Last year, Cerritos College had their inaugural Hall of Fame
Dinner and Awards ceremony to welcome the first class of inductees.
On Thursday at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Norwalk, eight more were
welcomed into the Hall of Fame, with six of the eight having
athletic ties before a crowd of about 380 guests. Inducted into the
2013 Class were Traci Dahl (Distinguished Female Athlete), Marcelo
Balboa (Distinguished Male Athlete), Gene Martin (Distinguished
Coach/Administrator), Shelly Pesanti (Distinguished Classified),
Bill Lewis (Distinguished Faculty), Conant Auto Retail Group
(Distinguished Corporate Partner) and Dr. Wilford and Jean Michael
(Distinguished President's Award for Excellence).
One of her directives after being appointed the college's
President/Superintendent, Dr. Linda Lacy wanted to start a Hall of
Fame, and summoned the college's Foundation, athletic department
and staff to help gather nominations, while the Hall of Fame
Steering Committee settled on their choices for the seven
categories.
With a feeling of a reunion surrounding the banquet hall, the
evening consisted of many former Cerritos College employees,
faculty members and administrators reminiscing about their careers
as employees. Along with Martin and 2012 inductee Wally Kincaid,
the remaining four original college hires were on hand, along with
John Jackson and Donald Desfor.
Traci Dahl was a two-time All-American selection while playing
volleyball at Cerritos College and was instrumental in leading the
school to their only state championship in 1992 after they lost in
the championship match the previous season. Dahl, who is now in her
fourth season as the head coach at Indiana State University, was
named the state's Player of the Year as a sophomore and moved on to
Cal State Long Beach, where he helped them win the 1993 NCAA
National Championship. She was an All-American selection her senior
year and then immediately started her coaching career with the
Falcons from 1995-97. Dahl then was named the boy's volleyball head
coach at Downey High and then also spent time as an assistant coach
at Cal State Fullerton and Hofstra University before being named
the head coach of the Sycamores.
"I am so grateful to have attended Cerritos and played for a coach
like Jeanine Prindle," said an emotional Dahl. "She made sure all
of us were taken care of as students and everything I learned in
the classroom and on the volleyball court prepared me for the next
level. It says a lot about a school when you can come back 20
years later and still see so many familiar faces. I was in the
band in high school until the volleyball coach tracked down this
tall blond girl and taught her how to play volleyball. Who knows
where I'd be now if that never happened. I'm just very thankful
that my path to where I am now started here at Cerritos and very
appreciative that those that are here tonight remember who I
am."
time All-South Coast Conference men's soccer selection (1986-87)
before transferring to San Diego State University and was a
two-time All-American. Considered one of the ‘founding
fathers’ of the US Soccer program, Balboa was a member of the
US National Team from 1988-2000 and was a part of Major League
Soccer from its inception. He was named the U.S. Soccer Athlete of
the Year in 1992 and 1994 and in 1995, because the first U.S.
player to break the 100-cap barrier. Balboa played in the MLS from
1987-2002 and was a first-ballot inductee into the MLS Hall of Fame
in 2005. In that same year, Balboa was named to the MLS All-Time
Best XI and was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame, as
well as the Colorado Hall of Fame. Since his retirement, Balboa has
served as an ESPN and ABC Sports broadcaster and is currently the
executive director for Trebol Soccer Club, along with coaching the
Monarch High School boys’ soccer team. He also is employed by
Altitude Sports."You sometimes forget where you started, but upon looking back and reflecting, it's evident by everyone here tonight that this was probably the best decision I could have made for myself at the time I enrolled at Cerritos College," said Balboa. "I didn't just play soccer at Cerritos. I was also on the football team, but was the back-up punter and spent the season on the bench. I guess Coach (Frank) Mazzotta didn't play me because he knew what my soccer potential was and I was fortunate enough to represent my country for so long. But I think the most memorable part about being at Cerritos was that I was able to continue playing soccer with my brother, Claudio. As a product of Cerritos High School and Cerritos College, I owe this area a great deal of gratitude for helping me develop. This is my sixth induction into a Hall of Fame and it really humbles me to be here with everyone and to be recognized for my accomplishments."
Gene Martin was one of the original hires by Cerritos College in
1956. During his tenure with the college, Martin served as an
assistant coach on the first football team, as well as a coach on
the volleyball and track and field teams. Originally hired by the
college as a carpenter, Martin was instrumental in helping convert
a dairy barn into the football locker room, the first completed
building on campus. During his tenure with the college, Martin was
also the school’s first athletic director and was the
Director of Counseling until his retirement in 1989. Martin also
spent 20 years as a college football official. An All-American
football player at Stanford University, Martin eventually aided in
the design of the college’s gymnasium, football field and
baseball stadium during its construction."As one of only four remaining original hires, it's great to be able to come here and see so many familiar faces and former colleagues," said Martin. "You know, I first met (2012 inductee) Wally Kincaid at a dance at the Lakewood Country Club. Who know that 10 years later, we would be hired by Cerritos College and serve together on the college's first football coaching staff. When the college first opened, the offices were located in different houses that were on a dairy farm. We held night classes at Artesia High and football practice required us loading onto buses every day and going to Bellflower High. It was so great to be able to be a part of the beginning of the college and have so many friends here tonight. I never thought of what I did as work, because I loved every day of my time with the college."
Several other inductees had connections to the athletic department, as Dr. Gary Smuts was a member of the 1969 football team, while Bill Lewis was an assistant softball coach and served as the college's public address announcer. Shelly Pesanti currently is a member of the football team booster club, while her daughter Keri played basketball for the Falcons and Kristy was a volleyball player.