Don Ketchum
Former Staff Writer, AZPreps365.com

Trevor Browne unveils Sports Hall of Fame

January 6, 2011 by Don Ketchum, AZPreps365


West Phoenix, and Trevor Browne High School in particular, has had its share of sports heroes since opening its doors 38 years ago.
Now many of those will be recognized when the school opens its Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday (Jan. 8) with a 6 p.m. ceremony at the school’s auditorium at 75th Avenue and Catalina Drive, just north of Thomas Road.
The Trevor Browne jazz choir and participants in TGB Idols will perform.
Biographies of the 35 athletes/coaches and their achievements will be part of a future display inside the gymnasium. The project was organized by Trevor Browne teacher and coach Phil Kohm.
Among the inductees are Tom Schmidt, the school’s first state champion in any sport (wrestling) and a first-team All-State football selection; football-basketball-track star Marcel Jones, now at Nebraska; former Arizona State linebacker Darin Tupper; former Grand Canyon University and San Francisco Giants infielder John Patterson; former football star Forrest Valora, who went on to star at Oklahoma; long-time track and cross-country coach David Cruickshank; badminton star Jenny Clifton; heptathlete Nina Grubbs; and track and field athlete Toni Kee.
A father-son combination also will be inducted – Bill Mitton, the school’s first head football coach who led the Bruins for nearly 30 years; and son Tait, a star in baseball as an outfielder who went on to play at Grand Canyon University.