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Harrington, a former Chico State basketball player, became a basketball referee in the area in 1969 and went on to become an NCAA basketball official. He credited his personal captain for the past 58 years, his wife Gretchen. Piercy said it takes four things to have a successful season - parents, coaches, a group of athletes and a captain.
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He was voted to the Chico State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992. He taught and coached at Bidwell Junior High for nine years, then coached varsity basketball at Chico High from 1969 to 1985 with eight Eastern Athletic League titles. In track in 1954, he set Chico State”s high jump record and placed third in the NAIA meet. He was named an All-Far Western Conference basketball player in 1953, ”54 and ”55 and played through ”56.
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Piercy, a 1952 Chico High grad, played both basketball and track in high school and at Chico State. He went on to compete at UC Santa Barbara. He was a track and field athlete at Butte College in 1976 and ”77, competing in the 100 meters, 200, 400, 800, 110 hurdles, 400 hurdles, 400-meter relay, 1,600 relay, long jump and triple jump.
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He has officiated, coached and competed in the CIF State Meet and officiated multiple track meets on several levels, including section championship and league championship meets on the high school level and national Division II championships at the college level. Starmer, a 1975 Chico High graduate, is a certified member of USATF since 2000, and a member of the Northern California Officials Association. “What I”ve done since and been able to be a part of by and embrace through my officiating has made me the person I am today,” Starmer said. Starmer spoke about how his track records, some of which still stand at Chico High and UC Santa Barbara and took two decades to surpass at Butte College, mean something to him, but he stressed what means the most to him are the relationships he”s built over the years with teammates, coaches and now by officiating and serving as a starter for track and field meets at all levels, including Chico State”s. VIEW a photo gallery of the banquet and awards ceremony. The banquet also featured the Chico Sports Hall of Fame induction of Bob Clements, Tom Harrington, Ken Piercy and James Starmer at the Chico Elks Lodge. He is currently vying for a possible third straight NCAA Division II title, having won All-America honors both years, and he was the 2013 NCAA Division II Field Athlete of the Year. Smith was the 2012-13 California Collegiate Athletic Association Male Athlete of the Year and led the Chico State men”s team to its 11th straight CCAA track and field title. Smith mentioned his grandparents who have been married 70 years and he was so grateful that they could attend the banquet, and, moments before Smith had to stop because he was so overcome by the moment, he credited his father because “he believed in me before I did.” While the awards were solely theirs, Smith and this year”s Hall of Fame inductees all seemed to say the same thing - it took many people to get to this point. VIDEO After taking family photos, J Patrick Smith discusses being named Chico Sportsperson of the Year.Despite all his awards that include being the two-time defending NCAA Division II champion in the decathlon, Smith said he thought he was a “lane-filler” among the three nominees for Chico Sportsperson of the Year, especially with Chico State men”s basketball coach Greg Clink up for the award as well.