40th Athletic Hall of Fame Class Announced
The 40th Annual Bellarmine Athletic Hall of Fame will be held Friday, April 9 in the Samuel A. Liccardo Center as five more individuals are added along with the first CCS championship soccer team. The 40th Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Class is spearheaded by legendary cross country and track coach Terry Ward; All Catholic running back Ken Ravizza ’50; Rob Meinhardt ’87, the 1987 John Hanna Award winner as the school’s top best overall athlete; soccer goalkeeper Kyle Krpata ’89 who helped the Bells to a pair of WCAL titles; CCS individual champion and wrestling state finalist Andre Mitchell ’91; and the 1990 soccer team which captured the school’s first CCS soccer title.
This year's Athletic Hall of Fame is pleased to once again have Heritage Bank of Commerce as the event's signature sponsor. Heritage Bank of Commerce with offices in San Jose, Danville, Fremont, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Morgan Hill and Mountain View offers a full array of innovative, custom-tailored business and personal banking services and products to the communities they serve.
For more information regarding the Bellarmine Athletic Hall of Fame or to nominate someone for inclusion, please visit www.gobells.org or email stayconnected@bcp.org. If you wish to nominate an individual or team, please include details outlining the individual or team’s accomplishments.
Registration for the April 9 Athletic Hall of Fame is available by clicking here.
Terry Ward (Cross Country and Track Coach)
A staple in the Central Coast Section since he took over the St. Ignatius cross country and track programs in 1969 and eventually moving south to Bellarmine in 1980, Terry Ward is one of the most respected coaches in the history of the CCS for his work in cross country and track. His overall high school career coaching record on all levels is 1,442 wins and 208 losses. His Bellarmine cross country teams captured 16 WCAL titles and 14 CCS championships while in track and field his squads won 16 WCAL titles and 6 CCS championships. He continues to be active in athletics serving as Bellarmine’s Athletic Director where he oversees the Central Coast Section’s most dominant program.
From an accolades perspective, the honors are boundless for this extraordinary man who exemplifies not only winning hut honoring the sport. Among his awards are the:
- 1985 Runner’s World Coach of the Year
- 1991 CCS Track and Field Coach of the Year
- 1993 CCS Honor Coach for Track and Field
- 1995 CCS Honor Coach for Cross Country
- 1997 California Coaches Cross Country Coach of the Year
- 2006 CIF Model Coach of the Year, the highest award presented by the California Interscholastic Federation
- 2010 CIF CCS Athletic Director of the Year
Ken Ravizza ’50 (Football) A three-year Varsity letterwinner, Ravizza was a workhorse for the Bells lining up at tailback and occasionally and quarterback. As a senior, he averaged 8.7 yards per carry, the fourth best average in school history entering the 2009 football campaign (see chart below). He went on to earn First Team All Catholic accolades as a senior. As a junior he helped guide the Bells to the 1949 Catholic Athletic League title. He went onto join the Santa Clara University football program on a scholarship but tore his Achilles as a freshman and the school dropped the football program in 1952 thus ending his football career.
Bellarmine Football Players Who Averaged 8.0 yards per carry or better in a single-season
| Year |
Player |
Att. |
Yards |
Avg. |
| 1953 |
Lou Valli |
121 |
1,216 |
10.0 |
| 1965 |
Jim DeDiego |
62 |
603 |
9.7 |
| 1976 |
Marc Rebboah |
138 |
1,268 |
9.2 |
| 1949 |
Ken Ravizza |
89 |
776 |
8.7 |
| 1956 |
Jim Josephson |
128 |
1,058 |
8.3 |
| 2008* |
Usua Amanam |
136 |
1,101 |
8.1 |
| 1964 |
John de la Forest |
80 |
638 |
8.0 |
Italics = AHOF Member
* Not yet eligible for the AHOF
Rob Meinhardt ’87 (Cross Country and Track)
A three-year Varsity letterman in cross country and track, Meinhardt helped guide the Bells to three straight CCS cross country titles and a fourth-place finish in Northern California as a senior. Meinhardt was a part of four consecutive WCAL championships and captured the individual title in 1986. In his senior year, he also finished third individually in CCS and earned a plethora of awards including First Team All CCS, All Region and All Northern California and Third Team All Western United States. In the sport of track and field, his accomplishments included earning First Team Freshman All-American in the 2-mile as well as being a CCS Top 10 finisher. His accolades at Bellarmine included being President of the Block B and earning the 1987 John Hanna Award, the highest award given to an athlete, at graduation. He went on to compete for Yale University and helped guide the Eli to a second place finish in the Ivy League cross country finals while earning Second Team All Ivy League honors. He was also the Connecticut State Champion in the 3000 meter Steeplechase and competed in the Steeplechase for Harvard/Yale during the Harvard/Yale vs. Oxford/Cambridge track series in Europe which is help every four years.
Kyle Krpata ’89 (Soccer)
One of the soccer programs greatest goalkeepers, three-year Varsity letterwinner Kyle Krpata was an integral player in the Bells capturing three straight WCAL titles and reaching the CCS final in 1989. A two-time First Team All WCAL, ALL CCS and All Peninsula performer, Krpata went on to compete at Stanford University. He was integral in building the Cardinal soccer program, leading Stanford to a pair of NCAA tournaments, only the 3rd and 4th appearances in school history, and he still holds a number of Stanford records. His playing experience includes winning a Silver Medal with the U-23 National Team in preparation for the 1992 Olympics as well as being named the 1994 USISL Goalkeeper of the Year for his work with the San Francisco All Blacks.
Andre Mitchell ’91 (Wrestling)
Little did anyone know that it was being cut from the freshman football team that would spark the meteoric rise of Andre Mitchell as one of the school’s finest wrestlers. Never before having participated in the sport, Mitchell showed his prowess for wrestling by defeating several CCS qualifiers as a sophomore. As a junior, he was a full-time starter on the Varsity squad and won the Bellarmine Invitational, Cupertino invitational, and West Catholic Athletic Championships. Andre qualified for the state tournament as a junior and was awarded the Most Improved Wrestler award. As a senior, he defended his Bellarmine invitational championship and added the Catholic National Invitational championship. He was the lone returning state qualifier and joined Aldo Vaccarezza ‘91 and David Popejoy ’90 as Five Counties’ Invitational medalists, a tournament considered harder than the state tournament. In 1991, Andre eclipsed the single season wrestling record and became the first state finalist for the West Catholic Athletic League. This achievement earned him an Athlete of the Week award, Most Valuable Athlete, and helped him earn a college wrestling scholarship to Howard University. He went on to compete for the Bison where he was a four year letterman. As a sophomore, Andre was one of only two members of the team who won the M.E.A.C conference championship. Two years later, he would repeat the feat with another conference championship and a top four Eastern Regional placement. Andre still participates in wrestling by coaching high school wrestling team as a volunteer assistant in Georgia’s largest classification.
1990 Soccer Team
The Bellarmine soccer program had been on the rise entering the 1990 soccer season with a pair of CCS championship appearances in 1986 and 1989 and losses in the semifinals in 1987 and 1988. It was the spark of the 1990 season that would ignite the Bells run of CCS titles that continues to this day. Led by legendary coach
Bill Chambers, the 1990 squad overcame a rash of early injuries to capture the school’s first CCS soccer title. In a season to remember, the Bells squashed Leland High School’s state record 65-match unbeaten streak in the CCS semifinals with a resounding 3-0 victory and would defeat Monta Vista in the CCS championship, 3-2 in overtime. The Bells were led by First Team All Peninsula performers goalkeeper
David Kramer ’90, who had 14 shutouts on the season, and
Lance Nakamitsu ’90, who had 17 goals and 6 assists for the Bells including the game-winning goal in the CCS final. Also standing out for Bells were WCAL Defensive Player of the Yea
Brent Garcia ’90 and all-league performers
Ken Schneider ’91 and
AJ Robinson ’90, who returned from a serious knee surgery suffered at the start of football season.