The Kofa High School Hall of Fame Committee enshrined a dozen members as part of the class of 2020 in the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020 inside Rillos Gym.
The group was the second class of inductees after a dozen members were part of the inaugural class a year ago. Festivities for the Hall of Fame class began last Thursday with a meet-and-greet at Lute’s Casino in downtown Yuma, followed by recognition at intermission between the boys and girls varsity basketball games on Friday, and culminated with a luncheon and plaque unveiling on the Kofa campus on Saturday.
“The one thing I really cherished was the experience to have the opportunity to not only play athletics, but getting the education from the teachers we had here (at Kofa),” said Frank Martinez, who was a three-sport star for the Kings and graduated in the Class of 1977.
Here is a complete list of inductees for the class of 2020:
Phil McKeown (Class of 1965), basketball; George Martinez (1969), football and baseball; Frank Martinez (1977), football, basketball and baseball; Miguel Jaurequi (1983), basketball; David Amaya (1996), basketball; Denise “Gooch” Cardenas (1997), volleyball, basketball and softball; Doug Sturm (1997), wrestling; Chelsie Mesa-Brooks (2003), volleyball and softball; Jorge Benitez (2009), wrestling; Irwin Pallack (1962-1986), coach: track, football and basketball; 1963-64 state champion boys cross country team; and John Boemer (1971), supporter of athletics.
The Kofa Athletic Hall of Fame honors the contributions and accomplishments of those individuals who are worthy of recognition and have set examples for others to emulate. Nominees for the Hall of Fame must exemplify the highest standards of sportsmanship, ethical conduct, and moral character. All candidates are judged on their significant and/or long-term contributions to athletic endeavors.
The packet for nominating individuals or teams for the Class of 2021 is available on Kofa’s website as well as the Hall of Fame’s official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/KHSHallofFame/. Nominations are also accepted via the following digital form: http://bit.ly/KHSHOFNominations.
