In Northern California high school football circles, Ron Calcagno is respected and regarded as one of the greatest coaches of his time. Though most recognized for his coaching record, Ron was also an accomplished and honored high school and college athlete.

Ron attended Saint Ignatius High School (’60) in San Francisco and was a standout three-sport athlete. In football, he was named to the High School All-America and All-Northern California teams, and played in the North-South Shrine Game. He was the San Francisco Basketball Player of the Year, named to the Tournament of Champions All-Tournament Team and was an All- Northern California selection. He was also an All-League baseball player and for his all around ability was named the San Francisco All-Sports Athlete of the Year.

He went on to Santa Clara University (’64) where he was a four year starter and recordsetting quarterback. Ron passed for a then school record of 4,309 career yards and was named as a Little-All-America selection quarterback in 1963. He also played baseball for three years and was the Bronco’s starting catcher on the only SCU team to go to the College World Series. Upon graduation, Ron signed with the Oakland Raiders, and played in the Canadian Football and Continental Football leagues.

In 1972, Ron was named head football coach at Saint Francis High School and served in that capacity for 24 years compiling a record of 233-59-3. His Lancer teams made 21 Central Coast Section playoff appearances including 19 in a row, played in 16 championship games and captured 11 Central Coast Section Championships. He has a CCS playoff record of 53-10 and twice had playoff win streaks of 15 games in a row. His teams also captured 12 West Catholic Athletic League titles and finished second 10 times. Ron’s teams always displayed tremendous effort, selfless teamwork, and exemplary sportsmanship. Saint Francis High School dedicated its’ stadium as Ron Calcagno Stadium, an appropriate legacy for someone who has been a role model for so many student-athletes and colleagues.

Ron is also an inductee of the Saint Francis High School, Santa Clara University and San Francisco Prep Halls of Fame.

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Sheryl Johnson spent 18 seasons (1984- 2002) at the helm of Stanford’s field hockey and is widely acknowledged as the principal architect of this success story. Johnson, a threetime member of the U.S. Olympic Field Hockey Team and member of the U.S. National Team for 14 years (1978-91), is a member of the only U.S. team in history to win an Olympic Medal in Field Hockey, competing and winning the bronze medal in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Johnson led Stanford to nine NorPac Conference Championships and seven appearances in the NCAA playoffs. An eight-time recipient of the NorPac Coach of the Year Award, she was selected to coach in the 2002 NFHCA All-Star Game after her final season in 2002. Coach Johnson served on the Board of Directors of the United States Field Hockey Association (USFHA) and was a member of the High Performance Committee for elite teams. She served on the NCAA Field Hockey Championship Committee for six years.

Johnson brought to Stanford a wealth of experience, leadership and a rich history to her coaching position. During her 14 years of National Team competition, she served in a leadership position as co-captain for six years. She participated in seven Olympic Festivals and was voted USA Field Hockey Athlete of the Year on three different occasions by her U.S. teammates. Johnson played on the 1987 Pan American Games team for the U.S., earning a silver medal. Overall, she has traveled to more than 20 countries to represent the U.S. in international competitions and held a longstanding record as the “most capped” player in history, tallying 137 sanctioned international matches (and close to three times that many in international scrimmages). This feat was noted in the Guinness Book of World Records for many years.

Johnson retired from the National Team in 1991 and was inducted into the United States Field Hockey Association Hall of Fame in May of 1994. Additional Hall of Fame inductions along the way included the Monta Vista High School Hall of Fame in Cupertino in 1983 and the University of California Berkeley Athletics Hall of Fame in 1984, (her undergraduate alma mater where she lettered in field hockey, basketball, and softball). In 1990, she was the first woman to be inducted into the De Anza Junior College Hall of Fame. She was also inducted into the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2004. Johnson was one of only a handful of former Cal athletes honored by the C-society in the spring of 2001 when she was recognized as the only woman in Cal’s history to letter in three sports.

Johnson attended De Anza College before transferring to the University of California at Berkeley, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in 1980. She received her Master’s degree in education and a teaching credential from Stanford University in 1981.

Today Sheryl Johnson lives with her family in Reno, NV where she is the Athletic Director at Traner Middle School and enjoys all the activities the greater Lake Tahoe area has to offer.

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Ronnie Lott has been a champion and a leader his entire life. Today, nearly 15 years after his retirement from professional football, he continues to be revered by coaches and players at all levels for his superb dedication, constant all-out effort, incredible tackling ability, and his genuine heart and soul. He is also highly respected within the community for his long history of off-the-field philanthropic involvement.

From his early playing days at Eisenhower High School in Rialto, California, there was little doubt that Ronnie would become a football star. As a defensive back, he played with relentless passion and tenacity, and had a “sixth sense” for understanding how a play was developing and finding the football. He was notorious for breaking up passes and making precision tackles in the open field.

After graduating from Eisenhower in 1977, Ronnie went on to the University of Southern California where he helped his team share the 1978 national championship, and the 1979 and 1980 Pac-10 titles and Rose Bowl appearances. He was a unanimous All-American and team captain in 1980 and graduated in 1981 with a degree in public administration.

Shortly thereafter, he became the first-round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers. As a 6-foot-1, 203 pound rookie, Lott amazed coaches and fans alike by starting all 16 games, helping the 49ers win the Super Bowl and earning All-Pro and runner up Rookie of the Year honors (behind Lawrence Taylor.)

Ronnie Lott’s legendary career included four Super Bowl titles and 10 Pro-Bowl appearances. He is one of only five 49ers to play on all of the team’s 1980’s Super Bowl wins. (The others are QB Joe Montana, LB Keena Turner, CB Eric Wright, and WR Mike Wilson.) He retired from professional football in 1994 after having played 10 seasons with the 49ers, plus additional years with the Oakland Raiders and New York Jets. In 1994, he was selected as the Safety for the NFL’s 75th Anniversary Team. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000 and will forever be known as one of the greatest defensive backs of all time.

Throughout his football career, Ronnie Lott had a reputation for always being an unselfish team player. He was a clubhouse leader, motivating and inspiring his teammates to give maximum effort, and always taking the time to advise younger players and help them succeed. Ronnie continues these traits after retirement where he has given back to his community through the non-profit organization, All Stars Helping Kids, which supports disadvantaged youth in the Bay Area and throughout the nation. His passion for the South Bay community has been unwavering as exemplified by his motto, “Sports are never forever, but serving others is.”

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Bob Murphy was a Stanford guy from the very beginning. Born at Stanford Hospital in 1931, he grew up in Burlingame where his grandfather was the first City clerk and their old family home was the seventh house built.

Showing early signs of the young rebel he would soon be, Bob left Burlingame every day to attend and ultimately graduate from San Mateo High School. On his way he would pass by Burlingame High School, and wouldn’t you know it, by his senior year it was the San Mateo Bearcats beating the Burlingame Panthers for the Baseball Championship of the Peninsula Athletic League.

Bob went on to Stanford University where he graduated in four years. In his senior season, he helped pitch Stanford to its first ever appearance in the College World Series.

He signed a professional baseball contract with the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League and beat the Portland Beavers 3-2 on the day he signed his first contract. He enjoyed three years in professional baseball, two of them on
championship teams.

As a young developer, Bob, with the help of Stanford swim coach Tom Haynie, brought the National AAU Swimming and Diving Championship to Fremont Hills Country Club in Los Altos Hills. He then went on to become a traveling consultant for the development and operation of Almaden, Palo Alto Hills, Sharon Heights Country Club, Butte Creek Country Club in Chico, and a golf and recreational development by Standard Oil in Orange County.

In 1962 when Chuck Taylor became Athletic Director at Stanford, he brought Bob back to “The Farm” as Manager of Athletic Relations. In the season of 1964 while at Notre Dame during a practice session, Don Klein asked Bob if he might like to sit in with him for the game broadcast the next day. Don was Stanford’s very popular football announcer and had been the broadcaster for the San Francisco Seals when Bob played for Oakland. Bob sat in that day and would continue a career in front of a microphone for the next 43 years, longer than anyone else in PAC-10 history.

Murphy took over the role of Sports Information Director at Stanford in 1965 and remained in that position until 1974 when he left to help save the East/West Shrine Game. He was successful in moving the game to Stanford, where it remained for 25 years.

Bob went on to join Jack Nicklaus as the director of the first Memorial Tournament Golf tournament in Columbus, Ohio. Bob always laughs about that, saying “with Jack Nicklaus around, no one else is Director of anything close to it.”

The next year, after his friend Roger Maltbie won the inaugural Memorial Tournament, Bob came back to Roger’s alma mater, San Jose State, as Athletic Director. He put the program on a firm footing with Jack Elway heading up the football program, Bill Berry in basketball, and plans underway for new facilities for basketball, swimming, and more.

Golf swung came back into Bob’s life once again when he was asked to be the Championship Director of the 1987 U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. The sold out event featured USC’s Scott Simpson winning the Championship when Tom Watson’s putt on #18 came up just a bit short.

Following the U.S. Open, Bob joined famed golf course architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. in the planning, design, and construction of golf courses around the world. Along the way, he was invited to play in the famed Bing Crosby National Pro Am at Pebble Beach in 1979, and he would tee it up in that historic event for 20 years.

Now Bob and wife Gail, make their home near the beach in Santa Cruz. Bob Murphy, true to his original instincts, will often travel over to Stanford or down to Corral de Tierra in Salinas to chase his golf ball around. He is now thankful that he doesn’t have to go as far to find it anymore.

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