Inductees

Strong, burly and quick, Clark Davidson was a star in numerous sports and excelled in football at Antioch High.  As a junior Clark was a member of the DVAL Championship football team as a defensive lineman.  That set the stage for a fabulous senior season where he was named 1^st team ALL-DVAL defensive lineman and was also named to the 1^st team All-East Bay squad.   He was selected and played in the Contra Costa-Alameda County All-Star Football Game.

Clark went on to play two years at Los Medanos College as a defensive lineman.   He garnered Camino Norte Conference Honorable Mention selections in both his freshman and sophomore season.   Davidson parlayed those achievements into a full ride scholarship to the University of Nevada at Reno.   While at Reno, Davidson was a two year letterman on the defensive line and was part of the Wolfpack’s 1983 NCAA Division 1-AA semifinalist team.

Clark also starred on the track and wrestling mat at Antioch High. He won a varsity letter his sophomore year in wrestling and enjoyed a stellar career in Track and Field in the weight events.  Davidson’s specialty was the shot put and during his senior season he won the DVAL championship and the North Coast Meet of Champions which qualified him for the California State Meet.  His mark of 58’8’’ ranks him third all-time on the AHS shot put record board. He was also a member of the 1979 DVAL Championship track & field team.

Clark continued his track career during his two years at LMC participating in the shot put, discus and javelin setting a then school record in the javelin.  Davidson continued in track at UNR, taking 6^th place in the Shot Put at the Big Sky Conference Championships his junior year and 6^th place in the javelin his senior season.

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Joanne (Viera) Bilbo is a life long resident of Antioch and grew up attending Antioch schools.   She joined the Young Ladies Institute of the Holy Rosary Church chapter at the age of 16 and has held numerous offices including President. She recently was presented with a 75 year member award.

Joanne graduated from AHS in 1949 and was active in the Girls Athletic Association (GAA) where she earned the distinguished Emblem A four years in a row. During her senior year she was honored as the Queen of the Block A Carnival.

In 1960 she married Marshall Bilbo and they raised two children, Ken and Kathleen.  Joanne kept very busy with the activities of her children and was Clerk of the Course for the Pittsburg swim club for over 15 years where Ken and Kathleen swam.

Joanne and Marshall owned and operated Ernie’s Liquors for many years and were very active in Rotary and Antioch Chamber of Commerce activities.  She was also an active member of the Native Daughters of the Golden West and the Friends of the Arts.

Since the inception of Antioch Sports Legends Joanne has been an enormous force behind ASL serving on the Executive Board for over 10 years and coordinating the ticket sales and seating for every Induction Gala where she garnered the nickname of “The Ticket Lady”. She has served as a Board Member of the Antioch Historical Society for nearly 20 years and chaired many of their committees.

In 2014 Joanne was recognized by the Antioch Chamber of Commerce as a finalist for the Citizen of the Year-Lifetime Achievement Award.   She earned the prestigious Founder’s Award in 2011 from the Antioch Sports Legends Hall of Fame and was presented with a special Lifetime Achievement Award from Sports Legends in 2021.

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“Lynn has always been involved in sports” said Lorraine Lohmeier, Lynn’s mother. Lynn earned 8 varsity letters at Antioch High School, three each in soccer and softball and two in volleyball. She received her first varsity soccer letter playing for Antioch High as a freshman while still a student at Park Junior High. Lynn was All-BVAL in soccer 3 times, and softball twice. An injury in Lynn’s junior year stopped her from being the first Antioch High student/athlete to earn 4 varsity letters in girls’ soccer. In Softball she was named the Queen of the Mountain Tournament’s top defensive player. She was athlete of the week for the Contra Costa Times, chosen AHS softball team MVP and was named to the All-East Bay Softball team.

To add to her accomplishments, she was named to the 1991 Contra Costa Times All-Star Team after breaking Antioch High School records for bunting and stealing. She also set AHS records that season batting .571 with 28 runs scored, 32 stolen bases with 30 in a row. Her 28 hits were all singles.

Lynn then took her softball talents to Merced Junior College starting at shortstop and second base becoming 1^st Team All-Camino Norte Conference. She had the talent of throwing right-hand and batting left-handed and used her speed on the bases to help lead Merced to the Northern California Regional Softball playoffs.

East County had a number of softball players in Division-1 at the college level in the 1990’s including Lynn at Sacramento State. In 1995 the Sac State softball team made it to the NCAA Collegiate Women’s Division I Softball championships. Additionally, Lynn received the Golden Key award from the National Honor Society in recognition of her outstanding scholastic achievement and excellence. She was also named to the Western Athletic Conference All-Academic team.

Following a 2-22 season in 2004-05, the Antioch Panthers stunned local basketball fans when they compiled a record of 43-13 over the next two seasons, including an impressive 23-7 in the formidable BVAL. A major contributor to that turnaround was point guard Eddie Miller.  As a junior, Miller averaged a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds per game.  The Panthers finished the season 21-7 with their first NCS playoff berth in many years. Miller’s accomplishments were recognized by being selected 1^st Team All-League and 3^rd Team All-Contra Costa Times. 

Miller’s impressive junior year was just a warmup of what was to follow.  As a senior, Miller led the Panthers to another NCS record of 22-6, finishing 14-2 in the BVAL.  That season marked the first victory over De La Salle in the program’s history. Miller led the league in scoring with a 15.6 average over the 16-game league schedule and was named the league MVP.  Again, the Contra Costa Times recognized Miller by placing him on the All-CC Times regional squad.  The Times also named Eddie to its top 50 male athletes list in both his junior and senior years.  Finally, Miller was named the Panther’s Senior Athlete of the Year in 2007 for his exploits in both basketball and track and field.

After graduation, Miller walked on to the basketball program at the University of California, Berkeley where he appeared in 15 games over two seasons. He then transferred to UC Davis on a scholarship for this final two years of eligibility. Over the next two seasons, Miller started 52 games as a point guard, scoring a total of 631 points. His senior year was highlighted by a 35 point outburst versus league opponent UC Riverside. 

Miller concluded his basketball career by playing professionally in Brazil for 1 year.

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Andy Sample loved to run and his talent would become apparent early in his Antioch High School career. As a sophomore he won the varsity 400 meter title at the BVAL league meet, a feat he would repeat 2 more times as a junior and senior. At the North Coast Section Meet of Champions he qualified for the State Track & Field Championships twice, once in the 300 intermediate hurdles and once in the 400 meters. He was also named AHS track and field Co-MVP his senior season.

Andy had very successful high school career but for him the last year ended in disappointment. You see, his senior year was supposed to be his breakout track season. However, in a tournament basketball game at Liberty High School Andy broke his ankle and for the next 16 weeks was in a cast. Shortly before the league meet with the cast off and limited training he still was able to win his 3^rd DVAL 400 meter title and go on to qualify for the State Meet but his goals remained unfulfilled.

That would change the following year when he enrolled at Diablo Valley College. Over the next 2 seasons at DVC Andy would break the school 400 meter record running 46.61, the fastest 400 meters ever run by any Antioch High School alumnus. He was also part of the record breaking 4×100 and 4×400 meter relay teams. All 3 records still stand today some 33 years later.

After DVC, Andy received a track scholarship to UC Berkeley. At CAL he competed for the Bears in the prestigious Penn and Texas relays and Pac-10 Championships among others. Injuries held him back, but he still was able to run anchor leg on the 4×400 meter relay team that beat UCLA for the first time in 25 years.

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Eddie Loretto decided to focus on becoming a full-time kicker his junior year at Antioch High School.  After a year at the JV level, Loretto became an offensive weapon as a senior for the Panthers.  He had 4 field goals that season of 40 or more yards missing only one and was 31-33 on PAT’s. His 47 yarder set the Panther record for longest field goal, a record that stood for 15 seasons. As a senior his accomplishments were recognized by being named 2^nd Team All-League and 1^st Team All-East Bay. In addition, Loretto was named to the San Francisco Examiner’s All-Bay Area team.

Upon graduation, he took his powerful left leg to UC Davis to become a member of the Division 2 powerhouse Aggie football squad.  After redshirting his first year, he was named the starting kicker for the Aggies. In that 1985 season, Loretto hit 16-21 field goals setting a school record for most FG’s in a season.  He was also 37-40 on PAT’s and his 85 points set another school record.  As a sophomore, Loretto was 12-15 on his field goals, landing him a spot on the All-Conference 1^st team.  His senior year saw Loretto connect on all 26 of his PAT’s and 7-12 on FG’s, again earning him 1^st Team All-Conference and Honorable Mention on the Little All-American list.  He graduated as the Division 2 all-time career scoring leader, setting school records for most FG’s, PAT’s and scoring for both a season and career.  He still holds school records for most PAT’s (8) and FG (4) in a game and his 273 career points rank second among all Aggie kickers.

Loretto is currently a history professor at the College of Alameda.  He retired from coaching in 2022 after 12 seasons as special teams coach for Pittsburg High School.

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Through three decades, Michael Amorosa left his footprint on the trails around Antioch High School. He excelled as a cross country athlete at AHS graduating in 1988, and DVC where he went to the State Championships. Earning a full scholarship to the University of Hawaii, Hilo he qualified and ran in the snow at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Wisconsin.

Michael came back to Antioch and became an Assistant Cross-Country coach with Tom Torlakson in 1995. He was hired as the boys and girls head coach in 1996 and for the next thirteen years enjoyed some of the most successful seasons in AHS cross country history. During that time, Coach Amorosa’s runners never had a losing season and racked up a string of highlights, including a 3^rd place finish in Division II Girls Cross Country State Championships and his boys’ team beating De La Salle in 2001 to end their 10 year dual meet win streak at 99. His 1999 girls’ team was inducted into the Antioch Sports Hall of Fame in in 2019.

In 1999 and 2000 his girls’ team won the BVAL Cross Country Championship title. In 1998 his boys won the Division II NCS Championship and in 1999 his girls’ team won the Division II NCS Championship. During his tenure, he coached many outstanding runners including previous Antioch Sport Legends inductees Janie Nolan, Chris Hernandez and Christine Perez

Michael and his wife Amanda currently work in the medical field and live in Placerville, CA with their two children Ameliana and Vinnie who both run for their high school’s cross-country team.

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Ashley Vallis’s high school athletic career began with the question, soccer or basketball? Due to the conflicting schedules Ashley had to choose one sport; she chose soccer. Ashley dreamed of playing soccer at the collegiate level and she knew running track would help her speed and endurance as a soccer player.

Ashley’s freshman year she was the 800M champion at BVAL and NCS. She qualified for the CIF Track Championships in the 800M and in the 4x4M. Ashley’s freshman year she ranked 13th in California for the 800M.

Sophomore year, Ashley played varsity soccer and was named 1st team all-league. In track, she was the 800M and 1600M BVAL champion and qualified for the CIF Track Championships in the 800M.

Ashley’s junior track season she got walking pneumonia, but she was able to dominate the 800M at the BVAL Championships and qualified for the CIF Track Championships.

Ashley’s senior soccer season she scored 33 goals with 13 assists. She was named BVAL-MVP. During her final appearance at the BVAL Track Championships, Ashley placed 1st in four events (4x1M, 4x4M, 200M and 800M).

Ashley went onto the Track NCS where she and her team won the 4×4 and she won the 800M.  For the 4th time, Ashley qualified for the CIF Track Championships in the 800M, a feat that has never been accomplished by any other Wolverine.  

Ashley graduated high school with a 3.86 GPA, a member of the 750 club, 3-time CCC Times Top 100 Athlete, 4-time team captain, 2-time MVP, and the 2005 female athlete of the year.

Ashley received a soccer scholarship to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Ashley played four years as a Mustang. She was named All-Conference her sophomore and senior year. Ashley graduated with a BS in Business Administration, Concentration in Marketing, and a minor in Spanish.