Page One

Class of ’00 inducted into Cal HOF

Daily Planet Wire Services
Saturday November 04, 2000

A pair of Olympic gold medalists, three Football All-Americans, two track and field standouts, an NCAA runner-up in women’s tennis and a long-time administrator are all represented in the 2000 class selected for induction into Cal’s Athletic Hall of Fame, the school announced this week.  

NBA standout Kevin Johnson is joined by Olympic gold medal-winning soccer player Mary Harvey and football All-Americans Joe Roth, Ted Albrecht and Talma W. Imlay for the induction ceremonies. Other selections to the ‘00 Hall of Fame class are former assistant athletic director Paul Christopulos, track and field stars Kenneth Churchill and Willie White, and tennis player Lisa Albano.  

The group was formally inducted on Friday at the annual banquet in the Club Room at Haas Pavilion on campus. They will also be honored at halftime during the Bears home football game against Oregon State Saturday.  

The class of ‘00 brings the total number of athletes enshrined in Cal’s Hall of Fame to 165 individuals and four crews, each of whom represent the best of Cal’s rich athletic heritage. The Cal Hall of Fame was inaugurated in 1986 and this year’s group represents the 15th class of inductees.  

Cal’s second leading all-time scorer with 1,655 points from 1984 to ‘87, Kevin Johnson rates with Jason Kidd as the quickest guards in Cal basketball history. Johnson earned first team All-Pac-10 honors as both a junior and senior, helping the Bears to NIT berths both years, the program’s first postseason appearances in 26 seasons. He averaged 15.6 points as a junior and 17.2 points as a senior and ranks on several Cal Top 10 career lists. He earned honorable mention All-America honors as a senior and was a lottery pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers, as the seventh player selected in the 1987 draft. Johnson was traded in 1988 to Phoenix where he starred for the next nine seasons, earning several NBA All-Star appearances and was selected as part of the U.S. Olympic team in 1992, dubbed the Dream Team II, winning a gold medal for the United State.  

Mary Harvey (1983-86) was a goalie on the U.S. Gold Medal team women’s soccer team in Atlanta in 1996. As a freshman at Cal in ‘83, Harvey was a starter on a Bear team that finished fifth in the NCAA Tournament and went on to lead the team to three additional NCAA playoff appearances. In 1984, she was named the NCAA All-Tournament goalkeeper and she was the National Goalkeeper of the year in 1986. Harvey had a total of 27 "caps" for the U.S. National Team during her career and maintained a 0.65 goals-against average as a national team goalie. In 1991, Harvey was the starting goalkeeper on the championship Women’s World Cup U.S. National Team. She still has four individual records at Cal: career saves (156), saves in a game (12 versus North Carolina, Nov. 1, 1984), season saves (71 in 1986), and shutouts in a season (nine in 1984).  

Quarterback Joe Roth (1975-76) directed Cal to the NCAA team total offense title in 1975, as the Bears averaged 458 yards per game that season. Cal was the Pac-8 Co-Champions that year with an 8-3 record as Roth passed for 1,880 yards and 14 touchdowns with just seven interceptions. A Sporting News first team All-America selection in 1976, he succumbed to cancer after the season and passed away. Roth’s No. 12 jersey is the only jersey ever retired by the Cal football program. He still holds the Cal record for the longest touchdown pass, an 88-yard hookup with Wesley Walker against Georgia in 1976.  

Ted Albrecht (1974-76) was a standout offensive tackle for Cal who earned Associated Press first team All-America honors in 1976 and went on to become a first round pick of the Chicago Bears. Albrecht was named first team all-conference in both 1975 and ‘76 and played with Joe Roth, Chuck Muncie, and Wesley Walker in ‘75 on one of the greatest offensive teams in Golden Bear history. He helped the ‘75 team to a Pac-8 Co-Championship while setting a Cal modern record for most points in a season (330). Albrecht played five seasons as a starter with Chicago, helping running back Walter Payton to the all-time NFL rushing record.  

A two-year letterman at halfback who played for the great Cal coach Andy Smith, Talma W. Imlay (1924-25) was named by Walter Camp as a third team All-American in 1924. Imlay’s running and pass catching abilities helped the ‘24 team post an 8-0-2 record and finish ranked second in the nation. He was selected to the second team on Cal football historian Brick Morse’s All-Time Cal football team and was chosen team captain of the 1925 team. Imlay played in the first East-West Shrine game, and he scored the first touchdown ever in that historic all-star game. 

Serving the Cal Athletic Department in several different capacities from 1947-64, most notably as Publicity or Sports Information Director, Paul Christopulos also served as an administrative aide to legendary football coach Pappy Waldorf. In late ‘40s and early ‘50s, Christopulos directed recruiting efforts for all sports, particularly football, basketball, track and baseball. Among those he helped recruit were Lon Spurrier, Leamon King, Don Bowden, Jim Monachino, Matt Hazeltine, John Olszewski, Joe Kapp and Craig Morton. Christopulos founded and organized the Sons of California, which features a yearly reunion.  

Kenneth Churchill (1929-31) won the NCAA javelin competition in 1930 with a toss of 204-2, and again in 1931 with a throw of 215-0. He earned All-America honors in both ‘30 and ‘31, and set an American intercollegiate record with a throw of 217-7 against Washington in 1931. Churchill came back to reset the record later that spring with a throw of 221-7 in the Big Meet against Stanford.  

Willie White (1958-60) was a member of two world record Cal sprint medley relay teams, helping the Bears post times of 3:19.8 in 1958, and coming back the same year to better that mark with a 3:18.8 in the spring. White earned NCAA All-America honors in 1960 by finishing fourth in the 100-yard dash and was sixth nationally in the 100-yard dash in 1958. He was also the Pacific Coast Conference champion in the 100-yard dash in 1958 with a time of 9.6. 

A four-time All-American in tennis, Lisa Albano (1989-92) was the NCAA runner-up for the singles title in 1991 as a junior, the only Cal women to ever reach the NCAA singles final. Albano was a finalist for the Honda Broderick Award in 1991 and was the ITA Regional Player of the Year in 1992. She was also a two-time All-Pac-10 selection and was named Cal’s Tennis Women Player of the Decade.