CUSD officials, Clovis community members and HOF inductees came together for a night of celebration and remembrance.
Two teams and five individuals were inducted into the fourth class of the CUSD Hall of Fame, while over 25 coaches and administrators were honored for their continued commitment, not only to their athletes, but to the high standards of the district set by the legendary R. Floyd B. “Doc” Buchanan.
After an opening reception at Clovis North’s Paul Shaghoian Concert Hall, Kevin Miller, an administrator at Clovis North, opened the proceedings with the “Night of Champions” presentation, where all CIF championship teams were honored.
Clovis West’s Vance Walberg and Craig Campbell, Buchanan’s Troy Tirapelle and Chantal White, Clovis North’s Bryan Juinio and Rich Brazil, Clovis’ Richard Lake and Clovis East’s Marcos Orro and Janine Sodersten, just to name a few.
Clovis’ dominance in terms of athletics was highlighted (not if it wasn’t already) after Buchanan was presented with the 2018-19 Supremacy Award by Ginny Hovsepian, CUSD Governing Board Member and the Bears were awarded 2018-19 Cal-Hi Sports State School of the Year.
The Bears won 12 TRAC Championships, seven CIF Section Championships, four individual state championships and two team state championships.
Following the “Night of Champions” presentation, the “Doc Buchanan” award was given to Dr. James Fugman, Ed.D.
Fugman, like the previous recipients; Buchanan himself in 2016 (posthumously), George Kastner in 2017 and Satoshi “Fibber” Hirayama in 2018, was honored for his contributions to building an academic and athletic legacy of excellence in Clovis Unified.
Fugman was a City/County honor athlete back in 1960 for Fresno High and after went on to play football at USC and Fresno State, before earning a Bachelor of Arts in 1965 and then teaching credential.
He coached and taught at Central, Bullard and Edison High, before joining Clovis Unified and Clovis High in 1970. He led both Edison and Clovis (1974) to CIF Section Championships.
He helped usher in Lamonica Stadium.
“We opened up Lamonica Stadium and it was a really tremendous thrill,” Fugman said in a video presented during his award. “We played the No.1 team in the Valley, Sanger and there wasn’t an empty seat in the whole stadium.”
Those Cougars went on to beat Sanger 28-0 that night.
Fugman later earned a Master of Arts degree from Cal Poly in 1970 and a Doctorate in Education from the University of San Francisco in 1983. He became an administrator before being named to lead Kastner by Buchanan.
He would spend over 30 years within the district and in 2002, Clovis Unified announced that the now James S. Fugman elementary school would be named in his honor.
Team Inductees
1961 Clovis Girls Swim Team: Coach: Esther Leach Manager: Ginny Hall
North Yosemite League Championship with 69 points. Clovis edged Bakersfield 44-43 points to win the CIF Central Section Championship.
Team:
Carol Beckford, Laura Brewer, Sherry Castanzo, Donna Clause, Sharon DeSoto, Patty Docker, Penny Docker, Karen Dunkel, Pat Frame, Suzi Ginsberg, Patti Hathaway, Mary Pat Johnson, Judy Knight, Carol Northan, Jeanne Penberthy, Wendy Porter, Sandy Robertson, Kathleen Rogers, Betty Shippey, Mary Shippey, Tamera Wolski, Celeste Woods, Susan Ford Frantzich
1962 Coach: Don Utter
North Yosemite League Championship with 77 points. Won back-to-back CIF Central Section Championships with 48 points to Bakersfields 38.
Team:
Michelle Bakula, Carol Beckfold, Sherry Castanzo, Sharon DeSoto, Patty Docker, Penny Docker, Karen Dunkel, Pat Frame, Patti Hathaway, Mary Pat Johnson, C. King, Judy Knight, P. McCray, Carol Northan, Wendy Porter, Betty Shippey, Mary Shippey, Jodi Sholtz, S. Sturgill
1985 Clovis West Football Team: Head Coach: Max Newberry Assistants: Mas Aoki, Billy Biggs, Bill Crawford, Tom Deel, Jim Giovacchini, Jim Moxley, Ken Testa
13-0 CIF Central Section Championship, First football Valley Championship in school history and ranked No.1 in Northern California and ranked No.2 in California.
Team:
Steven Anaya, Richard Ashcraft, Trent Barnes, Brett Bauer, Jeff Blankenship, Brian Bode, Bryan Boel, Tom Born, Ron Bovee, Louie Brosi, David Byrd, Romero Cantu, Steve Christensen, Kevin Clark, Corey Cowger, Larry Curtis, Robin Davis, Tim Espinosa, Mike Fitzgerald, Josias Guevara, David Haros, Gordon Haslam, Sean Henderson, Tim Hill, Brian Jones, Mike King, Coby Lindsey, Rick Lingenfelter, Mike Loforti, Matthew Madsen, Troy Mathias, Mike Moser, T. Naffzinger, Sam Nimmo, Mike Noel, Jon Pearson, Gerald Penner, David Peters, Mark Peterson, Darren Pittman, Jay Pusher, Todd Randall, Jeff Reese, Bob Reynolds, Brian Richburg, Blaine Shirkey, George Smith, Richard Smith, Kevin Snavely, Marlon Stephens, Jon Stewart, Brian Stone, J.J. Velasco, Mike Walker, David Webb, Fred Welch, Don Wells, James Wilder, Dewayne Williams, Tyran Williams, Mike Williams, Mike Williamson, Boyd Zimmerer.
Individual Inductees
Fred Bohna – Clovis High Wrestling 1974
- CIF Section Champion, CIF State Champion, Wrestling USA Magazine All-American Dream Team, Member of Clovis Unified’s first State Championship team, Junior National All-American, all while attending Clovis High in 1974
- 1979 PAC-10 Conference Champion (UCLA) , NCAA Division I Unlimited Champion, Undefeated Senior Season, NCAA Division I All-American, PAC-10 Wrestler of the year
- Pan American Gold Medalist, 1979 USA Team Member
Doug Fraley – Clovis West Track and Field
- 1981, 1982, 1983 CIF League and Valley Champion,
- 1981, 1982 CIF State Championships, third place and second place
- 1983 First Valley athlete to clear 17’, highest vault in the nation
- 1984 Fresno State School Record 17’9
- Three-time NCAA Champion at Fresno State University
Jimmy Aguire – Clovis High Wrestling
- 1989, 1990,1991 CIF State Champion
- 1989 Junior Nationals All-American
- 1990-1991 Captain of State Champion Clovis Wrestling Team
- 1991 High School National Champion
- 1991 NHSCA All-American
- Currently a U.S. diplomat, having lived and served in Iraq, the United Kingdom, Cuba, Honduras and Rwanda
- Is the Foreign Policy Advisor to U.S. Africa Command in Stuttgart, Germany
Damien Richardson, M.D. – Clovis West Football
- Eight-time letter winner in football, track and basketball
- 1992, 1993 CIF Champion football teams
- 1993 Football Co-Captain
- 1994 Co-Athlete of the Year
- Cal-Hi Sports All-State in Football
- Blue Chip All-American in Football
- Graduated with a 4.1 GPA
- 1997 ASU Woody Hayes National Scholar-Athlete Award
- 1998 NFL Draft 6th round, Carolina Panthers
- 2003 Super Bowl XXXVIII, Carolina Panthers
- 2005 NFL Top 5 Special Teams Player
- 1998-2005 NFL Defensive Back, Carolina Panthers
- Newport Orthopedic Institute, Orthopedic Surgeon – foot and ankle
Kyle Alcorn – Buchanan Track and Field
- Three-time Valley Champion (3200m 2x, 1600m 1x)
- 2002 CIF State Champion 3200m
- 2003 CIF State Runner up 3200m
- School record holder 3200m (set in 2003)
- 2009 World Championship USA Team 3000m Steeplechase
- 2009, 2011, 2012 three-time USA Bronze medalist in 3000m Steeplechase
- 2012 USA Olympic Team 3000m Steeplechase
- Mortgage Loan Officer, Alameda Mortgage