Four Warriors on Hall of Champions' all-time spring sports greats lists

Four former Fallbrook High School athletes were on the spring list of all-time San Diego County high school greats selected by the San Diego Hall of Champions.

The list of the top 50 baseball players in the history of the California Interscholastic Federation’s San Diego Section included 2001 Fallbrook High School graduates Matt Chico and Donny Lucy; the top 50 softball players included 1988 Fallbrook graduate Patti Pearson; and 1990 Fallbrook graduate Brent Noon was one of the top 50 boys track and field athletes. The Hall of Champions panel selected 50 baseball players, 50 softball players, 50 boys track and field athletes, 50 girls track and field athletes, and 50 spring “Olympic sports” athletes.

The Hall of Champions also had fall and winter sports lists, and any athlete named to a previous season’s list was not eligible for inclusion on a spring list. That eliminated 1993 Fallbrook High School graduate Milena Glusac, who was selected as one of the top 50 fall Olympic Sports athletes due to her four CIF San Diego Section cross-country championship along with the 1992 state cross-country championship, from consideration. Glusac won four 1,600-meter run and four 3,200-meter race section championships during the track and field season along with two state 3,200-meter championships and one state 1,600-meter championship.

In response to the CIF San Diego Section’s selection of the top 50 athletes of all time from the section’s first 50 seasons, a list which included Noon and Glusac, the Hall of Champions opted for an expanded list of all-time greats to be selected in three phases.

The Hall of Champions announced its top 50 football players and top 50 fall Olympic sports athletes in November; the fall Olympic sports selections included Glusac and former Fallbrook volleyball player Carli Lloyd. The top 50 boys and girls basketball players and top 50 winter Olympic sports athletes were announced in March and included former Fallbrook water polo star Holly Hartzell.

Chico and Lucy shared Avocado League co-player of the year honors in 2001; Chico was also the league’s pitcher of the year and was named to the league’s first team as a pitcher and outfielder while Lucy was the first-team catcher. The two were also both all-CIF and all-California first-team players in 2001, and Chico was the CIF San Diego Section player of the year.

Chico posted a 10-1 pitching record as a senior, with his only loss occurring in the CIF quarterfinal against Poway, and led the San Diego Section with a 0.84 earned run average while ranking fourth in the section with 116 strikeouts. At the plate Chico had six homers and 31 runs batted in during 2001. In Lucy’s senior season he led the team with 10 home runs and batted .355 with 22 runs batted in, 26 runs scored, and 16 stolen bases.

Chico and Lucy also made their Major League Baseball debuts during the same year; Chico began the 2007 season on the Washington Nationals roster and became the first Fallbrook High School graduate to play in the majors while Lucy was called up by the Chicago White Sox in September 2007. (Fallbrook High School graduate Troy Cate also made his major league debut in 2007.)

The former baseball players who received votes but were not named as top 50 include Mike Leake, who graduated from Fallbrook High School in 2006.

Pearson spent four years on Fallbrook’s varsity softball team and earned first-team all-league honors all four years along with two first-team all-CIF selections. Pearson’s 118 hits during her four years set a CIF San Diego Section record, as did her 18 career triples and her eight triples in 1988.

Pearson’s 74 career runs batted in ranked second in San Diego Section history when she graduated (Kristie Skoglund of Madison drove in 99 runs). On April 15, 1988, Pearson became the ninth player in section history to drive in at least seven runs in a game when she had seven RBI against Poway. The 1988 team coached by Bill Regal produced the Warriors’ only CIF softball championship.

Pearson played four seasons at Cal State University Northridge and returned to Fallbrook after her college graduation. She has taught in the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District for the past 15 years. Pearson, who is now Patti Drew, has been the co-coach of Fallbrook High School’s varsity softball team for the past two years.

Noon won four CIF San Diego Section shot put championships, three section discus championships, and two state shot put titles. He still holds the CIF San Diego Section shot put records both for the CIF meet at 74 feet 10 1/2 inches and for any section meet with a throw of 76 feet 2 inches, and his 1990 discus throw of 189’9” was the section meet record until bettered nine years later.

Noon initially set CIF meet records in both events in 1989, throwing the shot put 66’7” and the discus 185’4”, and those first-place throws helped Fallbrook beat Orange Glen by a single point for the Warriors’ only boys track and field CIF championship. Noon subsequently threw for the University of Georgia and currently lives in Carlsbad.

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