Nine inductees joined the 205 previously enshrined Athletic Round Table Hall of Fame members on Monday at the 37th annual ceremony at Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort. Baseball coach Scott O’Leary was honored posthumously; he enters the Hall as the 44th coach. O’Leary succumbed to cancer last summer. He was 63.

Athletes inducted were Denise Yamada Axelson, from Dos Pueblos, and Dr. Jim Cappon and Karen Griffith, both from San Marcos. Santa Barbara High inductees were Edwin Bowman, Jerry Hughes and Stephanie Rempe.

Santa Barbara city Recreation Department supervisor Cliff Lambert and football official Gary Cavaletto were also honored. They were named to the Hall for their leadership and special achievements.

Santa Barbara High water polo coach Mark Walsh and UCSB women’s basketball coach Mark French were named Coaches of the Year. There were also 42 Athletes of the Year honored — 21 each from the high school and college levels. These will be detailed in next week’s sports pages.

O’Leary, "Coach O", was a teacher, a coach and served as Dos Pueblos’ athletic director in his 34-year tenure at Dos Pueblos. He became AD in 1980 and held that position for 23 years. O’Leary was the head football and baseball coach from 1985 to 1989.

Track and field and volleyball player Axelson won three straight CIF Division 4-A high jump championships. In her senior year, 1983, she attained her personal record of 5 feet 10 1/2 inches. Axelson set CIF and Charger records in the triple jump, with 36 feet 11 3/4 inches, and the 100-meter low hurdles, in 14.57.

At Duke, she played in three NCAA volleyball tournaments and was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference first team in 1986. Her 31 kills in one match and 67 service aces in one season (140 in her career) placed her in the Blue Devils all-time top five.

Cappon played baseball, football and basketball. In 1976, as a pitcher for the Royals, he notched the first no-hitter in the school’s history. As a quarterback for SBCC, he guided the Vaqueros to an appearance in the Citrus Bowl. He went on to play quarterback at the University of New Mexico.

Griffith was a standout on the basketball and volleyball teams. Although she came into the San Marcos volleyball program in her senior year, she helped the Royals to the CIF quarterfinals and was named to the All-CIF second team.

After transferring from USC, Griffith was on the UCSB softball squad that took ninth at the College Softball World Series in 1982.

Bowman was following in his cousin Eddie Mathews’ footsteps when he played baseball at Santa Barbara High. Bowman was selected All-CIF first-team third baseman in 1970 and won a full scholarship to USC. He played on two USC national-championship teams and was named team MVP in 1973.

Hughes was a tailback on the Dons’ 1969 CIF semifinal squad. He was chosen as a JC All-American at SBCC in 1970. At Utah, he was ranked eighth in combined yardage, rushing and receiving, and 14th nationally in rushing.

As a Don multi-sport athlete, Rempe played softball, soccer and volleyball and earned nine varsity letters. She was named team MVP in both softball and soccer.

Rempe walked on to play volleyball at the University of Arizona and in 1993, her senior year, earned a scholarship.

She earned her master’s degree in sports administration and became a program director at Arizona. In 1998 she was named associate athletic director at Texas-El Paso. She is now the associate athletic director at the University of Oklahoma

Cavaletto played baseball, basketball and football at Bishop Diego and was inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2000.

He’s paid his dues. Last year, Cavaletto broke into the NFL’s officiating ranks. He officiated as a field judge in his rookie year. This came after 27 years of understudy work. He has spent 10 seasons as a baseball umpire, including six at the NCAA Division 1 level, and 24 seasons as a basketball referee, five in Division 1. This year will be his 27th year as a football official.

Santa Barbara’s loss. Lambert has been the supervisor of Santa Barbara’s recreation department for 24 years. He retired in March and lives in Tucson, Ariz.

Upon his graduation from Santa Barbara High, he took a position with the Boys and Girls Club. The die was cast. Lambert founded numerous after-school programs, such as the annual basketball Tournament of Champions, track and field meets and the Campership Alliance, a group that has provided hundreds of summer camp scholarships. He also founded the Yes I Can Program and the Santa Barbara Soccer Coalition.

Photo credit: D.C. DeMilio