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Marcia Wallis to be inducted in hall of fame

By Mary Ann Cook

STUDENT HALL OF FAMER: Marcia Wallis, a Los Gatos High School graduate of 1999, will be honored by the San Jose Sports Authority Hall of Fame as High School Athlete of the Year in induction ceremonies Nov. 4.

She'll join fellow Los Gatans Millard Hampton, Olympic gold-medalist in track and field in 1976; and Pat Malley, former football coach at Santa Clara University, whose widow, Carmel, will accept the award on his behalf. Golfer Patty Sheehan, a former Los Gatan, is also among the inductees.

To say Wallis excels in whatever she undertakes is an understatement. At LGHS she racked up awards and championships in soccer and golf and ran on the championship cross country team. Besides all that, she's a 4.2 GPA student. She was on the national soccer team that represented the U.S. in the Pan American Games.

That team won the gold medal in the competition held this summer in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Not only that, but she was also leading scorer for the U.S. team and leading scorer for all the teams in the tournament. Seven goals and four assists were the numbers she racked up that rang the championship bell.

Now let's turn to golf. In golf she won the Central Coast section for women for the past three years. She played on the men's varsity teams and was captain and MVP during her junior and senior years. In track she was on the varsity team that won the league title.

This is the second year in a row for Wallis' induction into the Sports Hall of Fame. She was inducted last year as a member of the Central Valley Mercury soccer team that won the national championship, and she was the leading scorer of that event too. Wallis is on a full soccer scholarship at Stanford.

Neither of her parents, Marcia or Dan Wallis, play golf. But there must be something in the genes. Her brother Danny plays golf: He's MVP on the varsity golf team at Bellarmine. First cousin Keri Walsh of Saratoga, daughter of Tim and Margie Walsh, is on a full volleyball scholarship at Stanford. She's a senior. Does anyone else out there feel athletically challenged?

ONLY HURTS FOR A MOMENT: Paying through the teeth takes on new meaning for Monte Sereno dentist Cathy Cole Oleson. Oleson and 100 other alums donated all the proceeds from her Oct. 15 practice to the University of San Francisco's School of Dentistry educational program.

The money received by the school's Parnassus Club will help support volunteer teachers, fund a dental clinic for the homeless and purchase new equipment. Oleson is a '78 graduate of UCSF. The campaign is expected to raise $150,000 this year, double its usual, thanks to this form of extraction.

MEMORIAL RELAY: Six members of the Clash soccer club formed two relay teams to compete in the 15-mile marathon that is the Peckler Memorial Relay, a fundraiser for CASA (Community Against Substance Abuse) and which memorializes Jim, Jill and Jeff Peckler, community activists who were killed by a drunk driver.

One of the most talked-about participants of the relay was Lucas deMilo, 9. Lucas inadvertently ran the entire adult course when he couldn't find the turn-off for the shorter course. He was enthusiastically saluted by those at the finish line who realized what he had done.

Lucas is the son of Jane and David deMilo. Days later his muscles were still sore, his mother relates. Despite the course discrepancy, his relay team came in first for eighth-graders and under. Other relay members were Niki Chow, K.C. Silva and David Burkhart.

MEMORIES OF THE QUAKE: When Los Gatos History Club members were asked to recall that fateful day 10 years ago on Oct. 17, an unusual theme emerged. Many of the husbands of this venerable group were just getting home from work or tennis and were changing their clothes when the big one hit. Without fail, what emerged from the bedroom were surprised spouses who had put their pants on backwards. What's with that? Guess it's hard to tell which end is which when you're trying to stay upright on a rolling ship.

NEW OFFICERS: Saratogans Kay Fireman, president, and Nurit Jacobs, membership vice president, are new officers of Sharone Hadassah, a Zionist women's organization that supports educational, health and human services projects. Other Saratoga officers are Jane Jacobson, fundraising vice president, and Anna Silbertsin, liaison to the Central Pacific Region. Los Gatan Marlene Burak is chairman of cards and tributes. Interested in joining? Contact Jacobs at 408.257.8430.

THANK YOU FROM LIONS: The Los Gatos Lions reached their goal of $5,000 during the recent White Cane Days, thanks to the community. The money, of course, goes to the main recipient of the Lions' fundraising efforts--programs for the blind.

GEOLOGIST ALERT: Geologic events that have shaped the Bay Area from paleo times to the present is the subject of the talk by Andrei Sarna, geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. "Deep Secrets of San Francisco Bay" will be given on Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the Saratoga Library.

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