12 being inducted to CV Athletic Hall of Fame

Seven athletes, a coach, three teams and a community leader are in the sixth class inducted into the Clayton Valley High School Athletic Hall of Fame May 3.

The Class of 2019:

Gary Logsdon (Class of 1965 football, basketball and baseball) earned eight varsity letters with three each in football and baseball and two in basketball. As a senior he was the school’s athlete of the year after winning all-league first team in baseball and basketball and being the starting quarterback for Eagles football. In basketball he was honorable mention all-DVAL as a junior for the team that was runner-up at the Mid Valley Classic. His senior year he was team MVP and all-DVAL for the league champion Eagles (18-10) that went to post-season play in the Tournament of Champions and Camellia in Sacramento. Logsdon pitched on the CVHS varsity baseball team for three years. He was 12-1 on the mound over his final two seasons with a league best 0.59 ERA as a junior. He batted over .300 both years and was team most improved player as a junior and MVP as a senior. He got all-DVAL recognition as a junior and first team as a senior for the second-place Eagles.

Bruce Kopitar (1977 football and wrestling) was at Clayton Valley for his senior year after Pacifica High closed but what a year it was! He was an all-American wrestler after sweeping through an undefeated season with 38 match wins in a row, leading the Eagles to the CIF State championship. He was inducted into the CVHS Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008 as part of that historic team coached by Bill Smith. His senior year won tournament championships at Mark Lance Invitational, Tennyson Invitational, Del Valle Invitational, Mt. Diablo Block D and Mission San Jose Invitational before going on to win DVAL, North Coast Section and the CIF State championship at 191 pounds. He played football the Eagles as a fullback and honorable mention all-DVAL defensive lineman. At Pacifica he was part of three league and NCS championship wrestling teams for coach Smith. He was named honorable mention to the all-California 1973-2015 team by The California Wrestler. He took second at the 1977 Greco Roman nationals and earned a full athletic scholarship to University of Oklahoma.

Warren Turnage (1978 wrestling) also came to Clayton Valley from Pacifica and racked up four league and NCS team championships and was a 4X league and Section individual champion. In his two years wrestling for CVHS he won 70 of 72 matches with a 34-0 record a s senior when he won the CIF State championship a year after taking second as junior. The Eagles team was seventh at State. He started wrestling as a freshman at 95 pounds and moved up in weight each year until he wrestled 120/127 pounds as a senior. His four-year varsity record was 160-12. He was a consensus 1978 all-American and, like Kopitar, was honorable mention on the 1973-2015 all-California team and was part of the inaugural CVHS Hall of Fame class in 2008 for the 1977 team. He won 18 invitational tournament titles in his four years.

Benson Jones (1998 basketball and track and field) enjoyed an incredible senior year that included a state championship in the triple jump (wind aided 51-1 leap) and the Easter Seals All-Star basketball game MVP award. These honors made him the CVHS athlete of the year. He was all-league in track and field for three years in the long jump and triple jump. He reached NCS all three years. As a senior he was the NCS Tri-Valley TJ champion. He held school record in TJ and second in LJ. He was ranked third in the USA in the triple jump as a senior and was an all-American. He was basketball (junior and senior) and track and field captain. He earned all-league honors for two years in basketball, team most improved as a junior and senior MVP. He was also MVP of the Livermore Cowboy Roundup. He led CVHS to the North Coast Section playoffs. At DVC he was Bay Valley Conference track and field MVP winning the NorCal LJ and TJ titles as well as the CCCAA State triple jump championship and fifth in the LJ. Set school record in THE and was named JC all-America. He went onto Washington State and was an NCAA indoor all-America and conference champ in the indoor TJ and LJ. He was a long-time youth football coach locally and in Arizona.

Natalie Nelson (2000 water polo, swimming and basketball) is the older of the Nelson sisters joining the Hall of Fame together this year. She earned nine varsity letters (four in swimming, three water polo and two basketball). She was league and team MVP as a senior water polo player (also first- team all-North Coast) after earning all-league honors the previous two years. The Eagles were 1999 league champions. During her senior year she also garnered all-American swimming honors. Her 1997-98 varsity basketball team were NCS champs and made it to the NorCal playoffs and was inducted to the CVHS Hall of Fame in 2013. She played four years of water polo at Cal Berkeley and was the Sally Maye Scholarship recipient.

Katie Cadero Webber (2000 volleyball, basketball and golf) received 11 varsity letters (four each in basketball and golf and three in volleyball) and the female athletic of the year in 2000. Helped her volleyball team to its first NCS appearance in over 20 years as a senior, making second-team all-league.

She received all-league honors three ties in basketball and was part of the 1998 NCS and league championship basketball team and in the school’s hall of fame. She won the league golf championship three of four years, going to NCS as an individual all four years. She was an NCS scholastic athlete every year and earned a golf scholarship to Long Beach State. She became a member of the LPGA teach and club professional’s division in 2008. Has coached high school teams at Monte Vista, Clayton Valley and Ygnacio Valley high schools.

Lindsay Nelson (2003 water polo and swimming) made her mark in the pool as a four-year letter winner in water polo and swimming. She is the youngest of the swimming Nelsons (brother Anders and sister Natalie). She was team MVP and first-team all-league for three years in water polo. She also was BVAL MVP as a senior when the team as third at NCS. She had all-America swimming times for three years and was an NCS finalists as a junior. She was the league 50 freestyle champion as a senior and team captain. Nelson was the 2003 female athlete of the year at CVHS and was one of the Times Top 100 Athletes that year. She attended UC Santa Barbara on an athletic scholarship.

Coach George Smylie led CVHS varsity teams in football, girls basketball and boys and girls track and field, winning league championships in all three sports. While on the Clayton Valley football team the teams were 90-34-1.  He began coaching at the school as part of Pete Carpino’s staff in 1969, 10 years before he became the head coach. In 1985 his Eagles were 11-2 including a DVAL co-championship with Pittsburg. The team lost the NCS 3A championship game at the Oakland Coliseum 15-12 to Pitt. Was part of the coaching staff for the 1974 CVHS Hall of Fame football team. Also coached football at Los Medanos College, Deer Valley High and Concord High.
1978 Wrestling Team was the second for legendary coach Bill Smith at CVHS. This is the fourth wrestling team (1967, 1972 and 1977) inducted to the Hall of Fame. The Eagles were undefeated in DVAL dual meets and North Coast Section team champions for the second straight year. They took seventh at the CIF State meet with all-American Warren Turnage taking a state individual championship to cap his unbeaten season.

1979 Girls Volleyball Team was an undefeated 16-0 for a fourth straight DVAL championship. They won the North Coast Section playoffs as well, the third Section crown for the Eagles in four years. This is the third girls volleyball team (also 1976 and 1977) inducted into the Hall of Fame for coach Gary Gardner. VHS Hall of Famers Kellie Ruiz, Sharon York and Karey Sheehan were all under classmen on the team.

1999 Boys Swimming Team coached by Matt Chamberlain (now principal at Alhambra High) was North Coast Section champion with a 26-point margin over runner-up Las Lomas. The Eagles had finished second to De La Salle in the Bay Valley Athletic League meet. Hall of Famer Ryan Salazar was second at NCS diving. The Eagles 200 medley relay won NCS with Josh Scott, Ben Chisholm, Anders Nelson and Mike Gausman, who also won the 100 butterfly. Jeff Scott replaced Gausman on the 400 freestyle relay quartet that was second.

Community Leadership Pat Middendorf has worn many hats at CVHS including parent, coach, administrator and fund raiser. She joined the faculty of Clayton Valley in 2002 and became the head varsity soccer coach a year later, leading the Eagles to a number of NCS playoff appearances. She added the title of athletic director that same year while continuing as a special education teacher. She led the drive to raise private and school funds for the first artificial turf field in the district at Gonsalves Stadium. Four years after that effort the MDUSD stopped funding high school sports and she stepped up as chairperson of the United Mt. Diablo Athletic Foundation that organized fund raisers to support the six high schools in the district. She was a leader in the drive to make Clayton Valley a charter school and served as an administrator at the “new” school. She has won numerous awards from the school, district and City of Concord. Her three children, Luke, Isaac and Kendra, graduated from CVHS.

The Clayton Valley Athletic Hall of Fame began in 2008 during the school’s silver anniversary year.