CHICO STATE ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME - CLASS OF 2013
The Chico State Athletics Hall of Fame committee has unveiled its class of 2013, which features eight of the departments all-time greats: Becky Blankenship (Basketball 1978-82; Track & Field 1979-82), Michelle Flowers Wilson (Basketball, 1988-92), Anthony Hilliard (Basketball, 1991-93), William Leone (Football 1958-60; Track & Field, 1959-60), Ronald Martinez (Football, 1968-69), Dr. Cloy Stapleton (Football 1950 & 1955-56; Boxing 1951 & 1955-57; Track & Field, 1955), Walter Ulrich (Wrestling, 1986-88), and honorary inductee Thomas Wigton.
Tickets – $45 or $340 for a table of eight – can be purchased by calling the Chico State Athletic Department at (530) 898-6470. RSVP by Sept. 27. The event will begin with a social hour at 5:30, dinner will be served at 7, and the induction ceremony will begin at 7:30.
Becky Blankenship
Becky Blankenship was one of the most versatile athletes in the history of Chico State athletics. She graduated with the women’s basketball single-season rebounds record, and in track & field, used her speed and strength to do any event Head Coach Cherrie Sherrard asked her to do in order to help the team win.
She had enough speed to run sprints and hurdles, enough stamina to run the 400, and enough strength to throw the shot put, discus, and javelin. In fact, Blankenship qualified for the NCAA Championships in the javelin as a senior thanks to a heave that still stands as the ninth longest in school history.
Blankenship earned four letters in basketball, leading the team to a pair of conference titles, and four more in track & field.
Since graduating, Blankenship has been a teacher, coach, and massage therapist in the Butte County area and in Fort Bragg. She currently resides in Waipahu, Hawaii.
Michelle Flowers
As a player, it’s always nice to set a school record, but usually it doesn’t take long for someone else to come along and claim it as their own. That hasn’t been the case for Michelle Flowers Wilson. Flowers Wilson was a dominant force in the paint during her collegiate career as a member of the Chico State women’s basketball team, setting the school’s career mark for blocked shots with 148—a mark that has held up now for over 20 years. Flowers Wilson’s name is also still among the top 10 in school history in career and single season rebounds, single season blocks and blocks per game. She also boasts the second highest rebound total recorded in a single game with 21.
Flowers Wilson, who currently resides in Folsom, went on to a distinguished career in education at both the elementary and high school levels. She has devoted much of her time to working with children and was recently honored by the American Red Cross with their “Spirit of the Red Cross Award.”
Anthony Hilliard
Some players are natural leaders, and such was the case with Anthony Hilliard. Hilliard joined the Wildcats after transferring from Columbia Junior College and had an instant impact on the fortunes of the Chico State basketball team. He helped lead the team to consecutive Northern California Athletic Conference titles and two straight NCAA West Region championship appearances. Still one of the top point producers in school history, Hilliard ranks 10th all-time in points per game at 17.1 and total points for a season.
Hilliard was also a versatile and tenacious defender – he brought a contagious competitiveness to the floor that helped fuel his teammates – and a tribute to the game, earning the CCAA’s Sportsmanship award.
Hilliard has gone on to a successful high school coaching career and has impacted his community through his devotion to family and church.
William Leone
William “Bill” Leone was the first member of his family to attend college, and he used that opportunity to create a
lasting legacy on the football field as one of the program’s all-time best defensive backs, as well as in the fields of service and education. A three-year letterman and All-Far West Conference selection as a senior, Leone boasted blazing speed that keyed his successes on the gridiron and on the track, where he ran the 100-yard dash in 9.9 seconds.
He received tryout offers from the Los Angeles Chargers and Canadian Football’s Montreal franchise following his graduation.
Instead, Leone earned his teaching credential, and went on to teach industrial arts, physical education and mathematics for 40 years at Sonoma Valley High School. He also spent 35 years as the high school driving instructor, was head football coach for four years and also coached the basketball team for a time. Leone literally touched generations of young men and women during his time as an educator, and now enjoys his semi-retirement with his wife Lori, his five sons, and nine grandchildren.
Ronald Martinez
Known as “Sergeant Rock” during his playing days for his hard-hitting style at middle linebacker, Ronald Martinez anchored the Wildcat defense in 1968, earning All-Far Western Conference and Second Team All-Coast honors at his position.
Martinez was on his way to another stellar season in 1969 before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Still, in just the year and a half he was able to play, Martinez compiled 155 tackles and 135 assists – then Chico State records – cementing his place as one of the top linebackers in Chico State football history.
At the 2009 Chico State football reunion, all five coaches in attendance voted Martinez the most outstanding middle linebacker to ever don the shoulder pads for the Wildcats.
Since leaving Chico State, Martinez has been involved in a variety of endeavors. He’s taught locally and abroad in Spain. He’s coached. And he’s served on the State of California Eucalyptus Board.
Dr. Cloy Stapleton was already a bit of a local legend when he first came to Chico State in 1950. An outstanding high school athlete at Willows High School, and then later at Yuba College, Stapleton saw his athletic career at Chico interrupted by a four year stint in the U.S. Marine Corps. After his discharge, Stapleton picked up right where he left off, especially in the boxing ring, where he posted an impressive 8-1 record in 1955 with his only loss coming at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Boxing Championships.
But it’s his all-around athleticism that Stapleton is most remembered for. He earned three letters in football, four in boxing and one in track & field.
Stapleton’s long tenure as an educator began in 1957 as a teacher at Quincy High School and lasted until his retirement from Sacramento City College in 1990. During his 24 year tenure at Sac City, Stapleton coached four different sports, taught women’s self-defense courses and developed an exercise program and facility for the physically challenged.
Walter Ulrich
One of the most decorated and honored wrestlers in Chico State history, Walter Ulrich competed locally at Corning
High School and Butte Junior College before coming to Chico State in 1986. Ulrich had an immediate impact on coach Armand Brett’s team and won the squad’s “Wrestler of the Week” award a record four times in his two years on the mat. As a junior, Ulrich earned All-America honors by placing 8th overall at the NCAA Division II championships.
But he saved his best though for his senior year, posting an undefeated mark in dual matches and capturing the NCAA West Region title. Ulrich went on to finish among the top four at the NCAA Championships.
After graduation, Ulrich worked as an assistant coach for the Wildcats as well as UC Davis and Santa Rosa JC, before landing at Sacramento City College where he has been for the past 17 years. He’s led Sacramento City to a pair of state titles.
Countless outstanding student-athletes have worn the Chico State uniform and many administrators have roamed the hallways. But it would be profoundly difficult, if not impossible, to find an individual who has had a more lasting impact on the entire Wildcats Athletics Department than Thomas Wigton.
Wigton first arrived in the Chico State Athletic Department offices when he approached former head men’s basketball coach Puck Smith about volunteering his services as a team manager in 1987. The following fall, he began his career on the sidelines assisting the football program; and in 1994, when Lindsay Meggs was named the baseball coach for the Wildcats, he added the title of Baseball Team Manager to his resume.
By conservative estimates, Wigton’s been on the bench or sidelines for more than 1,000 Chico State victories.
From the start to the present, Wigton has been an encouragement and joy to the entire Chico State coaching staff, administration, and perhaps most importantly, its student-athletes, most of him who know him by the nickname “T-Dub.”
Wigton bleeds Cardinal and White. And for countless student-athletes, his jovial attitude, loyalty, and commitment to service, is a large part of what makes being a student-athlete at Chico State a very special experience.
