Twelve Makeup The Inaugural Class Of
Santa Ana College Athletic Hall of Fame
SANTA ANA, CA - Santa Ana College announced its first 12 members to be inducted into the Santa Ana College Athletics Hall of Fame on Monday night at the Hall of Fame Golf Classic at Goose Creek Golf Course in Mira Loma, California. The members were chosen out of a pool of 105 nominees that included former athletes, coaches and administrators. An official induction ceremony is scheduled for the fall at a date yet to be determined.
Bill Cook and John Ward were the two most notable names into the induction class as both Cook and Ward have athletic facilities named after them. Bill Cook Gymnasium was built in 1954 and has been home to the Dons in basketball, wrestling, volleyball and badminton ever since. John Ward Field has been the home for track & field, cross country and football since 1966.
Bill Cook was the head football coach at Santa Ana College from 1927 to 1952, compiling a 160-73-26 overall record. Cook won 11 conference titles and national championships in 1940 and 1942. He still holds the records for most wins (160), conference championships (11) and longest tenure (26 years) and is third in winning percentage (.664) in the history of the football program.
John Ward worked at Santa Ana College for 27 years and served as the track & field and cross country coach as well as being the head football coach for two years and serving as athletic director. Ward won three state championships in track & field along with 13 conference titles.
Other names included in the inaugural Athletics Hall of Fame class included Corie Blount, Al Carmichael, Paul Cleary, Estrus Crayton, Ed Curuthers, Dolly Kaawa Bartlett, Bob Hamelin, Keith Luhnow, Bob Webster and Larry Stuart.
 Corie Blount led the Dons to back-to-back state championships in basketball in 1990-91 and was the national JC Player-of-the-Year in 1991. He was also the co-MVP of the Orange Empire Conference, the state tournament-MVP and the co-California MVP in 1991 before transferring to the University of Cincinnati. Blount currently plays for the Chicago Bulls and was drafted by Chicago in 1994. He also had stints with the Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers during his professional career.
 Al Carmichael was once called “one of the most significant players of his era” by Hank Ives, founder of the JC Gridwire. Carmichael played football at Santa Ana in 1949—leading the Dons to a 10-1 record and an appearance in the Junior Rose Bowl. He scored 19 touchdowns in 1949 and now is a member of the National JC Hall of Fame. Carmichael played professional football for the Green Bay Packers and the Denver Broncos.
 Paul Cleary was a member of the 1942 national championship football team that went 9-0 and outscored its opponents 214-64 in the process. He was the co-captain of the team and went on to be the JC Player-of-the-Year before transferring to USC. He is now is a member of the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame. Cleary played professionally for the Chicago Hornets and the New York Yankees.
 Estrus Crayton played running back at Santa Ana in 1989-90 and still holds eight different records at the school. Crayton piled up 4,062 all-purpose yards and 42 touchdowns in two seasons before transferring to USC. He played professionally for the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL and for the Hanau Hawks and the Hamburg Blue Devils in Germany.
 Ed Caruthers competed on the track & field team in 1964-65 and still holds the record in the high jump (7’ 1 ½”). Caruthers finished eighth in the 1964 Olympics as a freshman at Santa Ana College before winning the silver medal in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. His sliver medal height was 7’ 3 ¼”. He is still currently an assistant coach for the track & field teams at Santa Ana College.
 Dolly Kaawa Bartlett led Santa Ana College to the first-ever COA-sponsored women’s volleyball championship in 1977 and a SCCCIAC national championship in 1976. Bartlett was the MVP of the state tournament as the Lady Dons defeated Saddleback College in the championship game. She later went on to play two years at Long Beach State University (1979-80) and led the 49ers to a 19-10 record in ‘79 and to the AIAW regional tournament.
 Bob Hamelin played baseball at Santa Ana College in 1988 and led the Dons to a 39-9 record and an Orange Empire Conference championship. Hamelin still holds six different single-season records as he tallied 31 home runs, 107 RBI, 88 runs scored, 62 walks, a .520 batting average and a 1.187 slugging percentage for the year. He was the American League Rookie-of-the-Year for the Kansas City Royals in 1994, and later played for the Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers.
 Keith Luhnow played football at Santa Ana College in 1961 and led the Dons to a 7-1-1 mark and an Eastern Conference championship. He was named a unanimous All-America player in ’61 and still holds the record for yards-per-game rushing (158.9) in a season. He was a part of a Dons offense that ran for a record 504 yards versus Orange Coast College in 1961—tallying 276 yards by himself. He later went on to play professional football for the San Francisco 49ers.
 Bob Webster led the Dons in 1957 by finishing second and third at the state swimming and diving competition. Webster later went on to dive his way to a gold medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome and followed it up with a gold medal at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.
 Larry Stuart was the Santa Ana College co-Athlete-of-the-Year in 1962 as a track & field star and was inducted into the JC Hall of Fame in 1992. Stuart broke the national javelin record four different times and still holds the record at the school (256' 2"). He went on to compete at USC and was the captain of the NCAA national championship team at USC in 1963. He was selected to three national AAU teams (1963, 1965 & 1969) and won the AAU championship in 1963 and was runner up in 1965. He also holds three separate age-group masters world records and was ranked in the top-10 in the world from 1963 to 1970. His highest ranking was #2 in the U.S. in 1963 and 1965. He has a personal-best throw of 281' 11".
The Santa Ana College Athletics Hall of Fame was founded with the intent to preserve the rich history and accomplishments of individuals within the athletics department since the school opened in 1915. In order to be eligible for induction, all athletes must have last competed at least five years prior to induction and coaches must have not coached for at least two years. In the future, the Hall of Fame will induct at least one individual, but no more than nine individuals, on a yearly basis.
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