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There aren’t a lot of times when something can render me speechless.
Those who have known me for years are nodding in agreement when reading this.
But when I got the notice that I was part of the group being inducted into the Amador Valley High School Hall of Fame, speechless is exactly what I was.
This honor means the world to me.
I grew up at Valley View and Pleasanton School dreaming of the day where I could wear purple and gold. I saw a lot of great athletes go through Amador in all sports.
When I got to Amador, I played basketball and baseball for a couple of years before going full time with soccer for my junior and senior years.
In that two-year span, we were nearly invincible. My junior year we started the 55-game non-losing streak, and my senior year I was a starter on a team that went undefeated and ended as the top ranked team in the nation.
After graduating from Chico State in 1985, I got a job as a sportswriter for the Tri-Valley Herald where I ended up working my way to local sports editor.
It was during my early years as a writer that I learned how words and stories mean a lot to the athletes and their families. It’s a lesson I still carry with me. When I retired from the Herald, I went to work for the Pleasanton Weekly in order to keep promoting local athletes.
I have also had the honor of announcing Foothill football and basketball for many years.
I have announced the Pleasanton Hometown Holiday Parade and announce the Pleasanton Veterans’ Day Parade.
I loved my time as one of the hosts for the “Tri-Valley Sports Final” television show.
My goal was to try to help one student a year – to make a difference – something I have carried with me as the campus supervisor at Harvest Park Middle School.
I think I have accomplished that, which is the greatest feeling.
I would not be the person I am today without my wife Coni. She unconditionally supports me and is invaluable as a sounding board and a voice of reason.
Here are the other inductees for the Amador Valley Hall of Fame this year.
Lou Cesario: Cesario is the longest-tenured baseball coach in Amador Valley history as he guided the Dons for 23 years. Along the way the Dons won two East Bay Athletic League titles and a pair of North Coast Section titles. Cesario also was the athletic director at Amador for 19 years, overseeing many championship teams.
One of the things I carry with me is the close relationships formed with coaches over the years. Lou is right at the top of the list – a coach I have always held in the highest regard, not just as a coach but as a person.
Ken Kenitzer: A class of 1988 graduate, Kenitzer was a standout multi-sport athlete, including football as well as swimming and diving. In football he was a two-way starter at linebacker and the offensive line.
It was in diving where he became one of the most accomplished athletes in Amador history. He was a four-time EBAL champion and two-time NCS champ. As a senior, he competed in Junior National Championships and finished in the top 20 against the best in the country.
Monica Van Wegen: She was a class of 1997 graduate that excelled on both cross country and track. In cross country she was a three-time EBAL champ, and in 1996 she led the Dons to the NCS title. In track she won the 1987 NCS title in the 800, and the year before she was part of the NCS championship 4×400 relay team that finished the year as the No. 8-ranked team in the nation.
Her energy, humor, hard work and love of running inspired teammates and coaches, and her can-do attitude was evident through her five-year battle with brain cancer that finally took her life at the age of 32.
1971-1973 Wrestling: The wrestling program at Amador was founded in 1965 by coach Jay Risso. The 1972 team won the first EBAL title and featured several league championships.
In 1973, the team was known as Murderers Row with wrestlers such as captain Steve Ventimiglio and a loaded middleweight and heavyweight lineup that featured Tommy Wipfli, Gary Bonde, Rich Volonte and Steve Goforth. The team set the tone for the decades of Amador wrestlers to come.
Trudy Shelley: For 22 years from the 1990s and into the 2000s Shelley was a vital part of Amador Valley athletics.
As the athletic department’s bookkeeper, she managed the financial and administrative operations that kept the program running. She handled accounts, cash, ticketing, athletic clearances and other day-to-day responsibilities.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. To contact him about his Pleasanton Preps column, email acesmag@aol.com.
