Nine new inductees will be honored in the Los Gatos High School Athletic Hall of Fame 2023 Induction Ceremony at La Rinconada Country Club on May 6.
The Los Gatos Hall of Fame Committee works in conjunction with the high school to assemble each year’s Hall of Fame Class. This year’s inductee class includes Jack Anti (class of 1932), Dick Whiteman (1951), Bob McArthur (1964), Jeff Robinson (1975), Karen Freedman Thompson (1978), AJ Matthews (1982), Samantha Copenhaver Van Devender (1983), Virginia Fritsch Darrow (2003) and Kiko Alonso (2008).
Bill Frey, the chair of the LGHS Hall of Fame Committee, provided a list of accomplishments of each inductee. Here’s a snapshot for each one of them.
Jack Anti—Played three years in four different sports: baseball, basketball, tennis and track and field. A standout in each sport, Anti led the boys basketball team to a league championship, was the No. 1 singles on the tennis team, pitched the majority of the team’s games for baseball, and was second in the shot put and part of a record-breaking relay team in the league finals.
Anti also turned down an offer from the Boston Red Sox so he could play his senior year of high school baseball, according to the Los Gatos Mail News. Note: The Committee has yet to find any surviving family members of Anti and are asking for assistance in locating them.
Dick Whiteman—A football, basketball and track and field standout. In his senior football season, Whiteman, a tight end/kicker/safety, scored seven touchdowns and had 12 point-after conversions in eight games, accounting for 54 of the Wildcats’ 156 points that season.
Earned the Colburn Trophy as the team’s Most Outstanding Player. Also caught seven touchdown passes from the late Benny Pierce. Whiteman lives in Grass Valley with his wife of 65 years.
Bob McArthur—Three-sport standout in baseball, basketball and football. On the gridiron, McArthur was a quarterback/defensive back where he was team captain and earned all league honors in his senior year. Earned a scholarship to play at University of the Pacific in Stockton, where he was a quarterback and safety for four years. Currently lives in Livermore and enjoyed a 36-year career working at Hewlett Packard.
Jeff Robinson—The late Robinson was a highly accomplished tennis player who was a NorCal state champion both as a 12-year-old and 18-year-old. LGHS team MVP his freshman and junior years. He went on to play No. 1 singles at the University of Alabama, where he won the SEC singles title in 1976 and 1977.
Also an SEC doubles champion in 1976, the same year in which he was ranked No. 1 in the conference and No. 28 in the nation. Played one year professionally on the ATP Circuit before pursuing a career in medicine, graduating fifth in his class at Medical College of Virginia and completing a residency in Radiology and Nuclear Medicine. Died at the age of 52.
Karen Freedman Thompson—Scored a single-game record five goals in her MVP senior season on the field hockey team. Also earned first team, all league honors in softball and basketball, helping lead the girls hoops team to its first-ever Regional Tournament victory.
For her efforts, Thompson earned the school’s Female Athlete of the Year award. Of a historical note, Thompson was among the first girls to be allowed to compete in sports after the passage of Title IX, according to Frey. She is married with three children and lives in Campbell, and coached youth sports for 20-plus years.
AJ Matthews—Competed on five championship winning teams including basketball, football and track and field. All-league wide receiver and basketball team MVP his senior season in which he helped the Wildcats to their first championship in 31 years and earned a spot on the all-CCS team.
Went on to be a four-year starter—never missing a game—as a center midfielder for the Occidental College men’s soccer team. Matthews graduated from UCSF Medical School in 1990, played semi-pro soccer, completed a General Surgery Residency from the University of Minnesota in 1998 before eventually opening his current plastic surgery practice in Gilroy in 2001.
Samantha Copenhaver Van Devender—In her junior year was an integral player for a girls basketball team that won CCS and NorCal titles. Set the all-time school record for assists and helped revitalize a moribund softball team in her senior year along with Missy Dallas, according to Frey.
Went on to play basketball at Chico State, earning Outstanding Female Athlete honors in her senior year before being inducted into the college’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003. Works as a realtor in Phoenix and is married with two daughters.
Virginia Fritsch Darrow—Three-time, first-team all league selection in softball and earned SCVAL MVP Offensive Player of the Year honors in her junior and senior seasons. A first baseman and catcher who was named to the all-State team in her junior and senior years.
Upon graduating, Darrow attended Harvard University, where she earned first team Ivy League and Rookie of the Year honors after hitting .306 with five home runs and 26 RBI. Transferred to University of San Diego and still holds many of the school’s records.
Later earned her degree in Veterinary Medicine from UC Davis in 2014 and currently is an ER Vet in North San Diego County. Married with three children.
Kiko Alonso—One of the best linebackers in Los Gatos High’s storied football history. Racked up 293 tackles and 10 sacks spanning his junior and senior seasons. Also played tight end and had 35 receptions for 539 yards and seven touchdowns in his senior season, earning first team, all-CCS honors.
Named Cal-Hi Sports Defensive Player of the Year after his junior season. Went on to play at the University of Oregon and was Defensive MVP of the Rose Bowl in 2012. Selected by the Buffalo Bills in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft and earned Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.
Totaled 588 tackles, 10 interceptions, seven fumble recoveries and four sacks in a six-year pro career. Resides in Aptos with his wife and high school sweetheart, Gabby, who is the daughter of Joe Kapp, a Los Gatos resident who has the distinction of being the only quarterback ever to compete in the Super Bowl, Rose Bowl and the Grey Cup. Tickets to the event can be purchased at gofan.co/app/events/890642?schoolId=CA22963. For information, contact Bill Frey at [email protected].
part of history as among the first group of girls to compete in sports after Title IX.
winning teams in football, basketball and track and field. He was an all-CCS
basketball selection in 1982.
