Arguably the Greatest Softball Player in School History, One of the Finest Distance Runners, a Father-Son Coaching Duo, and More, To Be Celebrated at Aptos High Sports Hall of Fame Event April 29
APTOS, Calif. (April 2, 2023) – The Aptos High School Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023 gets inducted on April 29. The eleven new members are highlighted by Breana Kostreba, a two-time SCCAL MVP and three-time All-State softball player, Rylan Hunt, a distance runner who won three SCCAL cross-country titles and eight SCCAL track & field titles, and Joseph and Jack Smith. Joe, with 272 victories, is the 2nd-winningest boys basketball coach in school history, trailing only the legendary Bill Warmerdam. He is also the 3rd winningest girls basketball coach in school history. His father, Jack, was his right-hand man and assistant coach at every level and every step of the way.
Breana Kostreba (Class of 2011) was a four-time 1st-team All-SCCAL softball player, a two-time SCCAL MVP, a three-time All-State selection, and an ESPN Rise 1st-team All-American. She led the state in homeruns as a senior, and is #4 all-time in CA history. She led the Mariners to three SCCAL team titles, and was selected as the Santa Cruz Sentinel Female Athlete-of-the-Year in 2011. Bree matriculated to UC Berkeley, where she earned multiple All-PAC !2 honors, and, hitting .318 with 12 homeruns as a frosh, she led the Bears to the 2012 PAC 12 Championship and into the College World Series.
Rylan Hunt (Class of 2009) was an extraordinary distance runner. In cross-country, Rylan won three individual SCCAL titles, and he led the Mariner harriers to four SCCAL team championships and two CCS team championships. In track & field, Rylan earned eight individual SCCAL titles, winning the 1600 meters an unprecedented four times and the 800 meters three times, and he led the Mariners to three team titles. He was a multiple CCS medalist, 4th in the state in the 1600 meters in 2008, and left Aptos High with top marks in four events. He was selected as the Aptos High Male Athlete-of-the-Year in 2009.
Joe and Jack Smith coached basketball at Aptos for over twenty years together, Joe as the head coach and his father, Jack, by his side. They started-off with the JV boys, then moved-on to the varsity girls for 4 years before transitioning to the varsity boys in 2003. Together they won over 350 games and 5 SCCAL team championships. They reached the CCS Finals and qualified for the Nor-Cal Playoffs in girls basketball in 2001, and reached the same heights in boys basketball in 2015. Both seasons remain two of the finest in AHS history. Jack’s mantra “All in, all out, all the time” remains a core principle of both programs. Jack sadly passed in 2014.
The Class of 2023 also features some of Aptos High’s best competitors in football, soccer, tennis, volleyball, and water-polo:
Jamie O’Mahony (1984) - Jamie is in an exclusive club. In 50-plus years of Aptos football, he is one of only two AHS football players to ever be selected to the All-SCCAL 1st-team three times! Not Trent Dilfer. Not Sam Kennedy. Not Kevin Walters. Not Carlos Torres. Only Jamie O’Mahony and Rick Downey. Jamie was a ferocious and unrelenting defensive lineman, and he helped the Mariner win the 1982 SCCAL team championship. In 1983, he won the coveted Golden Helmet Award. Jamie was also a member of the 1983 SCCAL championship boys soccer team, one of only two boys soccer championships in AHS history.
Emily Di Franco (1990) - After 50-plus years of Aptos athletics, Emily is one of only 30 student-athletes, out of over 12,000 participants, to earn four 1st-team All-SCCAL selections. She earned three 1st-team selections in soccer and one in softball. In soccer, she was a four-year starter, a tenacious defender, and she helped the Mariners win three SCCAL team championships, including an 11-0-1 record in 1990, the second best season in school history. Emily also participated in track and field, and both of her relay teams qualified for the CCS Finals in 1989.
Alissa Bailey (1990) - Alissa was our #1 singles player all four years. She was a two-time SCCAL finalist, and lost in the semi’s the other two years. She led the Mariners to the 1989 SCCAL team championship, our first in almost 10 years. In 1990, she led all amateurs at the BMW Cal Open at the Seascape Tennis Club. She matriculated to Cal Poly, SLO, where she played both singles and doubles for four years, including in three NCAA National Championships, where the Mustangs finished 2nd in the nation in 1993. Alissa achieved a remarkable overall record of 77-19 in four years at SLO. She was also a two-time 1st team All-CCAC selection.
Amy Larson (2002) - Amy is one of the top two or three pitchers in AHS history. She was a four-year starter in softball, a three-year 1st-team All-SCCAL selection, and a two-time SCCAL Pitcher-of-the-Year. In the AHS record book, she is #1 in ERA, #1 in fewest walks allowed, #2 in strikeouts, #4 in complete game shutouts, and #4 in no-hitters pitched. She also led the Mariners to four consecutive SCCAL team championships. Amy matriculated to Occidental College where she continued to pitch successfully for another four years.
Brice Dahlmeier (2005) - A dominating outside hitter, Brice led the Mariners boys volleyball team to its first SCCAL team championship and to our first appearance in the CCS Finals. In 2005, he was selected as the SCCAL MVP. In four years, Brice led the Mariners to an overall 95-33 record, a four-year span of success not yet duplicated, and to deep runs into the CCS playoffs every year. Brice matriculated into a joint degree program at UCSC and UC Berkeley, and he played volleyball successfully at both schools, including making two Top 10 Lists at UCSC.
Torrey Ornelas (2012) - Torrey is the most-decorated girls water-polo player in AHS history. She earned four 1st-team All-SCCAL selections, including Frosh-of-the-Year in 2008, Sophomore-of-the-Year in 2009, Junior-of-the-Year in 2010, and SCCAL MVP in 2011. Aptos High has only won two SCCAL team championships in girls water-polo, and Torrey was the leading scorer on both of those teams.
Dave Ensminger (assistant coach) - The recently-retired Dave Ensminger is the 2nd-longest tenured football coach in AHS history, trailing only Hall of Fame member Jamie Townsend. Dave started coaching football at Aptos High in the fall of 1985. Yes, 1985. 37 years ago. That’s over 400 football games ago, and almost 4000 practices, and yet he never missed a game or practice since he started. Dave has coached the wide receivers at the frosh, JV, and varsity levels, and for very many years he was also the official varsity football stat keeper, which required double-duty from him at games. Dave’s generous nature, his attention to detail, and his soft-spoken witticisms are treasured by legions of wide-outs.
Bill Warmerdam 1939-2022
Aptos High School Teacher and Coach Bill Warmerdam passed away May 18, 2022. A member of the Sports Hall of Fame, Warmerdam was known by decades of students, staff and the greater Aptos community as a one of a kind mentor and friend; with a twinkle in his eye to the very end. Recently, Warmerdam was able to attend the Class of 2020 Hall of Fame dinner (postponed due to COVID) and watch his son, Cris, be inducted. He visited with many AHS alumni and colleagues and friends. Bill Warmerdam will also be remembered for his PE and Driver’s Ed classes, everyone had a good “Warmer” story!
Hall of Fame Bio:
Bill Warmerdam (coach) – Warmer, as he is fondly called, is widely considered one of the greatest basketball coaches and innovators in northern California basketball history. He was the boys basketball coach at Aptos from the school’s opening in 1969 until 1992. Bill’s teams won ten league championships, including six consecutive titles. His teams reached five CCS Semi-Finals and three CCS Finals. His 1986-87 team was the Nor-Cal runner-up, and his 1985-86 team was the CCS and Nor-Cal Champion, losing in the CIF State Finals to Wilson HS and future NBA star Scott Williams 72-46. No other AHS boys basketball team has ever reached the state finals, and only three others have reached the Nor-Cal playoffs. Bill’s overall record is 393-232.
Despite not having the three-point line until 1987, his teams still hold several CCS and Nor-Cal scoring records, Playing a fast-paced offense in front of packed gymnasiums, Warmer’s teams put Aptos High School on the map. Bill also coached track and field, baseball, cross-country, girls basketball, and football. Bill retired from Aptos in 2000, but you can still see him on the road teaching driver’s training. The varsity MVP Award is the Bill Warmerdam Award, and the original gym on campus is Warmerdam Gymnasium.
Bill is married to Patricia, and they have eight children and thirteen grandchildren.
Bill was presented into the Hall by Bobby Salazar.
Bill Warmerdam - Head Boys Basketball Coach
Aptos High School
1969-1992
23 seasons as head basketball coach
Longest-tenured basketball coach in AHS history (2nd longest overall - Jim Triplett, swimming)
393-232 overall record (63% winning record)
10 SCCAL Championships
31 CCS Playoff Appearances
19-12 record in CCS (61%)
1985-86 CCS and Nor-Cal Champions
Only AHS basketball coach to make Nor-Cal Finals (twice)
Only AHS basketball coach to reach CIF State Finals
5-1 record in Nor-Cal & State (83%)
APTOS, Calif. (April 2, 2022) – After a two year delay due to Covid, the Aptos High Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2020 finally gets celebrated. Highlighting the Class are Marissa Ferrante, who earned an unprecedented 15 varsity letters in four years, Kevin Eichhorn, a two-time SCCAL MVP and two-time 1st-team All-State baseball player, Cris Warmerdam, one of the finest two-way basketball players of all-time, and Jen Bryan, the winningest volleyball coach in school history.
Former SCCAL Commissioner Pat Lovell will be honored posthumously for his 29 years of service to SC County athletics. These five, and six others, will be honored during the special ceremonies and awards banquet Saturday April 30 at the Seascape Golf Club.
Marissa Ferrante (Class of 2010) starred in four sports, cross-country, water-polo, track and field, and swimming. She earned 15 varsity letters, and captured 15 individual league titles and 8 SCCAL team championships. In addition, besides earning multiple All-CCS and All-NorCal honors in multiple sports, she was also the 2010 SC Sentinel Female Athlete-of-the-Year. Matriculating to Stanford, Marissa was the 2012 Collegiate National Triathlon champion and represented the USA at the World Championships in New Zealand.
Kevin Eichhorn (Class of 2008) was a four-time 1st-team All-SCCAL baseball player, a two-time SCCAL MVP, a two-time 1st-team All-State selection, and the 2008 SC Sentinel Male Athlete-of-the-Year. His name is all over the AHS record book in both pitching and hitting, and he led the Mariners to two SCCAL team titles. Passing-up several full-ride offers, Kevin was drafted in the 3rd round by the Arizona Diamondbacks, and he pitched seven years in the minors before a shoulder injury derailed his career.
Cris Warmerdam (Class of 1988) was a two-way for
ce on some of the greatest basketball teams in Aptos High and Santa Cruz County history. He is also one of the most intimidating players to ever step onto a basketball court. Cris put up numbers that still stand more than 30 years after he graduated. He is the Mariners’ all-time leader in rebounds and blocked shots, and his 13 blocked shots in a single game is a record that may never be broken. A three-year starter who earned All-SCCAL, All-CCS, and All-NorCal honors, Cris was a key player on the 1986 SCCAL, CCS, and Nor-Cal Championship team.
Jen Bryan won six SCCAL Championships in eight years. No other AHS volleyball coach has won more than two championships. Her teams qualified for the CCS Playoffs every year, reaching the CCS Semi-Finals five times. Jen is the winningest volleyball coach in AHS history, compiling a 207-70 record. The next closest has 90 wins. She also owns the third highest winning percentage of all-time at 75%. Over 15 of her players went on to play in college, including Oregon State, the University of Minnesota, New York University, the University of Portland, and more.
Pat Lovell needs little introduction. He is an icon in the sports world of Santa Cruz County, easily owning one of the most recognizable names in county sports history. An All-Conference football player at Cal Poly, and an Olympic wrestler, Pat was the Commissioner of the SCCAL for 29 years, and the importance and impact of Pat’s leadership as the SCCAL Commissioner cannot be overstated. He grew the SCCAL from a tiny regional league into a CCS powerhouse. He pushed for the expansion of women’s sports. He mentored hundreds of local coaches and Athletic Directors, and he modeled professionalism, selflessness, and respect at all times.
The Hall of Fame event begins with Social Hour at 4 p.m., with dinner and the program to begin at 5 p.m.
