SAN DIMAS/LA VERNE – When San Dimas High School students pass the gym on their way to class, they are greeted by a wall of fame highlighting some of the greatest athletes to ever wear a Saints uniform. Bookended by sibling stars Jocilyn and Jeremy Veal, who anchored the great San Dimas girls and boys basketball teams of the 1990s, the images seek to inspire and instill school pride.

At the same time, the school has brought back its popular “Athletes of the Week” program and has recently completed the first draft of the San Dimas High Record Book, chronicling more than 50 years of the Saints’ storied athletic history, which includes 11 CIF championships across seven sports, a wealth of league titles, and the names of more than 250 All-CIF athletes.

The renewed focus on SDHS athletics has been led by principal Omar Mayen and school history and culture secretary Daniel Hollingquest.

“San Dimas High feels an immense amount of pride for our sports teams and if school spirit was a competition, we would win a championship for that too,” Mayen said. “We felt it was time to honor our past athletic stars, and provide inspiration to our current scholar-athletes. Daniel Hollingquest has done an amazing job putting all the pieces together. I am grateful for his contributions.”

Hollingquest – a Class of 1997 San Dimas High alumnus – is a second-generation Saints athlete, one of 19 extended family members who have suited up for San Dimas over the years, including his father Dimitri Hollingquest, who played on the 1974 Saints football team helmed by San Dimas’ first coach, Bob Biaz.

“San Dimas has such a rich history, and we felt it was time to start some new traditions,” Hollingquest said. “Having full-size shots of our best athletes allows our students to get a glimpse of past sports heroes, while seeing what is possible for them to achieve, not just in sports but also in academics and beyond. It’s already had a big impact on our athletes who use the gym, who find the photos very inspiring.”

For the San Dimas gym wall of fame, Hollingquest selected a mix of students who have made impacts in their sports for the school both regionally and nationally, including Ally Lemos, a former national collegiate women’s soccer champion for UCLA who currently plays professionally for the Orlando Pride in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), and Peter Lambert, who currently plays baseball for the Colorado Rockies.

The wall also honors Katherine Salcido, the 2010 girls 100m hurdles CIF champion; Ryan Kohler, a member of San Dimas’ 2009 CIF champion football team; Angel Garcia, a four-time CIF wrestling champion; Robyn Piotrowski, who was named All-CIF seven times in soccer and softball; Jocilyn Veal, the Saints all-time girls basketball leader in points and rebounds; and Jeremy Veal, the Saints all-time boys basketball leader in points and steals.

For the San Dimas High record book, Hollingquest spent countless hours researching old newspapers to find news blurbs, box scores, photos, and sports recaps to fill in the gaps of the San Dimas High story, resulting in a comprehensive record book that covers every year of football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, and track & field, with individual and team records, all-time leaders, action photos and a list of every Saint athlete who has been named All-CIF.

“The research for the record book is exhaustive and ongoing,” Hollingquest said. “It’s a lot of effort to put it together but I have found some amazing things. I discovered that my father, Dimitri, is tied for the record for most interceptions in one game when he made two in a game in 1974. He never even told me about that. It’s a lot of fun when you can find a place for your family members in the record book.”

PHOTOS:

BUSD_SDHSATHLETES1: San Dimas High School has created a Wall of Fame to highlight some of the greatest athletes to ever wear the Saints uniform, images that inspire school pride and serve to motivate the school’s current scholar-athletes. San Dimas school history and culture secretary Daniel Hollinquest, a Class of 1997 San Dimas alumnus, has also completed a first edition of the San Dimas High Record Book, which has compiled records, photos, and highlights of more than 50 years of Saint athletic history.

BUSD_SDHSATHLETES2: The jerseys of top San Dimas High School scholar-athletes hang in the lobby of the school’s gym – part of a new program highlighting the storied history of Saints athletics, which includes a Wall of Fame in front of the gym, a meticulously researched San Dimas High record book, and a return to the school’s popular “Athlete of the Week” recognition.