Hall of Fame welcomes new members

A crop of fresh faces will be inducted into the Colusa County Hall of Fame on Saturday at the Maxwell Inn.

This year's inductees are Annjanette Pitts of Princeton, Lane Davis of Maxwell, Randy Watt of Colusa, Wanda Danley of Arbuckle, Barbara Brooks of Arbuckle, Bill Barrett Jr. of Maxwell, Bryant Pearson of Williams and the 1970 Williams Boys Basketball Team.

Saturday the new members will be honored at the hall of fame banquet, which begins at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour and dinner at 7 p.m. before the induction ceremony. Cost for a dinner ticket is $25, and tickets can be purchased at the door.

Wanda Danley

Danley graduated from Pierce High in 1925 and developed into a world-class sprinter. By April 1926, Danley was considered the 100-yard dash record holder. Danley represented California in the 1926 World's Fair and the Philadelphia Sesquicentennial. She died in 1983.

Bill Barrett Jr.

Barrett lettered in three sports at Maxwell High and attended Chico State before returning home to teach in Maxwell for 31 years. Barrett coached the Maxwell Junior High football and basketball teams for 20 years, and coached the high school baseball team for 13 years. Barrett has been a fixture at athletic events in Maxwell for decades.

Lane Davis

Davis played three sports for Maxwell High before playing starting safety for the Yuba College football team for two years. He returned to Maxwell in 1985 and immediately made his mark as a football coach, winning back-to-back North Valley League titles in his first two years. Davis was also a five-time grand national light heavyweight arm wrestling champion, played rugby for the Colusa County team and was an avid fastpitch softball player.

Bryant Pearson Jr.

Pearson joins his father, Bryant Pearson Sr., and his sister, Sally Pearson, in the Colusa County Hall of Fame. Pearson was a four-sport athlete at Williams High and was a member of John Pappa's hall of fame 6-man football teams in the 1950s. He played on the University of California Berkeley freshman football team, before transferring to Yuba College where he played tackle. He earned a scholarship to the University of Utah but sustained a career-ending injury in his first year there.

Barbara Brooks

Brooks was a key figure in the growth of girls athletics in Colusa County as a physical education teacher at Pierce High starting in 1974. She helped expand the Girls' Athletic Association program before Title IX opened more opportunities for girls to play sports in high school. Her teams won many championships in several sports before. She retired in 2007.

Randy Watt

Colusa High celebrated Watt's retirement by giving him his first Northern Section title in softball in his last game and he was named Northern Section Coach of the Year. Watt coached nearly every sport Colusa offered during his time there and won section titles in football, girls soccer and softball. Before his coaching career, Watt was an All-American thrower at Chico State. He has held the Wildcats record in shot put for more than 30 years.

1970 Williams Basketball Team

The 1970 Williams High basketball team won 22 consecutive games and finished with a 24-2 record. Gary Roper (19.2 points per game) led the Yellowjackets to a North Valley League title despite facing strong teams from Maxwell, Princeton and Hamilton. Only a loss to Esparto and Placer marred the team's record. Roper was named first team all-league; and Philip Rennick, Dave Ballestero and Rick Manor earned second-team all-league honors. Bruce Roberts, Kim Christy, Rob Walden, Bill Manor, Skip Reynolds and Mal Dunlap filled out the roster.

Annjanette Pitts

Pitts was a dominant player for Princeton High and continued that success at Butte College and Chico State. Pitts led the Eagles to three NVL titles and one section championship. She led her Butte team in scoring (17.6 points per game) and was named Golden Valley Conference MVP during her sophomore year. Pitts made an immediate impact during her first season at Chico State and earned second team All-Northern California Athletic Conference honors. She made the first team all-conference her senior season.

Several high school students will be honored at the dinner for their performance this year, including; Brett Cabral and Andi Robledo, of Maxwell; Katie Mobley and Cyrus Yerxa, of Colusa; Jared Mascadri and Chad Zoller, of Princeton; Ben Mayes and Itzel Ramirez, of Williams; and Alison Ornbaun and Chris Tapia, of Pierce.

CONTACT Kirk Barron at 458-2121 or kbarron@tcnpress.com.