp added. “Being out in a rural and agricultural area, this is really
my passion has taken me. And when this opportunity presented itself, I had heard so many great things about Dinuba Unified and where they were going, and the mission, and that’s why I couldn’t be happier to be hired as the new high school principal.”
Popp said he is looking for- ward to meeting his staff and students.
“We have a lot of initiatives on the table,” he added. “Sup- porting our career pathways is a big one, helping and support- ing all of our extracurricular programs so that our students are prepared to compete, both in the classroom and outside of the classroom.”
Jefferson Elementary
Jefferson Elementary School’s new principal is a fa- miliar face, as Robert Rodri-
guez has been part of the Di- nuba Unified School District for 21 years now.
Rodriguez began his career at Lincoln Elementary School back in 1998, before transfer- ring over to Jefferson, where he worked for eleven years. While at Jefferson, Rodriguez obtained his administrative degree.
He returned to Lincoln four years ago, but when the oppor- tunity came to return to Jef- ferson, Rodriguez admitted he couldn’t resist.
“When Jefferson (princi- pal position) became available I applied,” he said. “That’s where I want to be. I’ve al- ways wanted to be there.”
Having grown up in Reed- ley, Rodriguez moved to Dinu- ba after being hired on by the district. All of his children have
attended Jefferson Elementary School and he has family who also attend Jefferson.
Lincoln Elementary
Melissa Vega comes back to her alma mater as the new principal of Lincoln Elemen- tary School.
Vega grew up in Dinuba, having matriculated from Lin- coln Elementary, Washington Intermediate and Dinuba High, where she graduated in 1999.
She has been working for Dinuba Unified School District for 17 years now. She taught in the district for five years, served as an academic coach for four years and a learning director for seven years.
She has served at Jefferson School, John F. Kennedy Acad- emy (back when it was a sixth grade academy) and Kennedy
Elementary School. This will be her first time working at Lincoln Elementary School.
“It has been in my heart to stay in Dinuba,” Vega shared. “I loved being at all the dif- ferent sites I’ve been at. But there is a very special some- thing about coming back to Lincoln School. . . It’s a very special return. It’s been kind of surreal and exciting. And it’s such an honor.”
Vega becomes only the fifth principal in forty years at Lin- coln Elementary School. Three of them served as her principal.
“When I was a kinder- gartener there was Mrs. Ka- phiem, then Mr. Stovall. I was a sixth grader when Mrs. De- witt came in. After that it was Gina Ramshaw... so three of the last five were mine.”
University of the Pa- cific under current RC coach Steve Pearse, Pas- ma played two seasons of professional ball in the Milwaukee Brewers organization.
• Jessica Baley Quinn
(volleyball) — The for- mer Yosemite High standout became one of the best passers in school history under Gustafson and Jefferies, leading the team to a perfect conference record and
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