Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame honors current, former athletes at 2023 induction dinner
More than 50 local student-athletes gathered Sunday night at the Serra Center in Camarillo, where their successes on and off the field were celebrated at the Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame’s annual induction dinner.
Prompted by chairperson Brian Fitzgerald, the Hall of Fame’s five-person class of inductees used the occasion to pass some wisdom down to the younger generation.
Professional softball player Samantha Fischer encouraged the young athletes to say “yes” to the opportunities that life presents.
“Everything that I’ve been able to do is because I’ve said ‘yes,’ even if it seems scary or challenging,” Fischer said during her induction speech. “When I got the offer to go play in Japan … it was terrifying. … I said ‘yes’ and it was worth it.”
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Fischer, Simi Valley High’s female representative to the event 15 years ago, went on to become one of her sports most feared hitters. She won an NCAA batting title, represented her country and played professionally home and abroad.
“I’ve seen and done more than I’ve ever imagined,” Fischer said. “Fifteen years ago, sitting here at this event, if you would have told me that one day I would be standing here as an inductee I would have laughed at you because I love a good joke.”
Former Fillmore High baseball pitcher Rick Stewart, who remains the only three-time CIF-Southern Section Player of the Year, reminded the student-athletes in attendance to approach their lives with the same vigor as they approach their sports.
“You put a lot of effort into your athletic careers,” said Stewart. “I would just advise you to put it into your relationships with family and friends. Put the same effort into your education. Put the same effort into your faith.
“If you do that, you’ll be an all-around success. That’s more important than being a great athlete.”
Track champion Marlene Harmon-Wilcox said it was the “positive choice of thought” that pushed her through the ups and downs of her track career, which included qualifying for and then missing out on the 1980 Olympics due to the American boycott.
“We all face ups and downs,” Harmon-Wilcox said. “It’s the way we perceive and choose to deal with it. Even by accident, I always made that positive choice of thought.”
Harmon-Wilcox, who is now the head track coach at Thousand Oaks High, detailed being told by an elite coach at 13 that she wasn’t going to be good enough to reach her goals.
“I had just finished winning a national championship,” Harmon-Wilcox said. “He sat down with my parents and I and he said, ‘You know Marlene works really hard, but she’s just not the caliber of athlete that we work with here.’
“I not only showed up, I showed him. … If you are destined to go where you’re going, and you believe in it, please do not let the white noise on the outside dictate where you’re going.”
Mike Enfield, the consensus National Soccer Player of the Year when he graduated Ventura High in 2001, went on to win a national championship at UCLA and win the MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup with the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Enfield emotionally thanked his older sister Amanda for introducing him to the sport.
“I just feel so lucky to have grown up with a big sister who can be a role model,” Enfield said. “Some of my favorite moments in soccer where we got to share the field.”
Sunday was also a Starry night in Camarillo.
The Ventura County Star was a second act for sportswriter Derry Eads, who arrived locally after the El Paso Herald-Post ceased operations in 1997.
“What was I getting myself into?” Eads asked.
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Eads mentioned his transition to the newsroom was quickened by cracking open the file drawers left behind by predecessors.
Able to absorb the history of Ventura County sports, Eads spent the next three decades continuing its chronicles in these pages, even after retirement.
The Hall of Fame also honored Star reporter Loren Ledin with a “Special Recognition Award” for his years of service to Ventura County sports.
The Hall of Fame also presented its annual awards.
Leo Young and Lex Young, Newbury Park High’s Stanford-bound twin runners, prompted the Hall of Fame to split an award for the first time in its 40-year history.
Lex won the CIF State Division 2 cross country championship. Leo won the U.S. Under-20 cross country championship, earning a berth at the World Junior Championships in Australia. Both contributed to the Panthers’ national title at Nike Cross Nationals.
They were named co-Male High School Athletes of the Year.
Nordhoff senior Ela Ruf, an All-CIF selection in three sports — volleyball, basketball and swimming — was named the Female High School Athlete of the Year.
Odin Rosten, who powered Oxnard College men’s soccer to the California state championship, was named Male College Athlete of the Year.
Ashlyn Flinchum, Ventura College’s All-American softball pitcher, was named Female College Athlete of the Year.
Royal High runner Jonah Bazerkanian and Hueneme High wrestler Audrey Diaz earned the Hall of Fame’s annual scholarship awards.
Joe Curley is a staff writer for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcspreps on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame hosts induction dinner
