Five decades of Chico State coaches and athletes were honored at the 2016 Chico State Athletics Hall of Fame ceremony on Sept. 24 at the Bell Memorial Union. The class features 10 of the department's all-time greats: Kim Abts (Women's Basketball, 2001-05), Steve Frankiewich (Men's Track and Field, 1975-76), Sandra (Coombs) Newell (Women's Track and Field, 1966-68), Denise Butticci Peck (Women's Soccer, 1991-92; Track and Field, 1991), Toni Ruggle (Men's Cross Country, 1973-76; Track and Field, 1974, 1976-78), Katie Stokx (Softball, 2002-05), Stan Urmann (Men's Track and Field, 1974-75), Bao-Nhan Vinh (Baseball, 1999-2000), Aaron Weiny (Men's Swimming, 1979-82), and honorary inductee Mary Ruby.
Orval Hughes, one of the principal building blocks of the Chico State men's soccer program and a long-time cornerstone in the community of Chico, was the recipient of the Mac Martin Award, named in honor of Mackay "Mac" Martin – a man who inspired many and exemplified what it truly means to be a Wildcat.
The 1975 NCAA Championship third-place men's track and field team that Urmann and Frankiewich were also celebrated during the ceremony.
The inductees:
Kim Abts (Women's Basketball, 2001-05)
When Kim Abts looks back upon her time as a member of the Chico State women's basketball program, she refers to a family, a unit, a team, and lasting memories and friendships.
A strong family is marked by selflessness, a trait that Abts exemplified during her four years as the starting point guard on the Chico State women's basketball team. She still holds school records in single-season assists, career assists, and assists in a game. As a senior, Abts led all NCAA divisions, male and female, in assists per game (9.7).
A three-time First Team All-Conference selection and two time All-West Region pick, Abts was the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Player of the Year and an All-American in 2004-05. She is also still the CCAA's career assists record holder.
When fans of the Chico State basketball program look back on the first decade of this millennium, they remember tremendous success. Abts played a huge role in that success, leading the Wildcats to three straight NCAA Championship Tournament berths, including the West Regional title game as a senior, and the program's first CCAA title.
"Kim helped put Chico State women's basketball on the map," said former Head Coach Lynne Roberts. "She was exciting to watch, fun to coach, and a great teammate."
Steve Frankiewich (Men's Track and Field, 1975-76)
The 1975 NCAA Champion in the discus, and still the school's lone male national champion in the event, Frankiewich was a force throughout his two seasons on the track and field team.
The Merced resident, undefeated in league competition over his two seasons as a Wildcat, still ranks fourth all-time at Chico State in the event with a toss of 176-feet-2.
Frankiewich and fellow inductee Stan Urmann each won national titles in 1975 to lead the team to a third-place finish, which is still the highest in program history.
Since earning his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, Frankiewich has worked in the natural gas and energy business for nearly 40 years. He plans to retire in 2017. His hobbies include working on and enjoying his Kawasaki Ninja sportbike and 1974 Porsche 914, and building guitars and "giving them away to young people who don't have means to a decent guitar."
Sandra (Coombs) Newell (Women's Track and Field, 1966-68)
Newell, who went by her maiden name, Coombs, during her time at Chico State, has led an action-packed life. Her time at Chico State was no exception. According to her coach, Mary Ruby, who is this year's honorary Hall of Fame inductee, Newell held the school record in the 100-yard dash for more than two decades. She placed among the top three in the 100-yard dash, 220-yard dash, 440-yard relay and long jump in every track and field meet she entered from 1966 to 1968, and was recognized by Chico State President Robert E. Hall as one of the University's top athletes in 1968.
She has always been a leader, on and off the track.
"I never considered myself a pioneer, but I did pave the way for many women to follow my footsteps," said Newell.
Upon leaving Chico, Newell taught and coached track and field and cheerleading. Soon after she moved to Europe (her husband, Bill, was in the Navy) where she became a men's semi-pro basketball referee, a member of the National Skip Patrol, and taught sailing to Navy Seals.
Sandy, as her friends know her, is doing a different kind of riding these days. She has biked across the United States, and this year, at the age of 70, rode from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to Bar Harbor, Maine.
After returning to California, Newell became the first female grain and commodity inspector for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, eventually progressing to Acting Branch Chief in charge of all California inspection stations. She was also Vice President of the American Association of Grain Inspection and Weighing Agencies and the North American Export Grain Association Marketing Subcommittee from which Newell was influential in changing federal regulations for rice, beans and wheat.
Denise Butticci Peck (Women's Soccer, 1991-92; Track and Field, 1991)
One of five First Team All-Americans in the history of the women's soccer program, Butticci Peck was the top offensive threat on Chico State's first NCAA Championship Tournament team in 1992.
She led the Northern California Athletic Conference with 13 goals that season, which is still the fifth most in the program's single-season history. Three of those goals were game winners and helped the Wildcats win a school-record 15 times.
Butticci Peck finished her Chico State career with 22 goals, which still ranks sixth in program history, and her 47 career points rank ninth. Her goal and point totals remain tops among the program's two-year players.
"Denise was one of the best players we have ever had at Chico State and her goal-scoring abilities made life hell on opponents," former coach Bob Russ said. "She was a performer and leader and truly an inspiration to her peers and younger players alike."
Putting the ball into the back of the net was not Butticci Peck's only skill. She was also the Most Valuable Player during her one year of participation on the track and field team, and up until a few years ago, was still listed on the top-10 list in the 400-meter relay. She was also a two-time All-Academic selection.
Butticci Peck currently serves as the Regional Director of the Southwest Region and on the National Leadership Council for Biogen, one of the largest Biotech companies in the world.
Her son, Davis, recently committed to play collegiate soccer at Grand Canyon University.
Toni Ruggle (Men's Cross Country, 1973-76; Track and Field, 1974, 1976-78)
Ruggle was a distance runner at Chico State when distance running wasn't as cool.
But his success, and his support of his alma mater since graduation, has helped to make distance running a revelation at Chico State. A valued ambassador for distance coach Gary Towne's program over the years, Ruggle's support has helped Towne build the Wildcat program into a national powerhouse.
Ruggle himself was a powerhouse in the 1970s, earning three All-Conference honors on the track and qualifying for the NCAA Championships three times in the 1,500 meters.
The 1978 team captain lettered four times in cross country and four more times on the track. He was nominated for Chico State's Outstanding Male Athlete of 1978 and graduated with top-10 marks in school history in the 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters. It wasn't until two years ago that Ruggle was knocked out of the top 10 in arguably the program's most competitive distance – the 1,500 meters.
As a freshman, Ruggle helped lead the cross country program to its first West Region title, second Far Western Conference crown, and a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, which was the program's best national finish in the first 45 years of the program. Ruggle finished 55
th overall at the national championships, held in Wheaton, Illinois.
Ruggle, who has worked for the California Water Service for the past 36 years, is still running. He has been a member of the Asics Aggie Running Club since 1980 and won his age group at the Almond Bowl 5k in Bidwell Park last November.
Katie Stokx (Softball, 2002-05)
Stokx started her Chico State softball career out strong, pitching the team to the NCAA Championship Tournament semifinals in a record-breaking freshman campaign. She finished her career atop the school's career record book in wins,
strikeouts, shutouts, complete games, and All-Conference honors, to name a few.
One of two four-time All-Conference performers in the history of Chico State softball, Stokx is also the program's single-season record holder in wins, innings pitched, appearances, shutouts and complete games.
She was a major threat at the plate as well. Until this season, Stokx was the team's career leader in hits and doubles, and still ranks among the top four in runs batted in, total bases and extra base hits.
Stokx started three of the Wildcats' four games at the 2002 NCAA Championship Tournament as a freshman, allowing just one run on nine hits in three complete games. She was named to the Championship All-Tournament team.
She twice led the team in wins and RBI during her career, and in 2005, led the team back to the NCAA Championship Tournament where they reached the regional title game.
"Chico State softball taught me how hard I could push myself and that work ethic has stayed with me," Stokx said.
A middle school math and science teacher for the past eight years, Stokx is still involved with softball and gives pitching lessons to girls ranging from eight to 16 years old.
Stan Urmann (Men's Track and Field, 1974-75)
Urmann has always excelled at making leaps.
He was a distance runner in high school but also enjoyed the long jump and qualified for the state meet at a senior. At
Santa Rosa Junior College, he insisted on focusing on the long jump, and after some fits and starts, wound up catching Chico State Track and Field Head Coach Larry Burleson's eye at the team's last home meet of his sophomore year by winning the triple jump and long jump.
Urmann went on to win the Far Western Conference title and finish second in the nation in the long jump as a junior. After that, he advanced to the Division I championship and finished 10
th.
He took one more leap forward as a senior, winning Chico State's first and only NCAA title in the long jump in 1975.
After graduating, Urmann taught and coached track and field and basketball in Forestville and Red Bluff for 16 years.
Urmann and his wife, Anita, started Riley Creek Blueberry Farm in Laclede, Idaho more than 20 years ago. They now grow more than 60,000 pounds of blueberries each year, all sold locally.
Their daughter, Whitney, just started her senior year as a journalism major at Chico State. He also helps out at home track meets.
Urmann's personal-record long jump at Chico State, 25-feet-2, still stands as tied for the longest in the history of the program.
Bao-Nhan Vinh (Baseball, 1999-2000)
Vinh joined three top recruits on a visit to Chico State from Santa Ana Junior College and "fell in love with the Chico State campus and the baseball program."
It wasn't long until the love was reciprocated. Soon, whenever Vinh strode to the plate, the Nettleton Stadium crowd would chant: "Now we win! Now we win!"
They were right. Over the 1999 and 2000 seasons, the Wildcats won 95 times and Vinh established himself as one of the greatest clutch hitters in the history of the program.
His 96 hits in 1999 are the second most in single-season history and paced a team that went on to win the NCAA Division II College World Series title. He had 44 career postseason hits, including 28 in 1999. Both totals remain Chico State records.
In 20 career postseason games, Vinh banged out two or more hits 16 times.
"After 20 years of calling Chico State baseball, Bao is right at the top of the list of hitters I would want up there with the game on the line," Chico State baseball play-by-play voice Mike Baca said.
Vinh was twice named All-West Region and is one of five Wildcats to have earned First Team All-CCAA honors twice.
His .384 career average is the third highest in school history, and he also ranks among the top 10 in RBI, hits, runs, doubles, triples, total bases, and stolen bases.
After graduating, Vinh hit .283 in four seasons of independent baseball, including his first two with the Chico Heat, and then went to work for Anheuser Busch where he has been employed since.
Vinh and his wife, Krystal Lee, live in Huntington Beach and run the "Club Green" Girls Volleyball Club, which consists of eight teams with players ranging in age from 13-18.
Aaron Weiny (Men's Swimming, 1979-82)
Weiny claims that Head Coach Clark Yeager's scientific approach to training is what kept him at Chico State for four years. Weiny's surgical approach to winning kept him on top of the podium. Over those four years, Weiny won all 16 of his dual meets, seven Far Western Conference titles, earned 16 All-America awards, and the Wildcats won four straight conference championships.
The 1981 Far Western Conference Most Valuable Swimmer, Weiny set the school record in the individual medley in 1982 and ranks sixth in school history for number of All-America awards and points earned at the NCAA Championships. He also ranks among the top 10 in six different events.
Throughout his life, up to the present, Weiny has always been involved in swimming. Currently, he directs a non-profit program in Naples, Florida, called Ocean Kids, Inc., which seeks to instruct young people how to handle themselves safely in a variety of ocean situations and help them to develop respect for the marine environment. He also boasts more than 11 years as a swimming coach.
Weiny has continued to train and compete in swimming and triathlon events. In 2015, he won five gold medals, two silver medals, and set a world record at the World Police and Fire Games.
A recently retired firefighter, Weiny's roles included: Engineer, Acting Lieutenant, Dive Rescue Team Coordinator, Technical Rescue Team member, and Fire Department Wellness Coordinator.
Weiny says his most rewarding role of all, however, was raising his son, Camronn.
Honorary Inductee - Coach Mary Ruby (Women's Track and Field, 1966-72; Volleyball, 1966-75; Women's Swimming, 1966-67)
Support for women's athletics at Chico State and in the NCAA has never been higher. And the success of women's athletics at Chico State has never been greater. Mary Ruby is among those who planted the seeds for women's athletics to flourish at Chico State and nationally.
A physical education instructor at Chico State for 30 years, Ruby coached track and field, swimming, and developed the volleyball program. Many members of the Chico State Athletics Hall of Fame benefitted from Ruby's coaching.
One of the main reasons Ruby came to Chico State after earning her master's degree from the University of Iowa was Jane Shurmer, who she credits with being ahead of her time in promoting athletics for women.
Ruby helped carry that torch.
She took over the women's track and field program as a volunteer coach in 1966 and ran the program until 1972. She also started the volleyball program in 1966 and coached it until 1975, leading the team to the 1970 Northern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference titles in varsity and junior varsity. And in 1966 and 1967, Ruby coached the women's swim team while Shirley Smith was on leave completing her doctorate.
Ruby was among those who worked to develop a national structure for women's athletics, called the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, which served in that capacity from 1971 to 1982, when the NCAA took over.
"As a college freshman in 1969, approaching a college coach to find out how to join the women's track and field team was very frightening. Women were not recruited and I was not a physical education major at that time, so I had no knowledge of how to make that happen," Athletics Hall of Fame Chairperson Carol Stanley-Hall said. "She put herself out there to make it happen for us. Coach Ruby's support, encouragement, kindness and confidence in me to join the team changed my life."
Since retiring in 1995, Ruby has spent her time traveling, bird watching, reading, assisting with the Paradise Meals on Wheels program, and spending time with family.
Mac Martin Award winner Orval Hughes
The online description for the Mac Martin Award finishes with this sentence: The Mac Martin Award is given to a former Chico State student-athlete who has distinguished his/herself in their post-collegiate career by bringing distinction to the University, community and their vocation, in a similar manner that Mac Martin did.
Hughes, who served with Martin as the treasurer on the Chico State Alumni Association Board from 1990-95, fits the bill beautifully.
One of the cornerstones on which the Chico State intercollegiate men's soccer program was built, Hughes has done extraordinary work with the University and in the community since his graduation.
As a Chico State athlete, he helped bring the fledgling men's soccer program to national prominence in four short years, earning Team MVP and All-League honors as the team's leading scorer as a senior in 1968. He also played tennis.
As a student, Hughes earned his bachelor's degree in biology and his master's – with distinction – in physical education.
As a citizen, he served on active duty in the military after earning his bachelor's degree and before returning to earn his master's.
As an instructor, Hughes taught at Butte Community College, was an assistant soccer coach at Chico State, the head badminton coach, and has coached youth soccer, high school tennis (winning league and section titles all six years he led the Pleasant Valley High School program), and is currently a player/coach for Chico's Men's Adult United State Tennis Association team.
As a businessman, Hughes co-founded the PDQ Market & Deli and Downtowner Deli & Market and then became a partner and realtor with RE Realty & Investments, a firm that marketed and developed commercial buildings, including Philadelphia Square. Since 2001, Hughes has been a certified loan officer, helping many Chico families buy their first homes.
As an expert and collaborator, Hughes worked with CARD and other programs to bring tennis to the young people of Chico, and has served the Chico Tennis Association Board, the Chico Downtown Business Association, the Chico Chamber of Commerce, the City of Chico Planning Commission, the Chico State Alumni Board, the 20
th Street Park Steering Committee, and the Chico Advisory Group (a liaison group to the California Employment Development Department). Hughes is also a member of the Chico Noon Exchange Club, which supports local family-focused charitable organizations, and serves on the Advisory Board at Canyon Oaks Golf Course.
As a volunteer, Hughes has coached Chico Challengers baseball (a program for kids with physical or mental challenges), donated time at the Peg Taylor Center where he is currently serving as President of the Board of Directors, worked with local churches to support the work of the Torres Shelter and Jesus Center, helped with community cleanup projects at the Peg Taylor Center, Boys and Girls Club and The Esplanade House, and this year, as a member of the 2016 Chico Cioppino Feed Committee, helped successfully raise more than $100,000 for several non-profit agencies in Chico.
As a family man, Hughes has recently been enjoying teaching his grandson to play golf and tennis.
The 1975 Men's Track and Field Team
Led by the NCAA Championship efforts of Urmann and Frankiewich, the 1975 Wildcats netted a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships – the highest in the history of the program.
Joining Urmann and Frankiewich in earning All-America honors and scoring for the team were: Doug Ladd, who placed third in the javelin, decathlete Bob Myers (fifth), and triple-jumper Herman Blake (sixth).
The complete 1975 men's track and field roster:
Paul Arndt
Darryl Ballou
Herman Blake
Tom Brown
Dennis Butler
Randy Crawford
Kyle Crenshaw
Glenn Cross
David Crum (or Davis?)
Dave Dosen
Scott Fairley
Marti Ferguson
Pat Finn
Steve Frankiewich
Mike Franson
Greg Griffen
Bob Hall
Dave Hanley
Bert Hume
Randy Jacobszoom
Mark Karr
Carl Knox
Doug Ladd
Bill LaHaye
Ken Lindsey
Chuck Masterson
Mike Middleton
Kent Mulkey
Bob Myers
Fred Nason
Steve Porter
George Rogers
Toni Ruggle
Corbin Scott
Brian Smith
Mike Stokes
Tim Stone
Paul Sullivan
Ron Teague
Dan Trondsen
Stan Urmann
Tony Webb
Head Coach: Larry Burleson
Assistant Coach: Don Batie
