Class of 2019

Bill Pillon becomes the sixth member of the 1988 AHS Wrestling team that won the California Interscholastic Federation State Championship title to be enshrined in the Antioch Sports Legends Hall of Fame joining teammates Jason Verduzco (2011), Anthony Camacho (2013), Casey Rhyan (2014), Patrick Sweeney (2015) and Sean Ponce (2018) as inductees. Coach Steve Sanchez was inducted in 2007 and the team was inducted in 2010.
Pillon was a three year varsity wrestler at the 98 pound division capping off his wonderful career with a stellar senior season where he posted an awesome record of 34-7 ending his career at AHS with a spectacular 65-18 record. Bill finished first at some to the top wrestling tournaments in the state his senior season of 1988, winning at San Marin, Overfelt, Bellarmine and taking third at the very prestigious Sierra Nevada Classic in Reno that featured wrestlers from all over the Western United States.
He was crowned Champion at the Diablo Valley Athletic League Meet leading the Panthers to a team title and advanced to the North Coast Section Championships. At the North Coast Section Championships Pillon went undefeated into the finals where he took runner-up and again led his Panther teammates to a Section title. It was then on to the CIF State Meet where Bill led off the tournament at the 98 pound division and wound up with a stellar fifth place finish. Pillon amassed 13 team points that would contribute greatly to the Panthers total and putting them over the top in the team category bringing home the State Championship to Antioch.
Pillon also enjoyed fabulous success in the classroom earning Academic Block “A”. He currently resides in Roseville and has three children; Alexandrea, Joy and Jordan.

When Shane Felix became the first Antioch High School Girls Diablo Valley Athletic League Cross Country Champion in 1978 little did people realize that it would take 10 years for another girl to finish first in the DVAL Championship race. This year’s Female All-Around Athlete Inductee, Jennifer Sells, accomplished that feat her senior year as part of her outstanding high school Cross Country and Track distance running career which included her being named Cross Country MVP 3 years in a row.
As a sophomore, the year before there was a State Cross Country Meet for girls, Jennifer was 1st Team NCS III-A and followed that up the following week with an incredible 2nd place finish in the North Coast Section Meet of Champions. Her 2nd place was the best NCS finish ever for an Antioch Cross Country girl runner allowing her to become only the second girl ever to finish in the top ten at the Meet of Champions to that time.
As a junior, the last year of the original DVAL, Jennifer would earn 1st Team All-DVAL honors, 1st Team NCS III-A recognition and repeat as 1st Team All-North Coast Section by finishing 6th in the NCS Meet of Champions. That finish would earn Jennifer her first trip to the State CIF Cross Country Championships, the inaugural year of the meet.
Her senior year was special as she led her Panther teammates to the BVAL Varsity Cross Country Team Title. She would go on to not only be 1st Team All-BVAL in Cross Country but would match that 1st place effort by winning the 1600 meters at the BVAL Track & Field Championships. In Cross Country she would win her third 1st Team All-NCS III-A honor. She followed that with her third All-North Coast Section 1st Team honor by finishing 6th at the Meet of Champions qualifying her for her second State Cross Country Meet making her, at that time, the first Antioch High School runner ever to qualify for 2 consecutive State Meets.

Getting hit by a truck would usually be a once in a lifetime experience. Unfortunately for opposing quarterbacks, it was a frequent occurrence! On the football field, Anthony Trucks was a force to be reckoned with on both offense and defense. In his senior year, the speedy and powerful Trucks earned 1st team All-BVAL and All-East Bay honors at Wide Receiver. A gifted athlete, Anthony also participated in Track for 3 years where he excelled in the Long Jump and Triple Jump. In 2002, he was ranked #10 in the CC Times “Cream of the Crop” and was the only Antioch High School athlete to be listed as one of the Top 100 athletes by the Times in their annual ranking in 2002. After high school, Trucks attended the University of Oregon on a scholarship where he excelled and led the Ducks defense his junior year in tackles with 55 and QB sacks with 6.5 sacks. During his senior year, he led the PAC-10 in tackles for loss (15.5 for 78 yds) and QB sacks (11) where he was ranked 8th nationally resulting in Trucks earning 2nd Team All-Pac 10 honors. Anthony’s performance has been also recognized in the Oregon record books where he is listed as 7th for QB sacks in a season and is tied with 49er first round draft pick DeForest Buckner for 10th in career sacks. After College, Trucks attended the NFL combine and spent time with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Redskins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers where he played in one pre-season game prior to sustaining a career ending injury. More recently he participated in the American Ninja Warrior competition in Los Angeles where he advanced to the city finals in 2017, 2018 & 2019.

To be considered for nomination as a Sports Legends All-Around Male Athlete, minimally, one must compete in 3 varsity sports in the same year and must be 1st or 2nd Team All-BVAL or better in two of those 3 sports. In the days of sport specialization this is a very difficult standard to meet. This year’s All-Around Male Athlete Inductee, 2001 Antioch High School graduate, Daudi White, not only met the standard but exceeded it. He competed in football, basketball and track & field and was 1st team or better in all 3 sports a feat not equaled by any other of this year’s nominees.
In football, Daudi was a 1st Team All-BVAL defensive back for the Panthers as a Senior and 2nd Team as a junior. For his efforts he was named to the Contra Costa Times All-CC Times 2nd team.
In basketball he was 1st Team All-BVAL and was honored as the team’s Most Valuable Player
In track & field he finished 2nd in the League Meet but went on to win the high jump at the North Coast Section Meet of Champions qualifying him for the CIF State Track & Field Championships in Sacramento.
Daudi’s awards continued to roll in as he was honored by the Contra Costa Times as one of the Top 50 Male Athletes in the area and finished off his senior year in 2001 by being named Antioch High School’s Senior Athlete of the Year.
Daudi’s college football career started at LMC where he played for 2 years before transferring to Missouri Rolla College where he played in 21 games over two seasons as a defensive back with the Miners scoring 2 touchdowns with 6 interceptions and 49 individual tackles.
After college in 2010 and 2011 Daudi had the opportunity to play professionally in Alaska with the Fairbanks Grizzlies of the Indoor Football League. The Grizzlies hold the distinction of being the “northern most gridiron football team in history”.

Melissa Young started off her high school career with a bang, being named to the All-BVAL first team her sophomore year, and leading her team to an undefeated 14-0 league record and title. The versatile catcher and infielder would continue her prowess on the diamond improving each year. Young was named to the first team All-BVAL team in her junior season and adding a All-East Bay selection as well. Melissa would repeat those honors in her senior season in 1992, while leading her team to another league crown. Young was named Top Offensive Player and team Most Valuable Player.
Melissa did not limit her success to the ball field as she excelled in the classroom as well, being named the Antioch High Scholar Athlete. Young parlayed her athletic and scholastic excellence into a scholarship to the University of Iowa.
At Iowa, Young continued her mastery on the diamond as a versatile infielder starting in her freshman season. Melissa followed that up with another fine season her sophomore season when she was also named to the Academic All-Big Ten squad. She was the only player that started all 58 games that year finishing second on her team in batting average and third in slugging percentage while amassing a stellar fielding percentage of .974, committing only three errors the entire season.
In 1995, she not only repeated her Scholar Athlete honors, but also led Iowa to the College World Series. Her dramatic home run pushed Iowa past Fresno State 1-0 in advancing. Iowa finished that season ranked third in the country. Melissa capped off her collegiate career with another trip to the College World Series. All in all Young was a four year starter for the Lady Hawkeyes and earned four varsity letters.

The 1999 Antioch High School Girls Cross Country Team was one for the ages. Coached by Sports Legends Hall of Fame nominee Mike Amorosa this group of talented young women set performance standards that have never been equaled. The Team consisted of 2018 Inductee Janie Nolan, this year’s Individual Female Inductee, Christine Perez along with Stefanie Nunez, Angela Flood, Katie Wallace, Jennifer Townsend and Laura Simoncini.

The 1999 Team was the first cross country team to qualify for the State Cross Country Championships and on November 27, 1999 their 3rd place Division II performance made them the highest placing girls’ team ever in a State Championship event in any sport in Antioch High School history, a mark that stands to this day. In fact they are the 3rd highest placing team in any sport, male or female, a mark only bettered by the 1987-88 State Champion wrestling team and the #2 ranked 1994-95 baseball team both Sports Legends Team Inductees. They are only the second girls’ team to be inducted into the Sports Legends Hall of Fame following 2011 inductee the 1983-84 softball team.

The State Meet performance was the culmination of a remarkable year of achievements. The team was a perfect 9-0 in League meets beating powerhouses Clayton Valley and Carondelet along the way. In addition they beat Carondelet by 10 points in the league meet to run away with the BVAL Title. They were the North Coast Section Champions beating runner-up San Ramon by 31 points. In winning the Section title they became the 1st team other than softball to win a Girls North Coast Section Title for Antioch High School. In addition to their league and NCS titles they won 6 of the elite Cross Country Invitationals they entered and finished 3rd in the prestigious Stanford Invitational. Four of their top 6 runners (Nolan, Perez, Nunez and Flood) were 1st Team All-BVAL recipients with (Wallace and Simoncini) being named to the 2nd Team.