PREPS: Eagles greats will get hall call

San Pasqual latest North County school to form Hall of Fame

By JOHN MAFFEI - Staff Writer | Monday, September 22, 2008 5:54 PM PDT ∞

It's the ultimate honor for any athlete. Whether it's the pro level, college or in this case high school, being inducted into a Hall of Fame is the pinnacle.

Friday night, at halftime of a home football game against Rancho Buena Vista, San Pasqual High will join only a handful of North County schools when the Eagles induct their inaugural Hall of Fame class.

And is it ever a good one. The honorees include:

-- Shannon MacMillan, a two-time CIF San Diego Section player of the year in soccer and an Olympic gold medalist.

-- Teri McKeever, a six-time CIF champion in girls swimming, a two-time CIF swimmer of the year and an All-American swimmer at USC. She is currently the women's swimming coach at California and was an assistant coach for the 2008 U.S. Olympic swimming team.

-- Erik Meek, a Parade Magazine All-American in basketball and the school's all-time leading scorer and rebounder. He went on to play on an NCAA championship basketball team at Duke and played professionally in Europe for eight years.

-- Sue Hegerle-Snyder, who played volleyball, basketball, field hockey and ran track at San Pasqual, earning 12 varsity letters. She was the captain of the San Diego State women's volleyball team and played in two NCAA Final Fours. She was a six-time U.S. Volleyball Association All-American and the MVP in 1986. She was the women's volleyball coach at the University of San Diego from 1980-1998, winning two conference championships and making four NCAA tournament appearances. She was a three-time conference coach of the year.

-- Bob Woodhouse, San Pasqual's football coach from 1976-1985. He guided the Eagles to the CIF championship game in 1978, and is the man credited with starting several of the San Pasqual football traditions that survive today.

-- Gordon Marsh, the school's first football coach in 1972 and a longtime athletic director. He was instrumental in building the current football stadium.

-- Mike Basalo, the school's softball coach for 15 years and the West Regional coach of the year in 1995. He also coached baseball and basketball at the school, and has been the public address voice of San Pasqual football since 1972.

"This is really a great honor," said Hegerle-Snyder, who is married to former San Diego State football player and current USD athletic director Ky Snyder. "To be honored any time is a big deal. To go in the first class, especially with the other people who are going in, makes it so much more special.

"And to share the night with Ky, my children and my father (Don Hegerle, a former high-ranking Escondido school official) should put it over the top."

Merideth Marcus, who retired last year as San Pasqual's athletic director, was the mover and shaker behind the school's Hall of Fame. After 35 years, she thought the school had the athletes and tradition to support a hall.

"This was something I had thought about for a long time," Marcus said. "I had talked with the booster club and hoped the alumni would jump on board.

"But we had a couple of principal changes, and it kind of got put aside."

The thrust to get it done came when administrator Rich Watkins moved to San Pasqual from Escondido High. A San Pasqual graduate, Watkins served on Escondido's Hall of Fame committee when he worked there.

Marcus and Watkins formed a committee that included current athletic director Art Warren, longtime tennis coach and teacher Ron Peet, former San Pasqual athlete Bob Petinak, teacher and coach Lisa Brown and former teacher and coach Ann Maier.

"We wanted to do this before history was forgotten," Marcus said. "It was time to pay tribute to our great athletes and coaches and for our current students to know who came before them."

San Pasqual didn't model its Hall of Fame after any other, but Marcus said officials at Oceanside, El Camino, Escondido and La Jolla Country Day all shared information.

Escondido High, which is more than 100 years old, founded its Hall of Fame in the late 1960s. Legendary football coach Chick Embrey got it started and Steve Thurlow, a football player who went on to stardom at Stanford and in the NFL, was the first inductee.

Escondido's Hall of Fame committee consists of Embrey, assistant principal Ken Walker, athletic director Steve Bridges, former football great Danny Gabbard and former EHS athlete and community leader George Cordry.

Escondido, like most schools with a Hall of Fame, lists the criteria as athletic accomplishments at the school, accomplishments after high school and civic service.

Escondido's Hall of Fame committee was dormant for a number of years, but it's now running at full speed. There are 37 members, with plaques ringing the lobby of the gym.

The San Pasqual booster club paid for a new trophy case in the remodeled lobby of the gym. The centerpiece is the Hall of Fame display with an enormous stuffed Golden Eagle.

The most impressive of the North County high school halls of fame is at Carlsbad. The new Lancer Gym features framed jerseys of the Hall of Famers, with those jerseys hanging prominently on the wall.

Surprisingly, only Carlsbad, San Pasqual, Escondido, Oceanside, El Camino, Vista and Cathedral Catholic have halls of fame. Several others ---- including Orange Glen, Poway and San Marcos ---- are in the planning stages. Valley Center, in its 11th year, is looking into the possibility of adding a Hall of Fame.

"We'd like to announce a Hall of Fame class before the end of the year," Orange Glen athletic director Kevin Brown said. "But we still need to come up with criteria. We're working on it. We have a long, rich history (the school opened in 1962). It's just a matter of who and when.

"It's going to happen."

San Marcos has a seven-page, well-thought-out Hall of Fame packet. It's only a matter of time before the school, which is nearly 50 years old, announces a hall class.

"Getting this started has been a little overwhelming," San Pasqual's Marcus said. "What we really want to stress to our current students is that they're all related to the people we'll induct on Friday.

"We want the current students to know that hard work will pay off."

Contact staff writer John Maffei at (760) 740-3547 or jmaffei@nctimes.com.