Class of 2011 from left to right: Isaac Sopoaga, Chad Butler, Gary Peterson, Kyetra Brown, Shane O'Brien, Kristine Marbach and Mike Herrington.

1993 Men's Golf Team
The 1993 men's golf season was a special season for then 11-year head coach Gary Peterson. The talent of the squad fell into his lap, you could say. Three members of the team, Shane O'Brien, Chad Butler and Adam Hill, were from Hart High School; Andy Houlette came from nearby Saugus High School; Bill Crawford was from Burroughs Burbank and the ringer, Bryant Stover, was a native of Pleasanton, a city east of Oakland.

Together, these six men finished the conference season with a 28-2 record for the program's first back-to-back conference championship. As a conference champion, the Cougars earned a bid to the Southern California Championship at Spring Valley Lakes Country Club in Victorville where the team took the final Southern California spot in the state tournament, along with the favorite to win the state title, College of the Desert.

In the first round of the state tournament at the par-72 Rancho Canada West in Carmel, third-place COC turned in a 391 to trail first-round top finisher Desert by six shots. The second round took place on the par-71 Dunes Course at the Monterey Peninsula Country Club with wind gusts reaching 35 mph. Despite what Peterson said were the worst weather conditions he had ever seen in his more than 30 years of coaching, his team never gave up in the troubling circumstances. The Cougars stormed back and tallied a 401 for a 36-hole total of 792 and beat out Desert by just one stroke, with help from O'Brien (76-77--153), Stover (76-77--153) and Butler (78-77---155) who finished 3-4-5 for Canyons.

Bryant Strover: Strover was the Cougars' top golfer who landed in head coach Gary Peterson's lap when he happened to be on campus and looking for a place to play college golf. The Cougars' No. 1 golfer was steady and competitive and now lives in the Monterey area and works in the golf industry.

Shane O'Brien: A two-sport athlete who also played inside linebacker for 2011 inductee Mike Herrington at Hart High School, O'Brien was the team's No. 2 golfer. He played professionally from 2000-03 and won two Pepsi Tour events. He spent one year as the head golf coach at Chaminade High School before heading to his current job as athletic director, head football coach and ASB Advisor at Rose Hill Junior High School in Redmond, Wash.

Chad Butler: A sophomore golfer who became best friends with Shane O'Brien, Butler was the Cougars' No. 3 golfer. He transferred to California State University, Northridge, following the state championship and earned his degree in sociology with an emphasis on criminology. He is currently a police officer and entrepreneur.

Bill Crawford: The most humorous of the group, Crawford was the player who always broke the tension of the team. A long-time caddy at Lakeside Country Club and the personal caddy of Joe Pesci, Crawford currently works in the studio industry.

Adam Hill: The quiet freshman of the group, Hill had very high expectations for himself among a group of seasoned sophomores. Hill remains in the Santa Clarita Valley and works for the American Golf Corporation.

Andy Houlette: Head coach Gary Peterson's so called "wild card" was a very consistent golfer who would show flashes of brillance on the greens. Houlette only spent one year with the Cougars before transferring to San Diego State to pursue his academic goals.

Assistant Coach Mark Savage: Now retired from coaching, Savage was an integral part of the Cougars' success. A member of the COC men's golf team from 1988-89, Savage began his coaching career in 1990 and was influential in winning seven state championships with the men's and women's team.

Head Coach Gary Peterson: Now starting his 29th year as a head coach for the men's golf team, Peterson has won five state championships with the men's golf team and three with the women's

Kyetra Brown
The College of the Canyons women's basketball program has seen many talented guards jump start their collegiate careers on the Cougar Cage floor. Despite seeing tremendous amounts of skill on his teams, if you ask head women's basketball coach Greg Herrick who was the best point guard he has ever coached, he would quickly answer, Kyetra Brown.

In her two years at the college, the Thomas Jefferson High School alum led the team to a 64-11 record, which

included going an undefeated 22-0 in Western State Conference play. Brown's teams won two conference championships and made two trips to the state final eight tournament. She was also a member of the team that made it to the state finals during the 1996-97 season—a level that no other COC women's team has reached since. When asked why no other team has made it to the state finals since that season, Brown believes that it was a combination of the players, coaches and the focus of the team. She stated that while the coaches knew how to direct them to win, they were a very determined team that was ready to win.

During the course of her two years at College of the Canyons, she led the state in assists, was the all-time Western State Conference (WSC) leader in assists, and broke the school record with 363 assists in a season.

She was honored individually with a handful of accolades including All-Western State Conference (1997), Western State Conference MVP (1995), two-time All-State, All-Tournament for the 1997 state playoffs (1997) and named All-American (1995), which she considers one of her biggest accomplishments.

After seeing Brown on the court, the coaches at Langston University in Oklahoma offered her a chance to continue playing college basketball, where she played for one year.

The guard took a chance and left Langston University in 1997 to return home and try out for the newly formed WNBA Los Angeles Sparks. The tryout saw 300 women answer the call and she made it to the final 15 ballers only to find that the club was looking for a center and not a point guard.

Discouraged by the tryouts with the WNBA, Brown hung up her professional basketball dreams and entered the workforce. But, she still plays in pick-up games and organized community basketball leagues.

Though she took time off from basketball, the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association (CCCWBCA) did not forget her talents and she was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2005.

An avid reader and hiker, Brown is currently headed to California State University, Northridge, to finish her degree in kinesiology.

Mike Herrington
If one name screams Santa Clarita area football, that name would be Mike Herrington. From his early days as a Hart High School student to now coaching at his alma mater, Herrington's surname has been ingrained into the Santa Clarita Valley's high school football history. What most people don't know about the highly decorated Hart High School head varsity football coach and athletic director is that he started his collegiate football career at College of the Canyons.

After playing three seasons of football at Hart High School, while juggling track and field for the Indians, the eldest Herrington son made his way to College of the Canyons. Wanting to stay close to home, Herrington joined the football team under 2009 COC Hall of Fame inductee Larry Reisbig.

While also throwing the shot put and discus for the Cougars, Herrington started on the offensive line for most of his freshman year. His sophomore season made him a formidable lineman where he helped lead the team to a 6-4 record and 5-2 record in Western Conference play. He protected one of COC's most elusive quarterback's Reggie Ogburn and helped Ogburn gather 2,589 total yards during the 1977 season. It wasn't just his teammates that saw his talent and he was named First-Team All-Conference, while earning a scholarship to play two more years at nearby California State University, Northridge.

With the Matadors, Herrington started in every single game, but as soon as he graduated with a degree in physical education, he went straight to coaching.

Shortly after leaving CSUN, the young Herrington ventured back to his alma mater, Hart High School to take the position of the offensive line coach for the varsity football team. Four years later, he began his teaching career at Hart, and also began a four-year stint as the head track and field coach.

After being told that he needed head coaching experience, Herrington took his coaching skills and his younger brothers Rick and Dean, a former assistant football coach at COC, to Bellflower High School in 1988. Herrington helped the team to an 8-3 record and to the program's first playoff appearance in the past seven seasons.

Hart came looking for Herrington after he helped Bellflower turn the program around after one season and he and his brothers returned to Hart High School in 1989.

Twenty-two seasons later and countless games behind him, Herrington has amassed a 232-61-1 record, 15 Foothill League Championships, 10 CIF Finals appearances and won six CIF Southern Section championships with Hart High School. He also has helped guide two of his quarterbacks, Kyle Boller (Oakland Raiders) and Matt Moore (Carolina Panthers), to the NFL.

In fact, during her freshman season at COC, Marbach complained to her mother on numerous occasions that Marcellin hated her, vowing each time that her coach would one day grow to like her.

However, Marbach's story is one that looks significantly different when looking back at it years later.

Though her relationship with Marcellin might have started out rocky, today Marbach realizes that it was her coach's tough love that helped her evolve into the soccer player she turned out to be, and grow into the person she is today.

After graduating from nearby Hart High School, Marbach wasn't sure if she wanted to continue her soccer career at the next level. But with her high school head coach, Oliver Germond, in the process of joining the coaching staff at COC, and several of her former high school teammates already committed to playing at COC, Marbach received the extra push she needed and decided to join the team.

During her freshman season, Marbach's mental and physical toughness were tested through a series of rigorous conditioning drills, a serious injury, and the ongoing adjustments associated with becoming a collegiate student-athlete for the first time.

But the running — which she still recalls causing pain in her calves for the entire summer— extended time commitments and discipline helped set the foundation for a work ethic that Marbach still carries with her today.

Despite suffering a stress fracture in her leg that first year, Marbach played out the rest of the season and helped the team win a conference championship.

In her second year with the Cougars, Marbach registered 22 goals and 20 assists on her way to leading the team to a program-best 20-2-2 season. She set school records with career marks of 25 goals, 27 assists and 77 points and was named a National Soccer Coaches Association of America West Regional First-Team, and All-American Second-Team. Marbach was also honored as a National Strength and Conditioning Association All-American.

After COC she was recruited to play at California State University, Long Beach, but redshirted her first season. The next year Marbach decided to transfer to San Francisco State University where she had a productive career with the Gators.

The self-proclaimed food snob recently moved back to Santa Clarita after seven years in the San Francisco Bay area and is currently working at the Ritz Carlton, Marina del Rey. She enjoys cooking, snowboarding and working out.

Isaac Sopoaga
Spanning more than 30 years and two distinct eras, the College of the Canyons football program has seen its fair share of talented athletes and marquee players. But only twice in the program's storied history has a player been credited with capturing the attention of an entire community and simultaneously helping to define an era.

In 1999, with the program just one year removed from a 16-year hiatus,

Cougar football was again in need of a player who could spark the program, ignite its fan base and help reinvent how College of the Canyons football would be viewed in the community, throughout the state and across the nation.

Little did the college community know just how much of a spark one Samoan lineman could make.

Isaac Sopoaga arrived at COC from his native American Samoa in 1999, traveling more than 3,500 miles to arrive in Santa Clarita. Upon arrival the then 6-foot-3-inch, 289-pound defensive lineman, took a deep breath and quickly realized he wasn't in Samoa anymore.

More accustomed to his island home's sea level elevation, the air in Santa Clarita — which sits at roughly 1,200 feet — was a bit hard to swallow for Sopoaga. The thin air paired with the region's intense summer heat made for an interesting first few months both in town and on the field.

According to Sopaga, that first summer at COC was "one of the toughest training camps," and came with lots of heavy breathing and altitude-induced nosebleeds.

But after Sopoaga had some time to adjust to his surroundings, there would be no stopping the stand-out defensive lineman.

As a freshman in 1999 Sopoaga set a single-season record of 31 sacks at the California Community College level. But it was during his sophomore year in 2000 that Sopoaga became one of the most decorated football players in COC football history.

A member of the college's 1999 Western State Conference (WSC) championship team — the first since the program was reinstated in 1998 — Sopoaga played a key role for head coach Chuck Lyon on a team which finished with a 9-2 overall record and 6-1 mark in conference play. Even more impressive were the individual accolades bestowed upon Sopoaga during his career.

Following the 2000 season Sopoaga was named First-Team All-WSC, WSC Divison Player of the Year, WSC Defensive Player of the Year, All-State Defensive Player of the year, All-State First-Team and Junior College All-American First-Team.

With two very successful years at COC behind him, Sopoaga took his career to the next level, transferring to his dream school — the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

During his Warrior career Sopoaga tallied 28 tackles, two fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles and three pass break ups. For his efforts, he was named First-Team All Western Athletic Conference his junior year and Second Team All-Western Athletic Conference his senior season.

Following four stellar years at the college level, Sopoaga saw another personal dream come to fruition. The NFL's San Francisco 49ers came calling in 2004 when they drafted the defensive tackle in the fourth round, with the 104th overall pick.

Seven years later, the now 325-pound Sopoaga is a staple on the San Francisco defensive line. He had his best professional season in 2009, recording 69 tackles and starting in all 16 games for the 49ers. In 2010, he started 14 games and turned in 64 tackles and 1.5 sacks, while even seeing time at fullback in a game against the Oakland Raiders.

Sopoaga has been married to his wife, Tumua, for four years. Together they have four children, Marcia, Valo, Isaako and Hatesa.