Petalumans among Sonoma State pioneer athletes

Petaluma outdoors magazine writer Don Vachini, a former St. Vincent High School coach and Sonoma State University athlete, has filled in a gap in the history of SSU sports. While researching for his new book, he verified what he already knew - Petaluma athletes played a major roll in the growth and development of Sonoma State sports.

Vachini explains: “The current Sonoma State University Athletic web page portrays a well-managed site, chronicling men’s and women’s sporting events dating back to the mid-1980s. However, not much, if at any, is available regarding Sonoma State’s sports inception during the 1960s and ’70s, with only bits and fragments from yellowing scrapbooks, yearbooks or antiquated copies of the Steppes newspapers.”

In 2014, after conferring with Athletic Director, Bill Fusco, Vachini was tasked with compiling an in-depth history of the Intercollegiate SSU Athletic Program from its infancy.

While researching and documenting team and individual accomplishments between 1962-74 was the project’s main purpose, its other focus was to recognize all members of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represented Sonoma State during what is known as the “Pioneer Athletics Era.” Together, this compilation of data, personal anecdotes and images inserts an earlier chapter in the tradition of Sonoma State athletics.

The now-completed book, entitled “The Intercollegiate Athletic History of Sonoma State College 1962-74,” is scheduled to be included on the SSU Athletic Department’s website, the SSU Alumni Relations site and stored in the SSU Library’s Historic Archives and Collections Department.

The 120-page publication contains a brief, historic account of both the City of Rohnert Park and Sonoma State, complete rosters of each sport by year (including coaches and cheerleaders), lists 4- and 3-sport athletes, 4- and 3-year participants, details each sport’s initial win, offers a year-by-year progression of each sport offered plus a “Cossack Recollection” section, providing personal anecdotes and other memorable accounts by various athletes of the era. Finally, a “Faces in the Crowd” section displays numerous images.

Included are a group of former Petaluma and St. Vincent High School athletes who were members of some of the early teams, referred to as the “Pioneer Athletes Era.” They include: Dante Benedetti, Dennis Casarotti, Gene Corzine, Jim Crabb, Rich Garretson, Pete Golis, Vern Hanson, Mike Leoni, Mel Peterson, Irv Piotrkowski, Nate Piotrkowski, Ron Pomi, Gene Soldate, Rick Smith (aka Holstein), John Suit, Dave Thomas, Jack Throne and Vachini.

Of those, Hansen (baseball, cross-country and wrestling) and Vachini (baseball, basketball and cross-country) distinguished themselves as 3-sport athletes, while Garretson (baseball) and Hansen (baseball) became 4-year participants. Casarotti (basketball), Golis (golf), Thomas (basketball) and Throne (baseball) were 3-year participants.

Also instrumental in the local support of these Pioneer Athletes were Gene Benedetti (Clover Dairy Products), Bob Lipman (Argus Courier Sports Editor) and Ed Schulze (St. Vincent de Paul High School coach).

“This cluster of Pioneer Athletes from Petaluma not only distinguished themselves individually but left indelible footprints in Sonoma State’s sand, laying the foundation for future teams and athletes to follow,” says Vachini.