This is the 16th year the ceremony has been held

ATASCADERO — Saturday, Nov. 12, Atascadero High School (AHS) alumni, sports alums, members of the Atascadero Greyhound Foundation, and former Greyhound Foundation Athletic Hall of Fame inductees gathered at the Pavilion on the Lake to celebrate the 2022 inductees into the Hall of Fame. Approximately 140 people attended the ceremony, and so many people showed up that more chairs needed to be added to the tables.

“It was one of the best ones [Hall of Fames] we’ve had,” said the Greyhound Foundations Executive Director Donn Clickard. “Thanks to Sean [Knoph’s] leadership and then Christian Cooper as our Master of Ceremonies.” 

Sixteen years ago, the Atascadero Athletic Foundation was formed; now, it goes by the Atascadero Greyhound Foundation. In 2007 the Foundation started inducting nominated individuals who have had a hand in upping the Atascadero athletics game.

AHS AG Department Chairman Andrew Weatherly and his crew catered for the night, preparing food like barbecued prime rib and shrimp scampi. The servers for the evening were the Atascadero High School football team.

“That was really fun for them because on Thursday night, they had had such a successful game, so they were there to receive their little accolades from people for being the highest seed left in the football tournament,” added Clickard.

Every new inductee gave a speech at the ceremony, and the 10 speeches given were filled with fantastic memories of the speaker’s time at AHS.

“[There were] a lot of thank yous, of course, to families, to parents, to their coaches, to their teammates,” Clickard said of the speeches.

The 2022 Atascadero Greyhound Hall of Fame inductees are:

ROCKY SPURGEON

Class of 1977

Spurgeon played football and golf and participated in track and field while at AHS. He was the first lineman to be chosen as Most Valuable Player in Greyhound history.

BRIAN COOPER

Class of 1983

Cooper set a school record in the five-dive event while attending AHS. He also was league champion in diving his senior year as well as a CIF place winner in diving.

SOTI BRAZEL

Class of 1986

Brazel played basketball, softball, and volleyball while attending AHS. She was named All-CIF all four years of high school and was the 1986 Athlete of the Year.

RYAN HAWKINS

Class of 1993

Hawkins played football and basketball during his time at AHS. Not only was he team captain, but he was also All-League in basketball his senior year.

KATE ROY-LANE

Class of 1994

Roy-Lane participated in cross country and track and field and played soccer during her years at AHS. She was named Telegram-Tribune’s Athlete of the Year her senior year and 1994 Athlete of the Year at AHS.

DANIEL MIRANDA

Class of 1996

Miranda played football and baseball and was a wrestler at AHS. He was quarterback during the Greyhounds’ undefeated 1995 football season.

JEFF HOOD

Class of 2000

Hood played golf all four years at AHS. He was team MVP and individual League Champion in 1998, 1999, and 2000. He was also the “King of the Mountain” individual champ in 1999 and 2000 and was awarded the All CIF individual award in 2000.

JESSIE HUFSTETLER

Class of 2012

Hufstetler played volleyball, softball, and soccer at AHS. She was all-league and all-county in softball her sophomore, junior, and senior seasons and was named San Luis Obispo County softball player of the year after her senior season.

SABRINA DEGNAN

Class of 2015

Degnan played volleyball and basketball and was in track and field at AHS. She earned The Scholar Athlete of the Year her senior year. She was named North County Basketball Player of the Year her senior season. Her parents are also in the Hall of Fame.

CHARLENE SUGGS-ABLES

Queen of Athletics August 1982-December 2004

Suggs-Ables worked in the Athletic Department at AHS for 22 years as an administrative assistant. During that time, the AHS Athletic Department was recognized for excellence by the City of Atascadero, the California Athletic Directors’ Association, The California Interscholastic Federation, and the National Interscholastic Athletic Association, of which she played a huge part. She has been deemed “The Queen of Athletics.”

“She did not name herself that; the rest of us did,” said Clickard, who worked with Suggs-Ables for 22 years in the Athletic Office.

Plenty of past students attended the evening as well, and friends and teammates reunited while celebrating the 10 new inductees.

To learn more about the Atascadero Greyhound Foundation and the Hall of Fame, go to: atascaderogreyhoundfoundation.org/

Featured Image Caption: (From left) Rick Hawkins (father of the late Ryan Hawkins), Kate Roy-Lane, Soti Brazel, Charlene Suggs-Ables, Sabrina Degnan, Rocky Spurgeon, Jessie Hufstetler, Daniel Miranda, and Brian Cooper are shown at the Greyhound Foundation Hall of Fame ceremony. Not pictured: Jeff Hood. Photo by George Westlund.