Pleasant Hill fetes first Hall of Fame class 44 years after high school closed

PLEASANT HILL, CA (Sept. 30, 2024) —Forty-four years after closing its doors, Pleasant Hill High School introduced its first athletic Hall of Fame last month with a lavish sold out dinner and induction ceremony at Contra Costa Country Club in Pleasant Hill. The inaugural class consisted of the school’s first principal, six coaches, 16 athletes and two teams who were feted before over 225 at the ceremony.

The sports teams were called the Rams at Pleasant Hill High, which opened in 1953 but closed only 27 years later in June 1980 due to declining enrollment. The school site now houses Pleasant Hill Middle School, which kept Rams as the school nickname.

Long gone but not forgotten, the honorees in this Hall of Fame class reflect a bygone era. Almost every woman and man in the class was a three-sport athlete at Pleasant Hill High, something almost unheard of now.

Athletes

– Ed Miller, (1971 graduate): Three-sport star in football, basketball, track and field at PHHS who won the 1976 NCAA decathlon title as a senior at Cal. Spent 30 years as associate head coach of track and field for the Golden Bears.

– Kathy Costello McGuirk (1975): Cross country, basketball and track teams. Three-time league champ in cross country. Won the North Coast Section cross country title as a senior. Was the national high school recordholder in the 880 and mile as a junior and senior.

– Dick Egan (1955): Was all-league in football, basketball and baseball. Pitched four years in the majors with the Detroit Tigers, California Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers.

– Jim McMillin (1956): A three-sport star in football, basketball and baseball. Played football at Colorado State, then signed with the Denver Broncos. Started every game at defensive back for the Broncos in his first two seasons. Joined the Raiders in 1963.

– Lennis Cowell (1961): One of the greatest wrestlers ever to come from Contra Costa County, also excelled in football and baseball at PHHS. In wrestling, he was a league champion as a junior and senior, won NCS as a senior and also captured a NorCal state title. At Cal Poly he was a two-time NCAA All-America and helped lead Cal Poly to its first NCAA team wrestling championship in 1966. He has been inducted into four wrestling Hall of Fames, including the National Wrestling HOF in 2009 and the California State Wrestling HOF in 2006.

— Tom Larscheid (1958): Football, basketball, baseball. Played football in college at Utah State and professionally with the British Columbia Lions in the Canadian Football League.

— Roger Leonard (1959): Football, basketball, baseball. Inducted as both an athlete and coach. Captain of the football team, starting guard on basketball and starting outfielder on baseball. Was assistant football coach for many years before leaving in 1974 to become Northgate’s first head football coach.

— Roger Foulk (1960): Football, wrestling, track and field. Shot put, discus and 120 high hurdles champion at 1960 DVAL meet. Set school records in all three events.

— Tom Foster (1962): Football and wrestling. Picked as an all-America in football as a senior by Wigwam of America. Was DVAL wrestling champion all four years at PHHS. Also won North Coast and NorCal wrestling titles.

— Gene Hansen (1967): Football, wrestling, track and field. Star football player was named Athlete of the Year as a senior at Fresno State.

— Pat Riley (1969): Football, basketball, baseball. DVAL leader in rushing yards. In 1970 at Diablo Valley College broke O.J. Simpson’s Golden Gate Conference single-season rushing record with 1,389 yards and is in DVC Hall of Fame. Played football at Boise State.

— Alvin Davis (1969): Football, wrestling, track and field. First-team all-DVAL defensive tackle. Lineman of the Year in Golden Gate Conference at DVC. All-America left tackle at Boise State. Drafted by the Atlanta Falcons.

— Vince Ujdur (1970): Football, basketball, baseball. All-league in all three sports. Excelled as a catcher and signed with the Texas Rangers.

— John Raeside (1976): Football, basketball, baseball. All-DVAL in football, Rams’ assist leader in basketball and captain of the baseball team. Played for Rams’ 1976 NCS baseball champs and DVC’s 1977 state champs. Spent two years in New York Mets’ farm system.

— Bob Clark (1976): Lefthanded pitcher played on varsity baseball all four years. Was all-league three times. Drafted in the eighth round by the Chicago Cubs.

— Cathy Costanza (1980): Basketball, volleyball, track and field, softball. Lettered all four years in basketball. Was first-team all-NorCal selection. Played basketball at Sacramento State.

Coaches

– Bob McGuire, cross country, track and field: Coached track and field/cross country at PHHS from 1957-77 before going to Cal State Hayward from 1978-92. His teams (men and women) won numerous titles at both schools.

– Hal Briggs, football: Was the head coach when PHHS had its only unbeaten football season in 1968.

— Clyde Forrest, wrestling and football: Produced many wrestling champions at Pleasant Hill from the league level all the way up to CIF State.

— Charlene Forrest, tennis: First female in Mt. Diablo Unified School District to teach an all-boys PE class.

— Roger Leonard (See individual inductees above)

— Jimmie Timms, football, track and field: Small college all-America center at University of the Pacific. Was PHHS football coach when the school closed. Moved to Ygnacio Valley.

Administrator

— Art Bloom: First principal was beloved by faculty and students alike. A good athlete in his own right, Bloom played baseball at Cal, where he was a successful righthanded pitcher. After graduation, he spent three years playing professional ball, including one season each in the Washington Senators and Cleveland Indians farm systems.

Teams

– Football, 1968: Only undefeated Rams football team in school history. The Diablo Valley Athletic League champions had a tough, physical offense and a defense that was nearly impossible to score against. All-leaguers Pat Riley, Claude Tomasini, Bill Cooper, Jim Ryan and Alvin Davis played big roles in the 1968 team’s success.

– Girls swim team, 1979: Had swimmers in eight of 11 DVAL finals, won both relays and sent 13 swimmers to the NCS meet. Record-holders included Mary Blomberg (200 free, 100 fly), Monica Lamb (50 and 100 free), Wendy Rae (100 breast) and the free and medley relay teams. Blomberg was team MVP, Masako Tsubota was most improved and Lamb was team captain. Bruce Capps was the head coach.

The inaugural PHHS Hall of Fame committee included 16 members ranging from former football assistant and great all-around athlete Roger Leonard to Ron McClure, who attended PHHS for three years, then transferred to Ygnacio Valley when PHHS closed. Bob Berggren (class of ‘70) is the HOF director. One-time Cal football player Paul James (PHHS ‘71) is his top assistant. Other committee members were Roberta Bruder Chisam, John Buschini, Ned Butler, Lisa Custodio, Charlene Forrest, Gene Hansen, Terry Hughes, Lou Kosta, Ernie Lanzarin, Mike Lefkow, Ed Miller and Bill Wamosh.