Last Friday, Long Beach State released a list of the seven Hall of Fame inductees for 2008, the school’s 22nd Hall of Fame class.  They’ll be inducted in the Hall of Fame Ceremony on November 19th, at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center on campus.  For tickets, call (562) 985-4662 or check LBPostSports.com as the date approaches for further information.  Of course if your wallet isn’t looking as stellar as these athletes and coaches, come back here for full coverage of the event.  Here’s your 2008 class:

Dan Bailey (Athletics Department)
Dan Bailey was Head Athletic Trainer at Long Beach State for 34 years, until his retirement in August of 2007.  He was also involved with USA Olympic sculling and water polo teams.  Bailey was an innovative trainer whose locker room methods have influenced the entire nation—he also helmed an ambitious exchange program with Japanese colleges.  Bailey’s award will be posthumous—he passed away just three months after his retirement from Long Beach State.

Don Baird (Track & Field)
Baird was a pole vaulter for Long Beach State in the mid-1970s.  He was a national champion in 1977, and runner up in 1976; a native Australian, Baird competed for his home country in the 1976 Olympics.  He also won the pole vault title at the 1975 USA Track & Field Championships.  Since retiring, Baird has marketed track events and found sponsorships for high school teams.

Jade Carvalho (Field Hockey)
A three-time All-American in field hockey, Carvalho was instrumental in leading the 49ers to a 1979 NCAA Championship in the sport, Long Beach State’s first D-1 National Championship.  Not satisfied with excelling at only one sport, Carvalho also competed in Judo, coming in second in the nation at the 1979 Intercollegiate Judo Championships.  She has since become a field hockey umpire, officiating at all levels.

James Cotton (Basketball)
James Cotton was a star shooting guard for the 49ers in the mid-90s.  He was Big West Conference Freshman of the Year in the 93-94 season, then missed the next due to injury.  After returning, Cotton had a stellar two years, averaging 18.2 points per game, shooting 80% from the free throw line, and sinking 156 three-pointers by the end of his career—all place in the top ten in Long Beach State history.  Cotton then left early and bounced from the Nuggets to the Sonics to the Bulls, before retiring young and going back to school to finish his degree.  

Tayyiba Haneef-Park (Women’s Volleyball/Track & Field)
One of the greatest two-sport athletes in Long Beach State history, Haneef-Park won perhaps too many accolades to list.  Some highlights: Three-time All-Big West Conference volleyball player, a member of the 2004 Olympic team, sixth all-time in LBSU kills and the second-highest hitting percentage in school history.  She was also a first team All-American her senior year.  That’s impressive enough, but she also was a three-time All-American in the high jump, won four high jump titles in the Big West, and placed in the top 5 at the NCAA Championships.  To top it off, she was a seven-time Big West All-Academic team member.  She graduated in 2001.

John Kahler (Football)
Kahler was a defensive lineman from 1969-1971, was all-conference two of those years, and led the 49ers to a first place finish in their conference in 1970.  Die-heard fans will remember that season was the only bowl game in 49er history, a 24-24 tie with Louisville in the Pasadena Bowl.  The 49ers were 25-9-1 during Kahler’s three-year career (he played one season at LBCC before transferring), the highest win percentage over a three-year span in school history.  He was drafted in 1972 by the Chiefs.  

Pete Manarino (Softball Coach)
49er fans don’t have to search very far back in their memories to find Pete Manarino, who retired from coaching the softball team in 2006, after 23 years with the team.  In that time he was 843-508-2, or 62.4%.  Manarino led the team to five College World Series appearances, won five league championships, and was named Coach of the Year five times.  He led the 49ers to the NCAA Regionals 17 of his 23 years, and is a member of the Long Beach Softball Hall of Fame’s first class.  In NCAA softball history, his 843 wins puts him in the top twenty-five for total wins, and, perhaps most impressively, he had only one losing season during his 23 year tenure.

***Includes reporting from LongBeachState.com