Harvey Hill graduated from Churchill County High School in 1931, competing in three sports and held the school record in the high jump and is the current record holder in the 100-yard dash.
After inducting its inaugural class last fall when more than 30 were honored in front of 400 family members and friends, the Greenwave Hall of Fame is making this year’s class just as outstanding as the first.
Twenty athletes, six teams, two coaches and two contributors headline this year’s class. The induction ceremony is Sept. 15 at 6 p.m. at the Elmo Dericco Gymnasium. Tickets will go on sale in August.
Read below about the 30 inductees who will headline the second class later this year.
1924, 1926, 1927 girls basketball, team
Fallon won state titles in 1924, 1926 and 1927 and turned in two all-state selections in the 1924 season. Players during this span included Gertrude Nelson, Theo Morgan, Louise Lofthouse, Myrta Rundberg, Ruth Hamilton, Nellie Peters, Isabel Loring, Agnes Ahern, Betsy Fort, Mary-K Morris, Lois Crane, Daisy Ernst, Vena Marke, Ethel Downs, Doris Buerer, Lucille LaGasa, Dorothy Ernst and Annabelle Buckner.
1957 boys basketball, team
Under the late Ed Arciniega and Elmo Dericco (assistant), Fallon captured the Division A state championship, the school’s first title since 1924. Val York, Phil Bailey and Dave Lumos were selected to the all-state team. Led by York’s nine field goals, Bailey’s work under pressure and Lumos’ senior leadership, Fallon knocked off Hawthorne to win the state championship in 1957.
1971 boys basketball, team
Playing in the state’s second largest division, the Greenwave held its own. Wint King’s high-scoring and fast-breaking team won the state championship in 1971. The team included players Ken Tedford, Don Lattin, John Lewis, Kerry Huffman, Richard Hucke, Doug Maupin, Mike Calleas, Mike Fuller, David Getto, Bryce Sexton, Curt Lima and Frankie Gonzales, and managers Brent Heath and Dave Van Meter. Coaches were King and Lou Buckmaster.
2000 volleyball, team
After winning the program’s first state championship in 1999, the Lady Wave in 2000 posted a 24-0 record in the Class 4A, the state’s largest division, and lost only one match the entire season. Behind Division I players Jennifer Hucke, Monica Meihack, Tristin Adams Johnson and Carly Sorensen Sipherd, Fallon was dominant under coach Caryn Marshall. Other players included Jordan Woods, Amanda Camacho, Samantha Schieble, Shayna Jensen Byrd and Karin Christiansen.
Archie Hodsdon, coach
Hodsdon coached the Greenwave baseball team to two league championships and more than 100 wins in his 10-year career. His teams averaged 21 wins in each of his last four seasons, and Hodsdon was named Coach of the Year on four separate occasions. During the 1990 state-bound season, Hodsdon carried only 12 players, and Fallon would be dubbed the “Dirty Dozen” and was still able to knock off schools with more than 2,500 students in enrollment.
Bert Serrano, coach
After a stellar athletic career at Mineral County and the University of Nevada, Serrano came to Fallon in the 1970s to coach gymnastics, track and field, football, girls basketball and gymnastics for 26 years. He led Fallon to three state titles in gymnastics and two titles in track to go with seven runner-up finishes. He also had two runner-up finishes with the girls basketball program. Serrano moved to Reno to teach and also coached the women’s track and field team at Nevada before returning to Fallon. Serrano is also a member of the Wolf Pack Athletics Hall of Fame.
Dave McCormick, contributor
McCormick officiated football for three decades and at all levels (A, AA and AAA) before dying on the football field at McQueen High School 20 years ago. McCormick, whose grandchildren (Tommy and Sean) are currently competing for the Greenwave, was consistent, fair and dedicated. If Ed Arciniega needed a referee, his first call went out to McCormick.
Steve Ranson, contributor
Ranson retired last summer after completing a 30-year “impassioned community journalistic” career with the Lahontan Valley News based in Fallon. Ranson’s immersion into the world of journalism started as a teenage sportscaster in school and a weekend news reporter for KRNV Channel 4. He is revered for being an ambassador of prep sports based on his positive and productive contributions both on air and in print. He was named to the NIAA Hall of Fame in March.
Bruce Corkill, athlete
Corkill excelled on the football field and in the rodeo arena before graduating in 1979. Corkill was brought up to varsity before the 1976 state finals in football before being named an All-American the following season. An all-state selection in his final two years, Corkill switched gears to rodeo in the spring and was a state champion team roper and calf roper and competed at the national finals.
Carey Behimer Gantt, athlete
Arguably the best girls basketball player in school history, Gantt was the first girls basketball player from CCHS to receive a full-ride scholarship for her sport. She broke the school’s record for scoring as she tallied 1,385 points in her four-year career. Gantt played volleyball in the fall and softball in the spring before going to the University of Alaska Anchorage.
David Granillo, athlete
An All-American on the football and baseball fields, Granillo was also named an all-state pitcher and MVP of the all-state team in 1974 before continuing his career at the College of Siskiyous on a baseball scholarship. Granillo also played on the basketball team for three seasons.
Kara Tolzmann Haines, athlete
No one ran the long-distance events better than Haines. She currently holds the school record in the 800, 1600 and 3200 and was a state medalist in the Class 4A meet. In the fall, Haines competed in soccer for three seasons and was a captain during her final year. She obtained a degree in biochemistry from BYU in 2009.
Steve Heck, athlete
Before he became a state-winning head coach, Heck was one of the best athletes in the 1980s, and his name is still cemented as one of the best sprinters in school history. Heck is the current record holder for the 200- and 400-meter events and was also a captain and MVP of the 1985 football team. Heck competed in track at Nevada before returning to Fallon.
Harvey Hill, athlete
Hill graduated from CCHS in 1931, competing in three sports and held the school record in the high jump and is the current record holder in the 100-yard dash. He was an all-state halfback and co-captain of the football team, played basketball and won state titles in the high jump, 100- and 200-yard dashes.
Richard Hucke, athlete
Before he became a physical education teacher and Block F adviser, Hucke was a standout on the gridiron, playing all four years and being named to the all-state team in 1972. Hucke played all four years on the basketball team, leading the team to the state title in 1971, but continued his player career in college on a football scholarship before being drafted by the New Orleans Saints in 1976. He is also a member of the Montana Western Athletics Hall of Fame.
Tristin Adams Johnson, athlete
As a freshman, Johnson was the Lady Wave’s setter, assisting Fallon to back-to-back state volleyball titles before playing at Nevada for four seasons. Johnson, who also played four seasons in basketball at Fallon, played for the 2002 Silver State Volleyball Club team that placed third at the 17 Open Junior Olympics where she garnered All-American honors.
Randy Kirby, athlete
One of the program’s best wrestlers, Kirby dominated the mat during the 1970s. A four-year letter winner on the mat, Kirby won the state title in each of his last two seasons. He was also part of the baseball state championship team in 1974 and state football team in 1975 when he was named an all-state linebacker. Kirby attended Western Montana on a football and wrestling scholarship.
Donald Lattin, athlete
One of the best basketball players to grace the gym floor, Lattin was Co-Player of the Year and an all-state selection in his final two years as Fallon won the state title in 1971. He averaged a state-best 21.1 points per game in his final season. Lattin, who also lettered three times in baseball and two in football, played basketball at Nevada for four years.
Stephen Lee, athlete
Lee was an all-state center in basketball and voted to the all-tournament team in 1955. He lettered in all four seasons in baseball but his love was basketball. He attended the University of Denver on a scholarship where he started for three years.
John Lewis, athlete
Lewis was an all-state selection in football, basketball and baseball before graduating in 1971. His best sport was baseball, leading Fallon to the state championship in his senior season after throwing 11 innings in the final two games, becoming the winning pitcher in both. He also led Fallon to a state basketball title in 1971.
Thomas McCormick, athlete
While his children continue to grab the headlines with this year’s Greenwave program, McCormick shined for Fallon before playing football at Carroll College and being inducted into the Saints’ Hall of Fame last year. McCormick played football and baseball for four years, becoming an all-state running back and defensive back in 1987 and 1988. In his only year on the wrestling team, McCormick won the zone title as a freshman.
Charles (Ernie) McKenzie, athlete
McKenzie was an All-American linebacker during his final season with the Greenwave and took third in his only season wrestling for Earl Wilkens in 1971. McKenzie lettered three times in baseball, helping Fallon win the state title in his last season while also being named an all-state catcher.
George Nelson, athlete
Nelson lettered three times each in football and basketball and played one year of baseball. He helped Fallon advance to the state finals in 1953 in basketball while making the all-state team and being named the captain of the team, which was the highest honor in prep sports at the time.
Julie Mori Ornelas, athlete
Ornelas lettered in all but two seasons with the Greenwave volleyball, basketball and track and field programs. Her best sport was in the spring as she threw discus and shot put all four years, garnering a state title in the discus in her last two seasons. She broke the state record in her senior season and she currently holds the school record in the discus. Ornelas competed in the discus and javelin at the College of Southern Idaho.
Deon Skinner, athlete
A 1966 graduate, Skinner lettered three times each in football, basketball and baseball as he led Fallon to state championships in basketball in 1965 and 1966. He was an all-state selection in football, basketball and baseball during his senior season.
Carly Sorensen Sipherd, athlete
A force on the 1999 and 2000 state volleyball teams, Sipherd was one of the school’s most complete student-athletes as she lettered all four years in basketball and two in track and field. Sipherd, who competed alongside Johnson at Nevada, was a first-team selection on the hardwood and qualified for state in the long jump during her freshman year.
Del “Jugger” Steve, athlete
Steve competed in four sports in the late 1940s, early 1950s in Fallon. Steve lettered in basketball four times, football in three and boxing and baseball each in two. Steve was an all-state selection in basketball and football and pitched three no-hitters during the 1949 season.
Dixie Williams, athlete
The best hurdler in school history, Williams holds the school record in both the 100- and 300-meter hurdle events while also breaking records at several meets during her career. She won state in both events, as well as the 400, and was named the 1993-1994 Gatorade State Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year. She became an All-American at BYU in 1998 in the distance medley relay and 400 hurdles.
