Watch the 2018 Hall of Fame Ceremony
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – St. Francis Catholic High School held its inaugural Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony and dinner on April 6 in the school gymnasium. The 2018 class included the 1993 CIF State Championship basketball team, golf coach Diane Aguer, three-sport star Karen Lysaght Perkins '81, volleyball and softball standout Jill Haas Benson '93, swimmer Katie Younglove Zylstra '98, golfer Sarah Huarte Glynn '00, and tennis star Emani Decquir '09. Dotty Brandenburger, who was the official scorekeeper for the softball program for 35 years, completed the class in the contributor category.
"It was an amazing night," said inductee Katie Zylstra. 'I had not met a lot of the athletes so it was great to meet them and hear their stories. It brought back a lot of great memories being back on campus and I hope it inspired my daughters who were with me to come to school here."
The event featured Good Day Sacramento's and Alumna Julissa Ortiz '95 serving as the master of ceremonies and interviewing each of the inductees and the members of the basketball squad. The event had originally been scheduled for November but was postponed due to the smoke conditions in the area.
The 1992-93 basketball team, coached by Dave Parsh and assistant coaches Missy Anderson '87 and Laurie Alamedia Menchaca '87, won the Metro League title, dropping only one game to El Camino in league play, and finished with a 27-5 overall record. They won the Sac-Joaquin section title, the school's third in a row among four straight years from 1991-94. After winning the NorCal Division III title, the Troubadours defeated Costa Mesa 50-43 in the state title game at the Oakland Coliseum to capture the school's first team state title.
Golf coach Diane Aguer led the Troubadours to a stretch six Sac-Joaquin Section titles from 1997-2001 (Spring 1997, Spring 1998, Spring 1999, Fall 1999, Fall 2000, Fall 2001) and five CIF Northern California Regional team titles (Spring 1998, Spring 1999, Fall 1999, Fall 2000, Fall 2001). She was named the 2000 Sacramento Bee Coach of the Year and coached 2000 Sac-Joaquin Section champion Kim Welch '01 and two CIF Northern California Regional champions (Sarah Huarte, 1999; Welch, 2000).
Perkins was a three-sport standout for the Troubadours. She was the first and still only individual state champion in school history. She won the 1980 high jump individual state championship with a then state record jump of 6'0" and returned to the state meet in 1981. Perkins was a two-time section champion in the high jump (1980-81) and was selected twice to the Sacramento Bee All-City team in basketball (1980-81). She currently has a daughter at the school (Gabriella '20) and is the Booster Club President.
Benson was a Sacramento Bee All-City choice in two sports in volleyball (1991-92) and softball (1991-93) for the Troubadours. She went on to a standout career at California State University, Sacramento, becoming the school's first Division I All-American in 1995 after finishing second in the nation with 6.05 kills per set to go along with 4.69 digs per set and a .292 hitting percentage, while she also was a two-time Second Team All-Big West (1997-98) in softball. She was selected for the Sacramento State Hall of Fame in 2004.
Zylstra was a winner of five individual CIF Sac-Joaquin Section events (500 free, 1996-98; 100 fly 1995, 1998) and helped lead the Troubies to three CIF Sac-Joaquin Section titles (1995, 1997, 1998). She was a three-time Sacramento Bee All-City selection and earned All-America honors in the 100 butterfly and 500 freestyle every year. She won the 200 fly at the 1995 Junior Nationals and competed at both the 1996 and 2000 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Katie received a full-ride scholarship to swim at University of California, Los Angeles (1999-02), earning All-America honors three different seasons in the pool. She was awarded Verizon Academic All-America third team honors as a junior and first team honors as a senior. She graduated with a 3.84 GPA and received an NCAA postgraduate scholarship.
Glynn was a three-time Sacramento Bee All-Metro selection and Bee Player of the Year. She won the 1999 Northern California Regional tournament and was part of four Sac-Joaquin Section and CIF Northern California regional team titles. In the summer before her senior year (1999), she won five tournaments throughout the state, including the California State Junior Tournament in Monterey, the California State Fair Junior Championship, and the NCGA Match Play Championship. Glynn went on to be a two-time All-American at University of California, Berkeley and three-time All-Pac-10 first-team selection for the Golden Bears. She capped off her collegiate career by winning the 2004 NCAA Division I Women's individual title and the 2004 Honda Award. A member of the Cal Hall of Fame, she also played in two U.S. Women's Open Championships, spent two years (2005-06) on the Futures Tour before earning conditional status on the LPGA Tour in 2007. She also coached at University of California, Davis and University of San Francisco.
Decquir led her St. Francis teams to four Delta League Championships and four Sac-Joaquin Section titles as well as a third-place finish at state as a senior. She was a two-time Sacramento Bee Player of the Year, was named team MVP twice and served as the team captain as a senior. She also won three individual section titles and was ranked in the Top 200 nationally by USTA Tennis as a senior and was in the top 20 in northern California by the same organization. She went on to play collegiately at the United States Naval Academy where she was named to the first-team All-Patriot League squad in each of her four seasons and finished her career as the Patriot League's Player of the Year as a senior in 2013. She was named to the Patriot League Women's Tennis 25th Anniversary Team.
Contributor Dotty Brandenburger has been the St. Francis varsity softball scorekeeper for the last 35 years. Starting with her first daughter when she played as a freshman in the 1983-84 season, and continuing every season since, Dotty has been on the book. She is a dedicated, tireless supporter of the program, its players and coaches, cheering from the sideline or booth. Coaches and umpires across the region know Dotty as the constant fixture in the scorekeepers' booth at SF, and nothing kept her from being at the games.
2018 Hall of Fame Class (Click the link to read their Hall of Fame Features)
INDIVIDUALS
Emani Decquir, Tennis, 2009
Jill Haas Benson, Softball and volleyball, 1993
Sarah Huarte Glynn, Golf, 2000
Karen Lysaght Perkins, Track and Field, Basketball, Volleyball, 1981
Katie Younglove Zylstra, Swimming, 1998
TEAM
Head Coach: Dave Parsh
Assistant Coaches: Missy Anderson, Laurie Menchaca
Players: Melinda (Mindy) Bagatelos, Kate Bellotti, Kellie Campbell, Christina Delgadillo, Lisa Devincenzi, Colleen Gately, Camille Gutierrez, Sojo Judson, Jody Leinart, Kim Martinez, Selena Murphy, Andee Whalen.
COACHES
Diane Aguer, golf coach, 1997-2002
CONTRIBUTOR
Dotty Brandenburger, Scorekeeper
