Hall of Fame to Induct Quintessential Quintet

Success has bred more success for five Ventura County sports figures who have been selected as 1997 inductees to the Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame.

They are Thousand Oaks High cross-country Coach Jack Farrell, former Moorpark College wrestling Coach John Keever, former Ventura High and Ventura College two-sport star Gerald Haflich Jr., 1984 Olympic shotput bronze-medalist Dave Laut and the late Don Green, former track and field coach at Cal Lutheran.

The 15th annual induction and awards ceremony is scheduled for June 21 at the Doubletree Hotel in Ventura. Tickets are being sold on a first-come, first-serve basis for $27.

Information: Gail Kanney at (805) 495-1814.

A look the inductees:

JACK FARRELL

Farrell has had opponents on the run since he came to Thousand Oaks in 1974.

His boys’ cross-country teams won state titles in 1993 and ’94 and finished second in 1992. The Lancers were Southern Section runners-up in 1979, ’81 and ‘95, and finished with national rankings of sixth in 1992, third in ’93 and second in ’94. The Lancers have won nine Marmonte League titles.

The Thousand Oaks girls’ team was the state runner-up in 1994 and won Southern Section Division I-A championships in 1993 and ’94. They have won eight Marmonte titles.

Farrell, 51, received the Southern Section Service Award for cross-country in 1991. He was named the state boys’ coach of the year in 1994.

“I’ve always considered myself a workout coach rather than a race-day coach,” Farrell said. “I really put all my emphasis on workouts. I try to make sure they’re as well prepared as possible, and then let the competition play itself out.

“I’m pretty much a spectator on race day, no different than parents and friends, cheering the kids on.”

There has been much to cheer about.

Individually, Thousand Oaks runners Jim Horvath (1984), Mike Williamson (1989), Farrell’s daughter Christy Farrell (1984) and Kim Mortensen (1995) have qualified for the national championships during his tenure. Mortensen won the 1995 national title over favorite Julia Stamps of Santa Rosa High.

“The kids work hard,” said Farrell, a Thousand Oaks resident. “One thing I get asked a lot is whether kids have changed a lot over the years, and they really haven’t.

“I find most teenagers are really just looking for a leader. So I try to be a leader. The leader says here’s where we’re going, and most kids will follow.”

DON GREEN

Green, who died in 1995 at 75, took a struggling Cal Lutheran track and field program and, in 21 years as coach, built it to the same standard that he had established in 20 years at Pomona High.

At Pomona, his teams had a 117-dual-meet winning streak. Green coached pole vaulter Bob Seagren, a 1968 Olympic gold medalist and former USC star, before moving to Cal Lutheran in 1970.

He guided the Kingsmen through a 98-meet, 15-season winning streak and coached 44 All-Americans before the school forced his retirement from coaching in 1991 when he was 71.

Green filed an age-discrimation lawsuit against Cal Lutheran and reached a settlement in 1992 that included the school naming its track after him.

Green’s selection to the county hall of fame is well-deserved, said Steve Blum, a 1977 Cal Lutheran graduate who coaches track at Buena High.

“Don was the only guy I ever aspired to be like,” Blum said. “I’m getting kind of choked up just talking about him now. I really miss the guy. I wasn’t any good in high school, but it didn’t matter. He made you feel like somebody, and over the years at Cal Lutheran I developed into a pretty decent runner.

“He was just a great guy. He really cared about you--and so many people don’t, you know?”

Two weeks ago, Green was honored at the inaugural Don Green Memorial Invitational track meet at Moorpark High.

GERALD HAFLICH JR.

Haflich, 37, was a football and baseball standout at Ventura High and Ventura College who continued his football success at Sacramento State.

Now a physical education teacher at Bear River Junior High in Wheatland, Calif., and the football coach at Wheatland High near Yuba City, Haflich looks back fondly on his playing days.

“You could have asked me to do a lot of things in order to play sports, and I would have done them,” he said. “Coaching has been a lot of fun and I love working with the kids, but it doesn’t come close to the passion of actually playing.”

A 1979 graduate of Ventura High, Haflich played well everywhere he went.

He was the Cougars’ football most valuable player in 1978 and boasted the highest batting average in the Channel League (.424) in 1979. He was an all-league selection in both sports.

He had a successful football and baseball career at Ventura College before attending Sacramento State, where he was football team captain in 1981 and ’82 and set a school season record with 113 tackles as a junior. Haflich was inducted into Sacramento State’s Football Hall of Fame last year.

JOHN KEEVER

Keever, 52, coached wrestling at Moorpark College for 27 years before stepping down after the 1995 season to concentrate on his duties as the school’s athletic director.

He guided Moorpark to consecutive state championships in 1990 and ‘91, and five of his wrestlers won individual state titles. The Raiders placed second in state once, fourth once and fifth three times.

Keever was named state coach of the year in 1990 and ’91 and was the Western State Conference coach of the year 16 times. He posted a career record of 251-117-6.

In addition, he was an assistant football and track coach for the Raiders.

A football and rugby player in college, Keever worked hard to overcome his inexperience in wrestling.

“It just takes someone who’s willing to put in the time,” he said.

Over time, Keever came to appreciate a demanding sport and the athletes who participate in it.

“I just think the competitiveness and the individuality of [wrestling] is very different than what you find in most other sports,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity for people of all sizes to compete and succeed in a sport.”

DAVE LAUT

Laut, who graduated from Santa Clara High in 1975, won a bronze medal in the shotput at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

“That had to be the highlight,” he said. “Making the Olympics is the goal for everyone who competes in track.”

Laut won a gold medal in the shotput in the 1979 Pan-Am Games in Puerto Rico and set an American record of 72 feet 3 inches in 1982.

At UCLA, Laut won the Pacific 8 Conference championship in 1978 and the Pac-10 title in ’79. He captured the state title at San Jose City College in 1977.

Laut teaches biology and physiology at Santa Clara High and has been the throws coach for the Ventura College men’s and women’s track teams for four years.

“I’m at the point in my life where I’ve got so much knowledge, and had so much experience in the sport, that I’ve gotta pass that on,” he said.