Elways top list of Hall inductees

San Jose Sports Hall of Fame adds five new members at ceremony

By Dick Sparrer

Most of the attention may have focused on Super Bowl quarterback John Elway and his father, successful football coach Jack Elway.

But the Elways were just two of the five outstanding sports heroes inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame at ceremonies held last Thursday at the San Jose Arena.

Elway, a certain Hall of Famer after his brilliant career with the Denver Broncos, and his father, a winning football coach at both Stanford and San Jose State University, were inducted together. John Elway was a Stanford football and baseball star before heading to the Broncos and leading them to Super Bowl glory.

Also included were Donald Bowden of Saratoga, Fremont High School graduate Francie Larrieu Smith and the late Charles "Chuck" Taylor. Both Bowden and Larrieu Smith were inducted for their performances in track and field, and Taylor was inducted in memoriam for his outstanding accomplishments in football.

Also honored at the ceremony were High School Athletes of the Year, Rometra Craig (Mitty) and Chase Lyman (St. Francis); Amateur Athletes of the Year, Mandy Clemens (Santa Clara University soccer) and Troy Walters (Stanford University football); and Special Olympian of the Year, Damion Harris of San Jose.

In addition, the Sam Piraro and the San Jose State University baseball team received an "Exceptional Achievement" award for their accomplishments during the 2000 season when they reached the College World Series.

Bowden, a San Jose businessman and resident of Saratoga, was the first American to run a sub 4-minute mile.

Bowden was a two-time state champion in the half-mile at Lincoln High School in 1953 and '54. He set a national prep record of 1:52.3 in '54.

He set a national record in the mile in 1955 at UC-Berkeley, running 4:11.7, and he ran 3:58.7 at the Pacific Association AAU Championships in 1957, breaking the 4-minute mile barrier.

Illness and injury hampered his Olympic career. He made the 1956 team, but suffered a bout of mononucleosis. An Achilles' tendon injury kept him from making the 1960 team.

Francie Larrieu Smith got her start as a youngster running for the San Jose Cindergals.

During her outstanding track career, she won 21 national titles, set 36 American records and set 12 world records. She has been nationally ranked in every running event from the 800-meters to the marathon, and competed on Olympic teams in 1972, '76, '80, '88 and '92. She carried the United States flag during opening ceremonies in 1992.

Taylor, a graduate San Jose High, went on to an illustrious career at Stanford University. He became the first person ever to play, coach and serve as athletic director of a Rose Bowl team.

Taylor was an All-American guard for Stanford's immortal "Wow Boys," who defeated Nebraska in the 1941 Rose Bowl.

Taylor took over the head coaching job at Stanford in 1951, and in his first season led the team to nine straight wins and a berth in the 1952 Rose Bowl. For his efforts, he was named national 'Coach of the Year.'

He became Stanford's athletic director in 1963, and during his nine-year tenure, Stanford won back-to-back Rose Bowls in 1971 and 1972.

In 1984, Taylor was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He died in 1994 at the age of 74.

Among the other award winners at the induction ceremonies was Damion Harris, a 22-year-old from San Jose, who was named the 2000 Special Olympian of the Year.

Born with cerebral palsy, Harris began participating in Special Olympics in 1991. He competes in bowling, basketball, floor hockey, soccer, swimming and weightlifting.

Through his training and hard work, Harris has progressed from using a wheelchair to using crutches.

NEC Electronics Inc. presented the event, in cooperation with Arthur Andersen and San Jose Magazine. Part of the proceeds benefit Special Olympics of Santa Clara County and the San Jose High School Sports Endowment Program.

This is the sixth annual San Jose Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony. A bronze relief of each of the inductees will be permanently displayed on the concourse of San Jose Arena. Among the 26 current members of the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame are Peggy Fleming Jenkins, Pablo Morales, Jim Plunkett and Bill Walsh.

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