The Hall of Champions is pleased to announce the Stars of the Year in Professional, Olympic and Amateur sports for the 2008
calendar year. The 21 athletes will be honored at the 63rd annual Viejas Salute to the Champions dinner on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at the Town and Country Hotel's Grand Exhibit Hall.
The Salute dinner will also induct four members of the Class of 2009 into the Breitbard Hall of Fame: Marshall Faulk, one of the NFL's all-time great running backs from San Diego State; Eric Allen, a six-time NFL Pro Bowler from Point Loma High; Floyd Robinson, one of the American League's top hitters in the 1960s from San Diego High; and Ivan Stewart, a motor sports icon from his off-road racing career from Grossmont High.
Tickets for the dinner are $250 and are tax deductible. Call the Hall of Champions Events Department at 619-699-2313.
PROFESSIONALS
ADRIAN GONZALEZ (Baseball, Padres/Eastlake High alum) -- Gonzalez was named to his first All-Star Game and won his first Gold Glove. He hit 36 home runs with 119 RBIs.
COLE HAMELS (Baseball, Phillies/Rancho Bernardo High alum) -- Hamels went 4-0 in the post-season and was named the World Series MVP after leading the Phillies to the world championship. He won the first game in the Division Series, the first game in the League Championship series and the first game in the World Series.
JIMMIE JOHNSON (Motor sports, NASCAR/Granite Hills High alum) -- Johnson won the Sprint Cup for his third straight NASCAR overall season title. He is only the second driver to three-peat in NASCAR history. Cale Yarborough was the first (1976-77-78).
CARLOS QUENTIN (Baseball, White Sox/USDHS alum) -- Quentin was named to his first All-Star team and led the White Sox the AL Central title before a hand injured ended his season. He his 36 home runs with 100 RBIs in 130 games.
PHILIP RIVERS (Football, Chargers) – Rivers led the NFL with a passer rating of 105.5 as the Chargers won their final four games to claim a third straight AFC West title.
MIKE SCIFRES (Fooball, Chargers) – Scifres' season showed once again why he is considered the best punter in the NFL despite not being named to the Pro Bowl team. He set a Chargers record for net punting average of 40.9.
OLYMPIANS
LAYNE BEAUBIEN and JESSE SMITH (Water polo, Olympics/Coronado High alums) -- Beaubien and Smith were key defenders that led the U.S. to a silver medal. It's the first Olympic medal for the men in water polo since 1988
MONIQUE HENDERSON (Track and field, Olympics/Morse High alum) -- Henderson won her second career Olympic gold medal while running the third leg of the 4x400-meter relay in Beijing.
DAVID LEE (Volleyball, Olympics/Granite Hills High alum) -- The 6-foot-8 middle blocker led the U.S. to a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics while leading the team in blocks.
MORIAH VAN NORMAN (Water polo, Olympics/USDHS alum) -- Van Norman won her first Olympic medal as the U.S. brought home a silver from the Beijing Olympics. Van Norman was one of the Americans' leading scorers.
AMATEURS
AMY DEGROOT (Volleyball, USD) -- DeGroot, a junior outside hitter, was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year after she led the Toreros to their third straight WCC title and a No. 15 national ranking. USD advanced to the NCAA tournament for the 13th time in 14 years. She earned honorable mention All-American.
TIFFANY JOH (Golf, UCLA/Rancho Bernardo High alum) -- Joh, a junior, won U.S. Amateur Publinx title in June for the second time in three years. During her college season, she was the NCAA runner-up, an All-American and the Pac-10 Player of the Year.
BRANDON JOHNSON (Basketball, USD) -- Johnson, a junior combo guard, led the Toreros to the West Coast Conference tournament title when he was named the WCC Tournament MVP. In the NCAA tournament, USD recorded a milestone win as the first men's basketball team from San Diego to win an NCAA tournament when the Toreros upset Connecticut. Johnson was named first-team All-WCC.
WHITNEY JOHNSON-COURTRIGHT (Track and field, UC San Diego) -- Johnson, a senior studying to become a surgeon, was named the NCAA Division II National Field Athlete of the Year. She won the NCAA Division II triple jump title with a mark that was four inches shy of the Olympic trials qualifying standard. She also placed fourth in the long jump.
JOHN MATTHEWS (Football, USD) – The senior wide receiver was named a first-team All-American on the Football Championship Subdivision team. The NFL prospect led the nation's FCS schools in five categories and set USD career records for touchdown catches and receiving yards.
BRIAN MATUSZ (Baseball, USD) -- Matusz, a junior, was named the West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year as he led the Toreros to the WCC title and a trip to the NCAA tournament, where he picked up a win in the regional opener. He also was named a first-team All-American and was the third pick of the draft overall by the Baltimore Orioles.
CHRISTINA ROSS (Softball, SDSU) -- Ross, a senior, was named the Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Year for the second time in the last three years. She led the Aztecs to the NCAA tournament and national rankings. She was named a second-team All-American.
GREG SPRINK (Basketball, Navy/El Camino High alum) -- The 6-foot-5 senior guard/forward earned honorable mention All-America while finishing his career third on Navy's all-time scoring list. He was the first Navy player to score 20 points in seven straight games since David Robinson. He led the Midshipmen in scoring at 21.2 and averaged 6.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
STEPHEN STRASBURG (Baseball, Olympics/SDSU/West Hills High alum) Strasburg helped the USA Baseball team to a an Olympic bronze medal as only collegian named to the Olympic team. During the college season as a sophomore, he was named the Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the year and a first-team All-American.
CANDICE WIGGINS (Basketball, Stanford/La Jolla Country Day alum) --Wiggins finished her college career by earning the Wade Trophy as women's basketball's national college player of the year. She earned All-American honors for the fourth straight year and was named Pac-10 Player of the Year for the third time. She finished her career as the Pac-10's career scoring leader. After the college season, she was the third pick of the WNBA draft by the Minnesota Lynx.
