Seven to be inducted into CLU Athletic Hall of Fame

A former football coach and six standouts in baseball, basketball, track and field, football and soccer have been selected for induction into the California Lutheran University Alumni Association Athletic Hall of Fame.

The inductees will be honored for their outstanding contributions to intercollegiate athletics during the 5th Annual Induction Ceremony at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, in CLU’s Gilbert Arena. The Hall of Fame is located in the main concourse of the new Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center. The event coincides with Homecoming and Family Weekend.

Inductees:

Steve Gross (Santa Paula) – Basketball, Class of 1965

Gross came to California Lutheran College in its inaugural year and averaged 21.4 points per game during his freshman year. He played all four seasons, maintaining an average of 15.1 points per game in his career. Gross scored a career high 33 points in his final collegiate game in 1965. He was voted Most Valuable Player for three years along with being named the Team Captain. Cal Lutheran did not have a gym for its first two years and Gross was one of the athletes who helped build the original gym and lay the floor. He also ran cross country his freshman year. He went on to teach and coach in Briggs School District in Santa Paula.

Michael Hagen (Duluth, Ga.) – Football, Class of 1980

Developing a love for football as he tagged along while his father maintained Cal Lutheran’s athletic facilities when the campus hosted the Dallas Cowboys’ training camps, Hagen ended up making a name for himself at the university as a three-year starter at wide receiver. He was Division II All-American as a junior and senior, and set single season and career receiving records for the Kingsmen. He moved on to become a talent scout in the National Football League, where he has evaluated personnel for the Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Washington Redskins and Atlanta Falcons. He has been with teams playing in the Super Bowl seven times. A member of the Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame, Hagen is currently the Southeast scout for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Kimberly Holeman (Thousand Oaks) – Soccer, Class of 1998

Holeman racked up many honors in her four years playing for CLU’s soccer team: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship team member for four years; named to the All-SCIAC First Team and Second Team for two years each; and National Soccer Coaches Association of America Third Team All-American and First Team All-West Region in her senior year. A two-year captain for the Regals, she helped the team make the National Collegiate Athletic Association postseason three times. Holeman’s teammates named her Most Valuable Player in her senior year. She went on to play for the Southern California State team and a nationally ranked women’s squad as well as coach youth, high school and CLU soccer.

Dr. James G. Kallas (Agua Dulce) – Football Assistant Coach/Chaplain, 1961-78

A former player for the Chicago Bears, Kallas spent 17 years as the backfield coach and chaplain for the Kingsmen football team. The first professor to arrive on the Cal Lutheran campus and the first chair of the Religion Department, Kallas played a key role in the formation of the athletic programs and helped recruit the first football coach, Robert “Bob” Shoup. He left to take over a troubled Lutheran college in

Nebraska and the Queen of Denmark knighted him for the success he had there. He is a scholar, theologian, and author.

Aluede Okokhere (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) – Soccer, Class of 1997

A native of Nigeria, Okokhere was a soccer standout during his years at CLU. He was SCIAC Player of the Year in 1995 and 1996 and a member of two SCIAC Championship teams. He made Third Team NSCAA All-American and First Team NSCAA All-West Region in his junior and senior year.

LaVannes Rose (Palmdale) – Track and Field, Class of 1977

Rose didn’t begin competing in track until his first year at Cal Lutheran as a transfer student. In his final two years he had become an outstanding sprinter, breaking five Cal Lutheran records his junior year and six more in his senior campaign. He earned All-American status in 1976 after anchoring CLU’s 400-meter relay team at the NCAA Division 3 National Track & Field Championships. The following year at the NCAA championships, Rose was named All American in 100- and 200-meter sprints and the 400-meter relay.

Steve Trumbauer (Placerville) - Football/Baseball, Class of 1977

Trumbauer started for the varsity football and baseball teams all four years he attended Cal Lutheran. He was selected for National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics All-District honors three times each for baseball and football. As a pitcher, he was named All American in 1976. As a tight end, he made the All Lutheran First Team in 1977. Trumbauer was named Most Valuable Lineman and the baseball team’s Most Valuable Player. After graduating, he spent two years with the California Angels.

Gary Trumbauer, Steve Trumbauer’s brother and a 1979 graduate who also excelled on the football field, will serve as emcee at the banquet.

Tickets are $125. The university is located at 60 W. Olsen Road in Thousand Oaks. For more information about the event or the inductees, please call (805) 493-3170 or visit www.callutheran.edu/alumni/hof/.