San Diego honors athletes

    The San Diego sports world honored three of its greatest last Wednesday by inducting Tony Gwynn, Russ Washington and Tony Hawk into the Breitbard Hall of Fame, part of the San Diego Hall of Champions.

    Lyon Liew
    Guardian

    The San Diego Sports Arena was the site of the 56th annual Salute to Champions, with the inductions headlining the event.

    While the night belonged to the three hall of fame inductees, the San Diego Hall of Champions program began by honoring the San Diego area amateur and professional players of the month. The Hall recognizes five to six high-school players and six to 10 college/professional athletes each month, while recognizing all recipients at this banquet.

    Notable recipients included the Padres’ Phil Nevin and Trevor Hoffman, the Chargers’ LaDanian Tomlinson, and the San Diego Spirit’s Shannon Macmillan.

    Lyon Liew
    Guardian

    Kristin Jones, a starting forward on UCSD’s Division II national champion soccer team, was one of eight players of the month for December. Jones led the Triton attack through the National Collegiate Athletic Association Final Four in the process of picking up UCSD’s third consecutive NCAA championship. Jones was named most valuable offensive player of the tournament, only scoring one goal but dictating the flow of the play in the attacking third.

    The ceremony, with La Jolla native and CBS broadcaster Dick Enberg serving as master of ceremonies, continued by honoring Melanie Benn as disabledathlete of the year.

    In 1995, Benn was stricken with bacterial meningitis, which resulted in quadruple amputation of both arms and legs. Fully recovered in 1997, Benn received her inspiration to compete after watching a challenged-athletes triathlon. Within a year, Benn was competing in triathlons before focusing on her swimming career. Her hard work culminated in a silver medal at the Sydney Paralympics.

    College athletes Spencer Wright and Mark Prior received the award for amateur starts of the year.

    Wright, a Serra High School graduate, starred in lacrosse at Syracuse University, leading the Orangemen to a second-place finish in the NCAA tournament. In a sport traditionally dominated by East Coast players, Wright’s presence served as a wake-up call to the nation that the West Coast, and particularly San Diego, is a breeding ground for good players.

    Prior was the most honored collegiate player in any sport in 2001 after helping the University of Southern California to its 21st appearance in the College Baseball World Series. Prior was the most dominant pitcher in the nation, finishing the season with a 15-1 record and a 1.69 ERA.

    Prior was honored by Baseball America, which said he “”may be the best college pitcher ever.”” A graduate of University of San Diego High School, he was the second overall pick in June’s draft by the Chicago Cubs.

    San Diego Padres Trevor Hoffman and Phil Nevin were honored by the Hall of Champions as Professional Athletes of the Year. Hoffman has the best save percentage among all current major-league closers. He amazingly blew only three chances on his way to picking up 43 saves last season.

    Nevin was the heart of the Padres lineup in 2001, belting 41 home runs and picking up 126 runs batted in.

    The main event of the program featured the induction of Washington, Hawk and Gwynn.

    Gwynn, the most notable inductee of the class of 2002, spent nearly his entire sports career in the San Diego area. In 1977, the Long Beach Poly High School graduate enrolled at San Diego State on a basketball scholarship. In his four years as an Aztec, Gwynn became the only SDSU player ever to earn All-Western Conference honors in two sports, finding a home in the Aztec outfield when not leading the Aztec basketball team.

    “”I came to San Diego State as a snot-nosed punk,”” Gwynn said during his induction speech. “”I improved at State because I grew up.””

    In 1981, Gwynn signed with the San Diego Padres and within a year had worked his way through the minor league system and was playing full time at Jack Murphy Stadium. In his 20 years as a professional, Gwynn’s career numbers are nothing short of staggering. He batted at least .300 for 19 consecutive seasons, winning eight National League batting titles. Gwynn retired with a career .338 batting average totaling 3,141 total hits. More importantly for Gwynn, however, is that he led the Padres to their only World Series appearances in 1984 and 1998.

    Gwynn played his entire career as a Padre; something exceedingly rare in today’s baseball world.

    When asked why, Gwynn responded, “”The most important question you should answer when deciding where to play is not where you can win a title or get the most money, but when you leave the park and you’re driving home, you should ask yourself one question: ‘Am I happy where I’m going?’ My answer was always ‘yes’ when living in San Diego.””

    Gwynn now heads up I-8 to coach the baseball team at San Diego State.

    “”My job now is to promote college baseball, not just San Diego State,”” he said. “”Whether it’s at State, USD, Point Loma or UCSD, I’m here as an ambassador of college baseball.””

    Washington is best remembered for his service as the starting right offensive tackle for the San Diego Chargers between 1970 and 1982.

    He was instrumental in providing the protection for one for the most exciting National Football League offenses in recent history, a passing-heavy scheme dubbed “”Air Coryell”” after head coach Don Coryell. Washington played in perhaps the most memorable NFL game in history, a 41-38 overtime victory over the Miami Dolphins in the 1982 AFC Conference semifinals, a game Sports Illustrated dubbed “”the single greatest team sports event in history.””

    Hawk is the first Breitbard Hall of Fame inductee from one of the “”new”” breed of sports. Like the names mentioned above, Hawk dominated the skateboarding world for 18 years, beginning at the ripe age of 14. Starting with National Skateboard Association championships, then progressing to such mainstream events as the X-games, Hawk entered a total of 104 professional contests, winning an astonishing 72 and finishing out of the top three only four times in his career.

    At the end of his career, Hawk became the first skater ever to complete the 900 — a two-and-a-half rotation spin — in a competition setting at the 1999 X-games. This move alone provided the impetus for skating’s shift toward mainstream acceptance as a sport. Now retired, Hawk is resting on his laurels in Carlsbad, Calif. In total, Hawk has been credited with inventing 85 tricks, and his influence can be seen in a vast number of sports besides skateboarding, from inline-skating to snowboarding.

    The Breitbard Hall of Fame is located at the San Diego Hall of Champions in the Federal Building at Balboa Park.

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