by Rosie Sinapi
Sports Editor
Proudly displayed in a glass case inside the Student Center is a memorial to the achievements of ULV athletics. For years it held only trophies, but starting last year, a series of plaques honoring former ULV athletes called the Hall of Fame was started.
Last year, the University of La Verne Athletics department installed its first Hall of Fame group with nine former ULV athletes, coaches and administrators. This year, they elected six.
The honorees extend from the class of ‘29 four sport athlete Mark Lehmer to ‘83 volleyball standout Eileen Kamidoi Kaiser.
According to the doctrine of the Hall of Fame, its purpose is “honoring former students and athletic staff members who have brought recognition to themselves and the university through their achievements in the athletic fields, and as leaders in their communities and in their chosen professions, encouraging current student athletes to strive to attain the highest standards of performance, familiarizing the entire campus community and the alumni with the University’s athletic history, and encouraging a continuing relationship between alumni, our athletic programs, and the University.”
Honorees are selected by a board of 12 consisting of University representatives and alumni from each of the four decade periods, before ‘50, one from ‘60 and two from the ‘70 and ‘80. This year’s inductees were selected in November, but will not be inducted until Feb. 11. They will be presented to the ULV community at next year’s football homecoming game.
To make it into the Hall, the six standouts met several requirements to be nominated. They cannot be considered until five years after the class in which they entered graduated and attended the University for at least two years. If the candidate is a coach, administrator, trainer or staff, he/she must have attended or served ULV for at least 10 years before leaving or retiring.
If those qualifications have been met, the candidate must have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the athletics field. For example, last year’s recipient Carol Clum Smith competed in the first United States, U.S.S.R. track meet.
This year’s honorees are Lehmer, Orville Tommy Thomason, class of ‘31, Vernon “Red” Weybright, ‘31, Mary Killinger, ‘64, Nick Leyva, ‘77 and Kamidoi-Kaiser.
Lehmer is deceased. While at ULV, he played football, basketball, baseball and track. The football tight end was hailed as “a passer as well as a pass receiver of no little merit” according to the 1926 Orange Blossom. While football captain for two years, he was basketball captain for one. The forward set a new season total record of 241 points for a season in 1926.
He was a prolific baseball player, playing catcher all of his four years at ULV. In the spring, when not busy, he also ran track, where in 1927, Lehmer took second in the conference meet which allowed him to compete in the All-Star meet in Stanford University.
After graduating, he coached at ULV and remained a continual part of the community. A teammate and fellow honoree is Thomason. He followed the same footsteps of Lehmer, competing in football, basketball, baseball and track, but even more importantly, Thomason became a visible force in Southern California.
He earned a M.A. from California State University at Long Beach and went on to teach in the Anaheim Union High School District until 1973. He received the 1980 Man of the Year award from the Anaheim Kiwanis and Anaheim YMCA. Thomason has not forgotten about ULV. He has served as the Chairman of the Lee Eisan ULV Committee.
A fellow classmate, Weybright, played football, basketball and baseball for four years. Weybright continued his love for sports at Burbank High School where he was a coach, teacher and eventually principal. He also taught for nine years at LVC.
Now living at Hillcrest, Weybright is ecstatic over the honor.
“I am thrilled and excited to be included,” said Weybright.
While three of the honorees graduated before the other three were born. Mary Killinger, ‘64, was a tennis all-star back in the early sixties at LVC. One of only two women to be inducted, her achievements still stand in the ‘90s.
Nick Leyva ‘77 continues to work in his sport, a baseball stand-out at LVC, he is currently the third base coach for the Montreal Expos. Leyva also has been manger for the Philadelphia Phillies and played major league baseball after leaving college.
The most recent graduate to be elected is Kamidoi-Kaiser. She was a member of the 1981 Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women and 1982 NCAA Division III volleyball champions. She even managed to play tennis several of her years. While at La Verne, she was a member of the Hawaiian Club and 1981 homecoming queen.
