SAUSD to Add Five Inductees to its Wall of Fame on Friday
The Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) will celebrate five individuals this week as they are inducted into the SAUSD Wall of Fame, located at the Santa Ana Public Schools Sports Complex.
The 2017 SAUSD Wall of Fame Inductees are Reece “Pinky” Greene, Myron White, Don Shuler, Imelda Nava and Erasmo Ramirez.
The event takes place at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, September 1, 2017 at the Santa Ana Public Schools Sports Complex, 1801 S. Greenville St. in Santa Ana.
All honorees were selected because of the significant contributions that they made in the area of sports in the District. In addition, to be considered for induction into the Wall of Fame, nominees must exemplify the highest standards of sportsmanship, ethical conduct, and moral character.
Here is more information on the 2017 honorees.
Reece “Pinky” Greene
Santa Ana High School
1933-1960
Head Coach: Track & Field
Reece “Pinky” Greene’s coaching career began at Sioux City, Iowa and was to last for 42 years and bring more championships than he could count -- in football, basketball, track, as well as in baseball -- with most of them at Santa Ana High School.
Greene was involved in 41 state and national tournament games as player and coach, winning 35 of them.
When Greene began his long career at Santa Ana High School in 1933-34, California did not have a State basketball championship to bid for. Greene did well enough in the biggest meet that was available. Twice Santa Ana was runner-up in the Southern Counties tournament. In his third try, his team won it.
Greene quit coaching basketball while he was at the top to concentrate on track, although he kept coaching sophomore football and baseball for a few more years .
In 24 years as head track coach, Greene won the league championship 14 times. His teams captured the Southern California title twice, in 1953 and 1954, in competition against schools from Los Angeles, San Diego and other large cities. In 1958, Greene coached the distance medley relay team that broke the national record.
Myron White
Santa Ana Valley High School
Class of 1975
Athlete: Football
Don Shuler
Santa Ana High School
Class of 1973
Athlete: Wrestling
Shuler wrestled at Santa Ana High School where he placed second in the CIF Championships.
Shuler attended Santa Ana College (SAC) where, his freshman year, he was the Eastern Conference Champion, the Southern California Champion, finished as the State Runner-up, and was a member of the California All-American Team.
As a sophomore at SAC, he was ranked the number one wrestler in California and went on to win his second-straight Eastern Conference Championship, his second-straight Southern California Championship, and claimed his first State Championship.
Following his outstanding sophomore campaign, Shuler was selected to the California All-America Team for the second straight season. He was also selected by the California Coaches Association as the Outstanding California Wrestler. His record at Santa Ana College was 83-6.
Shuler then transferred to Arizona State University where he compiled a record of 62-9-1 and was a two-time Western Athletic Conference Champion. He qualified for the NCAA Championships twice and placed 4th in the NCAA Championship in 1978. In 1979 he won the National U.S. Wrestling Federation Championship.
After college, he competed on several international teams – highlighted by his second place finish at the Spartakade Games in Russia in 1979. Between 1980 and 1984 he competed in the National freestyle Championships, placing in the top 10 six times before he won the Championship in 1984. The championship qualified him for the Olympic team trials where he was selected the first alternate at 180.5 lbs. for the 1984 Olympic Team.
Shuler went on to coach the Athletes In Action team for the Campus Crusade for Christ. He later became head wrestling coach at Liberty University in Virginia where his dual meet record was 189-110-1. He also coached at Brookville High School where he coached 8 state champions. Don was named the Virginia High School Coach of the Year in 2012.
He was inducted into California Chapter: National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2013, and was inducted into the Santa Ana College Hall of Fame in 2009.
Imelda Nava
Segerstrom High School
2005-2017
Coach: Cross Country/Soccer/Track & Field
Imelda Nava was the second of four Nava siblings to attend Santa Ana High School, and like her siblings she proved to be an outstanding runner.
During her four-year career at Santa Ana High School (SAHS), Imelda earned All Century League honors in Cross Country and was a two-time Track and Field CIF qualifier in the 3200 meters.
Following her graduation, Imelda continued her running career at Santa Ana College and Cal State Fullerton.
In 1995, she returned to SAHS as the Girls’ Cross Country and Girls’ Track Assistant Coach, and in 2005 she joined the inaugural coaching staff in the same capacity at Segerstrom High School.
Between 1995 and this past fall, 2016, Imelda’s Girls’ Cross Country teams have won 21 Golden West League championships. The only year she didn’t win a championship was 2005, and that’s because Segerstrom did not field varsity teams in their inaugural year.
Her Golden West League Cross Country dual meet record is 105-0. Imelda’s teams have also won every Santa Ana City XC Championship since it’s inception. And for good measure, after taking over as our Lady Jaguar head soccer coach her teams have won 5 Golden West League Championships and made 6 CIF appearances.
For her accomplishments, this past spring Imelda was inducted into the Segerstrom Athletics Wall of Fame.
Erasmo Ramírez
Saddleback High School
Class of 1994
Athlete: Baseball
Erasmo Ramírez (born April 29, 1976) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, and Florida Marlins.
The San Francisco Giants drafted Ramirez, who is of Mexican American descent, in the 11th round (338th overall pick) in the 1998 Major League Baseball draft.[1] He spent 3½ seasons with the Giants organization before being traded with Todd Ozias and Chris Magruder for Andrés Galarraga on July 24, 2001.
Ramirez made his major league debut with the Texas Rangers in 2003. That season, he compiled a 3-1 record with 3.86 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 49 innings pitched and allowed just 9 walks. He would play part of the 2004 and 2005 seasons with the Rangers big league club.
In 2006, after the Rangers had signed more relievers, they optioned Ramirez to the Oklahoma Redhawks, their Pacific Coast LeagueTriple-A affiliate. He would spend the whole 2006 season with the Redhawks and became a free agent after the season.
On November 20, 2006, the Oakland Athletics signed Ramirez to a minor league contract. He began the 2007 season with their Triple-A affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats, and was promoted to the big league club on May 25.
He played three games for the Athletics including an 18-day stretch in which he did not play at all. The Athletics then designated Ramirez for assignment on June 16, 2007, and Ramirez became a free agent afterwards. The Florida Marlins then signed him on June 20, and assigned him to Triple-A Albuquerque of the Pacific Coast League.
On July 2, 2007, Ramirez had his contract purchased by the Marlins and returned to the major leagues. He played just four games for the Marlins and was designated for assignment on July 13, 2007, and was outrighted to Triple-A five days later on July 18. Ramirez signed a minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers in January 2008. He became a free agent after the season and signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox.
Ramirez has excellent control of his pitches and does not walk a lot of batters. He walked just 1.74 batters per 9 innings in 114 major league innings.