Colusa County Hall of Fame inducts present, past athletes
Jul. 21—Earlier this month, athletes young and old from around Colusa County were honored at the Colusa County Sports Hall of Fame Awards and Senior Athletes of the Year Banquet.
The Colusa County Hall of Fame is a program directed by the Colusa County Hall of Fame Committee that has aimed to honor athletes from the past along with those of the present to promote and inspire Colusa County youth.
"To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, the athlete must have been either a participant, coach or contributor, been born, attended school or performed in Colusa County," said organizers in a statement. "The event or series which would make the honoree eligible to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame must have taken place at least five years prior to the nomination."
Nominations are solicited by citizens of Colusa County, said organizers, before an abundance of information is gathered and reviewed and the Hall of Fame committee makes the final selections.
Members of the Hall of Fame committee include Joe Pearson, Bill Barrett, Russell Gardner, John Scheimer, Ed Martinez, Bill Barrett Jr., Gary Roper and chairman Vance Boyes.
Inducted into the Colusa County Sports Hall of Fame this year were Ed Martinez, Luis John Nessen III, Jim McGowan and Katie Wilson Junk.
Long-time Colusa coach Tom Vedo received the Coaches Award and Merced Corona was recognized with the Director's Award.
The 1991 Pierce Bears Boys Basketball Team was recognized for dominating the Sacramento Valley League during their four years of high school.
"They lost only one junior varsity game as freshman and went undefeated in league play their last three years," according to Hall of Fame officials.
Both the 2020-21 Colusa High School Cross Country Team and the Varsity Boys Basketball Team were also recognized for their efforts this season.
According to officials, the Colusa High School Cross Country team won both the SVL Boys and Girls Championships
"While training through months of adversity and uncertainty the Redhawks depended on and cheered for each other all while learning how to win as a team," said officials. "They concluded the season as the number one ranked D-V team in the North Section."
The Colusa High School Basketball team also had an outstanding season, finishing the year 27-1 and 12-0 in the SVL.
"The Hawks captured the SVL championship and finished the year as the number one ranked D-IV team in the North Section," said officials. "To cap off their fantastic season the Redhawks closed as the number one ranked team in the state for D-V."
The senior athletes recognized at this year's dinner included Drew Bradbury and Makayla Friaas from Colusa High School, Laynee Haywood and Wyatt Hendrix from Maxwell High School, Betsy Myers and Luke Voorhees from Pierce High School, Alondra Cervantes and Ivan Espinoza from Princeton High School and Gerardo Gomez and Valeria Orozco from Williams High School.
