2009 California State University, Chico Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees
Wendy Bates – Women’s basketball (1986-99)
Matt Dillon – Football (1984-1987)
Pete Franco – Football (1965-1966)
Richard “Dick” Kollenborn – Football (1937-1940)
Richard “Gary” Kollenborn – Baseball (1961-1963), Football (1960-1963), Track and Field (1964)
Kevin Miller – Baseball (1987-1990), Football (1987-1989)
Fred A. Obermiller – Basketball (1958-1962), Football (1962)
Debbie Peloyan Maderos – Softball (1970-1974), Swimming (1970-1974)
Mike Porter – Track and Field (1969-1971)
Darcy M. Power Pollak – Basketball (1987-1989), Field Hockey (1986-1989)
Bob Vickney – Football (1983-1984), Track and Field (1986-1987)
Gary Towne – Honorary Inductee
Also honored at the event will be:
The “Mac” Martin Chico State Athletic Hall of Fame Committee Outstanding Service Award - Don Carlsen
&
The inaugural recipients of the prestigious Athletic Hall of Fame Scholarship:
Zachary Graves - Men's Basketball
Victoria Tyler - Women's Cross Country/Track and Field
Wendy Bates – Women’s basketball (1986-99)
A point guard during her playing days for the Wildcats, Wendy Bates posted several single-game and career records and led her squad to the 1986-1987 Northern California Athletic Conference championship. She was a highly skilled, competitive, and effective floor leader who set the tempo for the Wildcats.
Although she played only two years for Chico State, she definitely made a lasting impression on the women’s basketball program. She averaged 3.83 assists and 2.29 steals per game, and at the time was the career leader in assists (226) and steals (135). Many of her single-game records lasted for years, including the record for most assists in a game (13), which was the top mark in the Wildcat record book for 14 years. Because of her powerful influence on the team, she was known as “The Wildcat Quaterback.”
After receiving her master’s degree in physical education, Bates began her coaching career, first with high school age athletes, and then at the community college level. She has gone on to a successful coaching career and is currently both the head softball and women’s basketball coach at Monterey Peninsula College. Bates is greatly involved in her community, volunteering with the Salinas Reads Program, the Jacob’s Heart Children’s Cancer Foundation, and the Highway Beautification Project as well as local and regional basketball clinics.
Matt Dillon – Football (1984-1987)
Matt Dillon arrived at Chico State in 1984 and immediately earned a spot on the varsity football team. He was only one of five freshmen to travel and play during his first year as a Wildcat. During his junior and senior years, Dillon had many accomplishments as a defensive back; he was an all-league and all-conference player, team captain, and led the team in tackles. He was also named Most Valuable Defensive player his senior year and was voted NCAC Player of the Week for his record-setting 75-yard interception return and two fumble recoveries in a single game.
It was during his sophomore year that Dillon discovered the game of rugby, making an instant impact upon joining the Chico State rugby club team. He played four years as inside and outside center, helping the Wildcats advance to the regional playoffs in 1988.
As his collegiate football career was winding down, Dillon focused on his career goal of becoming an athletic trainer. He was selected as both the most improved and most valuable athletic trainer while working for the CSU, Chico athletic training staff. After graduating from Chico with a degree in physical education, Dillon went on to work as a certified athletic trainer. In 1997, he entered and graduated from the Stanford University physician assistant program and is currently employed as a physician’s assistant at Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, CA.
Matt Dillon lives in San Carlos with his beautiful wife, Jill, sons Aidan and Brady, and new puppy, Jack.
Pete Franco – Football (1965-1966)
When Pete Franco’s close friend dared him to play football, he jumped at the chance. And good thing he did because he turned out to be a real asset to the Chico State football team. Franco’s football career began at Tennyson High in Hayward, where he earned 12 varsity letters and was voted Most Athletic of his senior class. After high school, Franco attended Chabot College, where he was a member of the championship football team in 1964.
Franco came to Chico State in 1965 and had a profound impact on the football program. He came to Chico to play defensive back, but found himself enjoying great success as a wide receiver as well. In his first season with the Cats, Franco was named second team All-Far West Conference. The following season, Franco was Chico State’s number one receiver with 52 catches and 10 touchdowns, including a then school-record four in one game. During his senior year, he was named All-FWC on both offense and defense and was also named honorable mention to the Little All-American team. Voted the team’s outstanding player of the year after setting six receiving records his senior year, Franco was named as wide receiver on the Chico State Team of the Century.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree in marketing, Franco went on to work as a management specialist for NFL legends Don Shula and Monte Clark in revitalizing fast food companies in Northern California. After 25 years he retired to Butte Valley, but not for long because he now works at Hotel Diamond in downtown Chico.
Richard “Dick” Kollenborn – Football (1937-1940)
Richard “Dick” Kollenborn’s trip to the Hall of Fame is reminiscent of the way he played football for the Cats in the late 1930s. A standout at Chico High School, Kollenborn accepted a football scholarship to the University of Santa Clara before returning to his hometown Wildcats in 1937. It was under the tutelage of Art Acker that Kollenborn made his impact on the football field, playing both offense and defense, and making headlines both ways with his skills at the halfback and defensive back position.
Kollenborn played the following season under new coach Ray Bohler and, again, was a bright spot for the Wildcats. But come the fall of 1939, he was forced to withdraw from college to work in the family business. Fortunately, the same dogged determination he showed on the gridiron brought him back to Chico State, and in the spring of 1942, he graduated with a BA in elementary education and physical education.
After serving two years in the Army Air Corps, Kollenborn began his career in coaching and education, serving as head football coach at Elk Grove High School, where he compiled a record of 29-6-1 including three conference championships and one co-championship. His career progressed and he became an institution at Sacramento area high schools, serving as principal at three different schools in the 1950s and 60s before officially retiring in 1978.
Kollenborn passed away on December 19, 1990.
Richard “Gary” Kollenborn – Baseball (1961-1963), Football (1960-1963), Track and Field (1964)
Following in the footsteps of his dad, Richard “Gary” Kollenborn became a Chico State Wildcat in the fall of 1960, and like his father, found success on the gridiron. For four years, 1960-63, Kollenborn played in every scheduled game for the Cats—lining up as a tight end on offense, a linebacker on defense, and as part of the special teams unit. In his senior year, he was named the Wildcats team co-captain, and was named to the all-conference team.
But while his dad focused all of his energies on football, Gary Kollenborn also spent three years on the baseball team under head coach Roy Bohler as well as one year with the track and field squad with head coach Willie Simmons. In all, Kollenborn earned eight varsity letters in three different sports during his time at Chico State.
After graduating in 1964 with a degree in social science, Kollenborn went on to a long and distinguished teaching and coaching career at both the high school and community college level. In 1973, Kollenborn was hired at Imperial Valley Junior College, where his knowledge and versatility was truly appreciated, holding positions from director of athletics to head football coach, head tennis coach, head golf coach, and dean of students. In 1984, he joined Hartnell Junior College and stayed there until his retirement in 2004. The following year, he was inducted into the Imperial Valley Football Coaches Hall of Fame, and in 2006, was inducted into the California Community College Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Kevin Miller – Baseball (1987-1990), Football (1987-1989)
Kevin Miller was drafted in the fourth round out of high school by the New York Mets, but fortunately for Wildcat fans in the late 1980s, he chose to attend Chico State instead.
The 1987 Wildcat baseball team was the most successful of former head coach Dale Metcalf’s career, and it was due in large part to the contributions of Miller. The leading hitter on the squad that year, Miller paced the Cats attack with a .408 batting average in helping lead the team to a 35-15 mark—a record all the more impressive when the schedule shows that 18 of those games were against Division I competition!
A first team All-NCAC pick and All-West Region honorable mention as a senior, Miller still holds the Chico State career mark for total bases and doubles. Additionally, he is still ranked among the top 10 all-time at Chico State in hits, runs scored, home runs, and runs batted in.
Miller also held his own on the football field, being named team captain twice and earning All-NCAC honors.
After his final year of baseball at Chico State, he was drafted by the Detroit Tigers where he spent three years in the Tigers minor league organization.
Miller graduated with a degree in physical education and a minor in business administration. He is currently a manager for the Franchise Tax Board and also serves on the Elk Grove girls’ softball league board of directors. He spends his free time volunteering at his daughter’s school and helping her with softball.
Fred A. Obermiller – Basketball (1958-1962), Football (1962)
A four-year player from 1958 to 1962 for the Wildcat basketball team, Fred Obermiller was truly a workhorse for Chico State during his time on the hardwood. One of the team’s leading scorers and rebounders, Obermiller was a three-time all-conference selection as he led the ’Cats in rebounds and blocked shots in three of his four years. When his basketball eligibility was up, he played one year of football under coach George Maderos.
Obermiller was very involved with the campus community as a student at Chico State. He was a member of the Delta Psi Delta fraternity, Newman Club, National Honorary Business Education Society, and was even elected Sheriff for the 1962 Pioneer Days celebration.
After graduation, Obermiller went on to a long and successful teaching and coaching career in the North State. He began his career at El Dorado High School then spent two years at Quincy High before earning his master’s degree in business education and using that to secure a position as a professor at College of the Siskiyous. For 20 years, until his retirement in 1999, Obermiller taught business and economics to the students at Siskiyous.
As he had in Chico, Obermiller was deeply involved in the community of Weed, serving twice as president of the local Lions Club, donating over 100 pints of blood to the local blood bank and culminating with his being awarded the City of Weed’s Meritorious Service Award.
Debbie Peloyan Maderos – Softball (1970-1974), Swimming (1970-1974)
The name “Maderos” holds a special place in the hearts of Chico State fans as many consider George Maderos the greatest overall athlete to ever wear the Wildcat uniform.
But at least in local tennis and golf circles, Debbie Peloyan-Maderos may be the only person able to upstage her husband.
Debbie Peloyan-Maderos participated in three sports during her Wildcat career in the early 1970s, reaching the varsity level in swimming and softball all four years and the junior varsity level in basketball. That simple fact is a testament to her desire to compete and her will to succeed as she was a walk-on in all three sports who had very little previous playing experience. At the time, opportunities were few for young women to compete on an organized team, so when Peloyan-Maderos saw the door open up, she walked on through.
In the pool, she was a member of the team that won the conference championship, contributing in the freestyle, butterfly, and individual medley.
But it is in two sports that Chico State did not offer at the time for women to participate in—tennis and golf—where Peloyan-Maderos has made her mark. A member of the Chico Raquet Club from 1974-2002, she was the five-time club champion and even represented the United States on goodwill trips to Europe in the 1980s and 90s.
She met George in 1980 and picked up a golf club “just to be social.” Once they married in 1994, she became “addicted” to the sport and has enjoyed enormous success winning a record 12 consecutive Ladies Club championships at Butte Creek Country Club as well as several other tournament titles. In 1997 alone, she won all the major women’s championships at BCCC and went to Mexico to compete in the Toyota Team championship finals.
Mike Porter – Track and Field (1969-1971)
A dominant sprinter in his day, Mike Porter would probably still be a dominant sprinter in a match-up against today’s student-athletes.
As a student at Chico High School in 1968, Porter ran the sixth fastest 440-yard dash in the state. This performance led to scholarship offers from Cal and University of the Pacific. Porter opted for the calmer campus of UOP, but fortunately for Chico State, things didn’t work out as planned there and Porter came back home to become a Wildcat.
As a redshirt freshman in ’69, Porter broke the Chico State record for the 440 with a time of 47.9 and then two years later, set the school record (equivalent to a 47.3 400 meter time) that still stands to this day, some 38 years after the fact.
Porter graduated from Chico State in 1973 with a degree in physics and went on to earn a master’s in earth sciences in 1982. He has been teaching at the community college level since the mid-1970s, beginning at Yuba College before joining the faculty at Santa Rosa Junior College in 1992—a position he still holds.
As an independent vineyard consultant, Porter is a valuable commodity in the Sonoma County wine country, advising clients on every aspect of vineyard establishment and management. His love of track has not waned over the years either as he has volunteered at SRJC track meets for over 20 years.
Darcy M. Power Pollak – Basketball (1987-1989), Field Hockey (1986-1989)
Darcy Power-Pollak was born an athlete and dominated in any sport she could get involved with. She played Little League and select soccer and was involved in numerous activities in high school. It was there that she found her love for basketball and field hockey.
When she was deciding on a college, Chico State was the perfect match for Power-Pollak because it combined a great education with the opportunity to participate in both of her favorite sports.
During her four years playing field hockey, she was awarded Divison I, All-NorPac conference in 1988 and 1989 and Division I All-American in 1989. In 1988, she led the Chico State team to the NorPac Conference championship and a final ranking of 17th in the nation. In basketball, Power-Pollak still ranks among the school’s top 10 in single-season three-point field goal percentage, and during her playing days, she led the ‘Cats in three-pointers made, three-point percentage made, and assists.
In 1990, Pollak earned her bachelor of arts in liberal studies and then her teaching credential in 1991. In 1992, she married David Pollak, a Chico State football alum. Afterwards, she began teaching and coaching in the Chico community. She has been teaching for 17 years and currently works for the Butte County Office of Education. In addition, she coached basketball for five years and is currently in her 18th year of coaching field hockey at Chico High.
Power-Pollak lives in Chico with her husband of 18 years and her three daughters-Ashley, Madison, and Bailey.
Bob Vickney – Football (1983-1984), Track and Field (1986-1987)
Bob Vickney came to Chico looking for the college experience and that is exactly what he got. After transferring from the University of Nevada at Reno, Vickney found his place at Chico State. He was middle linebacker and in 1983 was named NCAC Defensive Player of the Week. Vickney continued his athletic career at Chico after his football eligibility was exhausted when track and field coach Kirk Freitas approached him about joining the team.
Vickney was the NCAC Conference champion in the shot put in 1986 and was selected to compete at the NCAA Division II National Championships. He was ranked 18th in the nation going into the competition and finished 10th in the nation. He was All-NCAC in shot put and discus both years competing for the Wildcats. Vickney was also selected team captain by his peers in 1987. Amazingly, Vickney was an assistant football coach, attended classes full time, and worked at the Holiday Inn all while excelling in track & field. His drive and perseverance allowed him to succeed and make a name for himself.
After earning his bachelor of arts in physical education from Chico State and his aseptic processing certification from UC Davis, he started his own company, Liquid Packaging Solutions. He also works as a liquid packaging specialist for the food and pharmaceutical industry.
Vickney played an active role in developing the football program for Sierra Christian High School and continues to coach football. He lives in Rocklin with his son, Kyle.
Gary Towne – Honorary Inductee
Gary Towne, a 1991 graduate of Chico State, is in his 14th season guiding one of the top cross country programs in the United States, as well as serving as the distance coach for the Wildcats’ consistently successful track & field teams.
In his 13 seasons at the helm, Towne has coached 62 track & field All-Americans, including 2007 National Track Champions Scott Bauhs (10k) and Charlie Serrano (5k) and 2008 National Track Champions Bauhs (5K) and Sarah Montez (3K). On the trails, Towne has coached 124 cross country All-Conference runners, 88 All-Region runners, and 33 All-Americans, with Bauhs winning the 2008 National Championship.
In cross country, Towne has been honored as the West Region Coach of the Year 11 times and the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Coach of the Year nine times. He has garnered national and regional coach of the year honors for his work in track and field as well.
Eighteen of Towne’s cross country teams have finished in the top 10 in the nation at the National Championships (eight of his women’s teams and his last 10 men’s teams). In 2008, the women’s team finished seventh in the nation for its eighth top-10 performance in the last nine years. The men, meanwhile, finished third in the nation in ’08 – it was the Wildcats’ seventh straight top six finish and 10th consecutive top 10 performance.
His Wildcat squads have collected a dozen CCAA cross country championships (seven straight for the men, five for the women) and 11 West Regional titles (seven straight for the men, four for the women).
Being a distance runner himself, Towne continues to compete while coaching and has logged impressive 2:29 marathon and 1:09 half marathon PRs. Recently, he finished 18th out of 184 runners in the Master’s 8K race at the USA Cross Country Championships in San Diego, covering the course in 27:33.
The “Mac” Martin Chico State Athletic Hall of Fame Committee Outstanding Service Award - Don Carlsen
Don Carlsen came to Chico State in the fall of 1964 and competed in football for four years and baseball for two. His greatest honor in football was being selected by his coaches to receive the first “Eddie Booth Mr. Wildcat” award in the fall of 1967 after his senior season.
After graduating with a degree in accounting, Don worked two years for a local CPA firm then took off on a 32-year career in school finance; being the chief accountant for Chico Unified School District for eight years then spending 24 years with the Butte County Office of Education, retiring as the Asst. Superintendent of Administrative Services in October 2003.
Carlsen has served with many organizations over the years, including the Chico Unified “Blue Ribbon” Sports Committee, the Century Club, the Wildcat Boosters Club, along with the Chico State Athletic Hall of Fame committee. He has been active with the Chico State Alumni Association, where he served as the president of the Chico Chapter from 2003-2007 and is currently the vice-president of the full board. He will become the president in the spring of 2010.
Carlsen has been active in officiating football for 38 years, and this season is his 21st in the National Football League, where he is a side judge. In his 19 post-season eligible years, he has worked 15 post-season games.
Carlsen is most proud to be “dad” to daughter Kristy, who is a grad student at UC Davis, and son Kyle, who coaches football and baseball at his alma mater, Pleasant Valley HS.
