The Sac-Joaquin Section will induct 43 new members, including 19 athletes and 10 coaches, into its 2012 Hall of Fame on Sunday at Power Balance Pavilion.
Among the former area pro athletes to be honored will be Delta's Tony Eason, who quarterbacked the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl in 1985; Marshall's (now River City) Steve Sax, the five-time all-star who played on two World Series championship teams; 1928 Sac High graduate Stan Hack, an all-star third baseman for 16 seasons with the Chicago Cubs; and Del Campo basketball three-point scoring standout Danielle Viglione, who played for the Sacramento Monarchs and still holds the state record for points in a season with 1,300.
Other area athletes to be inducted include Nevada Union's Kellie Cook, the the 1991 Gatorade California girls basketball player of the year; Rio Americano's John Ferris, an NCAA swim champion and 1968 Olympic bronze medalist; and Rio Americano's Sue Pederson, who won four Olympic medals at age 14 at the 1968 Olympics.
Among the area coaches to be honored are Jesuit's Paul Rose, the all-time California boys soccer career coaching wins leader with 656; and section career victory leaders Bill Baxter of El Camino with 601 in girls basketball and Max Miller, now back at Rio Americano, with 255 in football.
Other area coaches to be inducted are Gary Summerhays, who coached championship boys basketball, girls volleyball, boys and girls soccer and boys golf teams at Del Campo; McClatchy's Harvey Tahara, whose boys and girls basketball teams combined for 515 wins; Mary Jo Truesdale, who has won five section softball titles at Sheldon and has 597 career wins; and the late Charlie Lee of Bella Vista, whose wrestling teams won five section titles and were state runners-up three times.
Among the administrators to be honored are El Camino's Jim Dimino, a football coach, athletic director and section basketball tourney director; Placer's Bill Flake, who started the wrestling program at the Auburn school and has been the Pioneer Valley League's commissioner since its inception in 2001; and Rocklin school district superintendent Kevin Brown, who has served on the section's board of managers for 16 years.
Also to be honored are former longtime basketball and football official Jim Coombs; baseball umpire and football official Hank deLotty; and former Woodland Daily Democrat sports editor and columnist Gary Traynham.
Among the out-of-area inductees are Major League Baseball players Milo Candini of Manteca, Joe Rudi of Downey of Modesto and Ray Lankford of Grace Davis of Modesto; NFL and college football players Mike Merriweather of Vallejo; J.D. Hill of Edison of Stockton and Paul Larson of Turlock; and UCLA and NBA player Gerald Madkins of Merced.
Others to be honored are Olympians Dave Maggard (track) of Turlock, Suzy Powell (track) of Downey, Mike Bruner (swimming) of Lincoln of Stockton and John Azevedo (wrestling) of Grace Davis. Three-time Texas A&M NCAA All-American softball player Shawn Andaya-Pulliam of Lodi also will be inducted.
The inductees were decided through a lengthy process that included months of research and three separate committees, according to section media director Will DeBoard.
The 43 new members will join the inaugural class of 56 that was inducted in 2010.
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