Sports
Saratoga's West Valley College Inducts Coaches, Teams Into Hall of Fame
Legendary coaches Gene Nyquist, Bill Campbell and Bob Burton are inducted into WVC Hall of Fame.
Three well-known local coaches have been inducted into the West Valley College Hall of Fame, along with two Vikings' teams that were victorious in 1970 and 1987.
College officials celebrated the legendary retired West Valley sports figures recently during a banquet ceremony at the college's campus center.
Gene Nyquist
Gene Nyquist earned a University of Pacific scholarship for swimming and pioneered a new sport—water polo in 1952. He had a 22-year career with WVC, from 1967-1989. During that time, the institution won seven conference championships for swimming and five water polo crowns, the college said in a news release.
During his last season, Nyquist’s teams were undefeated. He was selected NorCal Coach of the Year four times and received the prestigious California Coaches Association Award.
Bill Campbell
Find out what's happening in Saratogawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
He began his coaching career at Westmont High School and then became coach of the men and women’s cross country program at WVC.
Campbell’s men’s team won an unprecedented 27 conference titles, including 16 consecutive years from 1976-1991. Under Campbell’s direction, WVC became the first team from Northern California to win the California State Championship in 25 years.
Bob Burton
Bob Burton was head basketball coach at WVC for 21 years. He won eight conference championships and was selected the California State Coach of the Year four times.
1970 Football Team
The 1970 WVC Viking football team was undefeated in the league and became the first Northern California team to win the California Community College State Championship Title.
Starting line-ups were outstanding local athletes Scott Loomis, Murphy McFarland, Scott Brasile, Ed De La Rua, Lou Franson, Wayne Womack, Bob Marotti, Grant Mayfield, Ron Seman, Lance Anderson, Pat Orr and Gary Peterson.
1987 Cross Country Team
Find out what's happening in Saratogawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Editor's Note: The coaches and the teams were officially inducted into the WVC Hall of Fame during an afternoon ceremony June 1 at the school's new campus center. Information for this post came from press releases submitted by WVC.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
