Five to be inducted into Moorpark College Hall of Fame
- May 23, 2012
By Joe Curley
These five were worth the wait.
The Moorpark College Athletic Hall of Fame will induct its first class in four years June 24 at Moorpark County Club.
The five-person class includes two National Wrestling Hall of Famers, a two-time All-State selection, a multi-sport standout turned local business owner and a Rose Bowl participant turned pitchman and actor.
The Raiders' fifth class since the Hall was created in 2000 includes wrestler Serge Mezheritsky (1990), wrestling and track coach John Keever, volleyball outside hitter Toni-Ann (Merendino) Templeman (2001), football running back and track decathlete Gil Carrillo (1994) and football receiver Isaiah Mustafa (1995).
"It's a phenomenal class," said Moorpark athletic director Howard Davis. "Their success at Moorpark and after Moorpark clearly show the value of athletics."
Mezheritsky, who was a two-time state runner-up at 142 pounds, set the school record for takedowns in a season (140) and became an All-American at Fresno State.
In 37 years at Moorpark, John Keever coached football, wrestling and track, and also spent 14 years as athletic director. He guided the wrestling team to two state championships and 17 Western State Conference titles. He coached 11 individual state champions and 53 All-Americans. As the throws coach for the track team, he coached five individual state champions.
Merendino, a two-time All-State outside hitter, led the women's volleyball team to an undefeated WSC North campaign. The Royal High product was named WSC Player of the Year and Moorpark Athlete of the Year before breaking the digs record at Cal State Hayward (now known as Cal State East Bay).
Carrillo was a WSC Offensive Player of the Year running back for football teams who went 17-4-1 and earned bowl berths in 1988-89. The Simi Valley High product was also the 1989 WSC and Southern California javelin champion and placed fifth in the state in the decathlon.
Mustafa may have only played basketball at Santa Clara High, but he set Moorpark College records in two other sports, leaving behind marks for single-season football receiving (66 receptions for 1,086 yards) and decathlon points (6,741), before winning the Pac-10 football title with Arizona State and playing in the 1997 Rose Bowl game.
Mustafa earned recent fame in Emmy Award-winning Old Spice commercials, was named one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" and has appeared on TV and in movies such as "Horrible Bosses," "The Three Stooges" and "Madea's Big Happy Family."
The school will also honor its Athletes of the Year, scholar-athletes and other award winners from the 2011-12 school year.
Tickets are available at www.moorparkcollegeathletics.com or by calling 805-378-1457.