CHICO — A year of hard work from athletes and coaches culminated with celebration Tuesday night at the 49th annual Chico Enterprise-Record Sports Hall of Fame and Senior Athletes Banquet held at Manzanita Place.
Senior athletes of the year were honored from area high schools, as well as seniors from Chico State and sophomores from Butte College. Intermixed with the seniors and sophomores being honored, a group of four hall of famers were inducted as part of the 49th Chico Sports Hall of Fame, which began in 1973 with the induction of Art Acker, Tommy Costar, Larry Gillick, George Madders, Ray Orrick and Jane Shurmer.
Tuesday’s Hall of Fame class began with the induction of longtime Corning High School track and field and football coach Gary Burton, who brought a packed house of Corning alumni.
Following Burton’s induction was longtime Oroville High School football and track coach Tom Aldridge, who prior to his induction had current Oroville High School athletic director and Oroville alumnus Tom Frazier in tears while sharing a brief congratulations.
Chico State women’s basketball alumnae and twin sisters, Alisha Valavanis and Alexa Benson-Valavanis opted to be inducted on stage together, surrounded by a large group of family as close as Chico and as far away as Seattle. Both sisters stressed the importance of family first, as shown by their Hall of Fame induction stories both featuring family on the front cover.
The night was capped by the presentation of the Chico Enterprise-Record Sportsperson of the Year, which was awarded to Oroville native and current Louisiana State University baseball coach Jay Johnson. Johnson could not attend, as his team is amidst a playoff run in the SEC Tournament, but his father Jerry Johnson accepted the award on his behalf. Jay Johnson recorded an acceptance speech prior to the event, thanking the North State community and saying how he’s always valued where he comes from.
“Being from the North State and Northern California is something I’m very proud of,” Johnson said. “To receive this honor from the newspaper that I grew up reading and enjoyed seeing my sports clippings, whether that was scoring touchdowns or getting base hits or whatever, to come full circle and have this honor is amazing.”
Johnson congratulated the other Sportsperson of the Year nominees — Ryan Clink, a wrestler from Chico High School and Dion Coleman, a football player for the Panthers — wishing them a bright future.
“I really want to say thank you for the honor,” Johnson added. “Very humbled, wish I could be there tonight. Busy coaching a baseball game, probably right as we speak, and just want to say thank you and hope to get back home and see everyone back in the North State soon.”
49th Hall of Fame class
Despite being in his 80s after a long career coaching football and track and field at Corning High School, Gary Burton’s memory has not faded a bit, and he shared stories from his days with the Cardinals. He thanked the large group of family, former players and coaches in attendance, including the first player he ever coached while at Bidwell Junior High — Gary Houser (Hall of Fame class of 2013). Burton’s kids came from as far as Illinois and Kentucky.
Houser, now Golden Valley Conference Commissioner after coaching at Chico State and Shasta College, was a punter who was later drafted by the New York Jets. Burton also talked about one of the best athletes he’s ever coached, Jeff Stover (Chico Hall of Fame Class of 1997), who went on to play 81 games with the San Francisco 49ers from 1982-88, winning a pair of Super Bowl rings. Like Houser, Stover was in attendance.
The next honoree was Tom Aldridge, a Camelia Bowl winner with Chico State as an offensive and defensive lineman who eventually transitioned into coaching in Butte County. Aldridge made stops at Pleasant Valley, Durham and Los Molinos before finding his long-term home at Oroville High School. Aldridge was key in the building of Harrison Stadium, and continues to work to provide funds for updates to the field.
Aldridge talked about the influence of Chico State football and how it brought him to Butte County, and how it makes him sad to see it no longer a program for the Wildcats. He acknowledged coaches that influenced him such as Pete Riehlman and Dick Trimmer at Chico State, as well as others at the high school level who made him into the coach he was for so many years. He also talked about the keys to being a successful coach, and stressed the importance of putting academics first and the importance of on campus coaches, and being a good person above all.
Before the sportsperson of the year was announced, Valavanis and Benson-Valavanis were honored in a joint induction per their request. David Little (Hall of Fame class of 2023) introduced the two, and began by saying he believed he was asked to introduce them because he’s one of the few who could tell the twins apart.
Little spoke about how the two were separated by just five minutes (Alexa first) and live 700 miles away, but FaceTime and text every day. Their mother, Debbie Hamre, claims they never fought growing up, and followed in each others’ footsteps. They both had stints as assistant coaches with the Wildcats after their playing days were over, and now have the same role as President and CEOs with two separate companies — Alexa with the North Valley Community Foundation and Alisha with the WNBA’s Seattle Storm.
“Coaches always described each of them as a coach on the floor. Alexa was the point guard, the distributor. Alisha was the shooting guard,” Little said. “And then the real fun began, because when you’re called a coach on the floor, chances are you’re going to be a leader in the business world after college and do great things. Which they have. They even both have the same job title now: president and CEO. Alisha was tapped to rebuild the Seattle Storm of the WNBA. Alexa was tapped to rebuild North Valley Community Foundation. It was difficult for both of them at first, but success followed. They both did it by building a strong team and building relationships.”
The Valavanis twins talked about their late Chico State coach Mary Anne Lazzarini, how their first coach was their mother Hamre, and family above all. Between the two, they had roughly 32 people in attendance in support, from as far Alisha’s hometown of Seattle, to a large group from NVCF.
All Hall of Famers shared something in common, and that was that their success wouldn’t be possible without the people they have brought alongside of them.
Senior Athletes
Chico: Dion Coleman; Rayen Letner.Pleasant Valley: Van Chambers; Kayla Johnson.Paradise: Dominick Strawn; Nyah Baker.Las Plumas: Roman Stutz; Olivia Robertson.Oroville: Sky Vang; Allie Jackson.Durham: Geo Rico; Ravenna Halvorson.Orland: Zach Story; Ariana de Anda.Hamilton: Diego Sanchez; Valeria Linarez.Gridley: Shmaas Khan; Alyssa Thompson.Biggs: Zachery Smith; Adeline Scott.Willows: Adolfo Reyes; Connie Huttman.Corning: Roman Bennett; Elise Toste.Chico State: Joshua Hamilton; Zhane Duckett.Butte College: Christian Vaughn; Julia Norman.
