Victor Valley High School
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Victor Valley High School is located in
Victorville Victorville is a city in Victor Valley in San Bernardino County, California. Its population as of the 2020 census was 134,810. History In 1858, Aaron G. Lane came to what is now known as Victorville and founded a waystation called "Lane's Cro ...
,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, United States. It is the oldest high school in the
Victor Valley Union High School District Victor Valley Union High School District (VVUHSD) is a school district in the Victor Valley of San Bernardino County, southern California. It serves grades 7-12 in the Victor Valley region of the Mojave Desert, including the towns of Victorville ...
(VVUHSD). The original campus was located at the former Victor Valley Junior High and University Preparatory School on Forrest Avenue in Old Town Victorville, until the current campus was built in 1952. It was the first of two high schools in Victorville, with the second being Silverado High School, completed in 1996. Visible from the homeside of Ray Moore Stadium is the Victorville "V," which was placed on a hill as a landmark for the original location of the High School on Forrest Ave. Keith Gunn, then high school football coach and later principal, spearheaded the project in the 1930s, with the cement being donated by Southwestern Portland Cement Company. The Keith Gunn Gymnasium is named in his honor, while the floor is dedicated to basketball coach Ollie Butler. The grassy area in the middle courtyard of the school is the "Senior Lawn", where only seniors are allowed. The courtyard is painted every year by the seniors to reflect their class.


Athletics

Victor Valley High School fields several teams in the Desert Sky League, including football, basketball, baseball, softball, wrestling, soccer (men's and women's), volleyball, swimming, tennis, track & field, cross country, and golf. Fencing is a competitive team, but not a member of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF). Several league championships have been won over the years in the Golden League, San Andreas League, and the Desert Sky League. In 1987, the wrestling team was the California State Champions. The school has won six California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section (CIF-SS) Championships. The first in 1981 was won by the women's C\cross country team in the CIF-SS 2A Division, and the remainder were won by the wrestling team. Though not a sanctioned CIF sport, the fencing team has won the California High School Championships numerous times, including six straight wins from 2006-2012. In 1987 the football team played in the CIF-SS Finals, the basketball team played in the CIF-SS Semi-Finals, the track and field team took third in the CIF-SS 2A Division and had the Champion in the 110 high meter and 300 meter intermediate hurdles, the tennis team won the San Andreas league title, and the wrestling team won the CIF State Title.


Baseball

Since 1988, twelve former Jackrabbits were drafted in the MLB Amateur Entry Draft.


Basketball

Under Hall of Fame Coach Ollie Butler, the basketball program won 13 league titles and 605 games. From 1974 to 1983, the Jackrabbits won ten consecutive league titles between the Golden League and San Andreas League. At the time, it was the third longest streak in CIF-SS history and currently ranks ninth. In 1977 and 1978, the Jackrabbits made back-to-back appearances in the CIF-SS 2-A Basketball Championships, losing both times to
Channel Islands High School Channel Islands High School (CIHS) is a secondary school located in Oxnard, California, United States. The school is part of the Oxnard Union High School District. CIHS had a student population of 2,596 during the 2018–19 school year. History C ...
. In 1987, the Jackrabbits played in the CIF-SS 2-A Basketball Semi-Finals, where they lost to eventual winner Woodbridge High School. Three players were drafted to professional basketball. The first was
Greg Hyder Gregory Peck Hyder (June 21, 1948 – October 1, 2014) was a former professional basketball player who played one season for the Kansas City Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Early life Gregory Peck Hyder was born on June 21, 19 ...
, the all-time leading scorer for
Eastern New Mexico University Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU or Eastern) is a public university with a main campus in Portales, New Mexico, and two associate degree-granting branches, one at Ruidoso and one at Roswell. ENMU is New Mexico's largest regional comprehensi ...
and a third-round selection by the Cincinnati Royals of the NBA in the
1970 NBA Draft The 1970 NBA draft was the 24th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 23, 1970, before the 1970–71 season. In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball player ...
. Greg would play one year in the NBA. Greg's younger brother, Jerry, who played alongside Greg at Eastern New Mexico University where they won the 1969 NAIA Basketball Championships, was selected in the 14th round by the Denver Rockets in the 1971 ABA Draft. The 1977 CIF-SS 2A Player of the Year, Tony Anderson, was selected in the seventh round by the
New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
in the 1982 NBA Draft, after playing for
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
. Neither Jerry Hyder nor Tony Anderson played professional basketball in the United States. The school's all-time leading scorer also played under Butler, Clyde "Scooty" Rivers (1978–1982), who went to play at the
University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
. Coach Butler was elected into the SCIBA Hall of Fame in 1999 and the floor in the Keith Gunn Gymnasium is named in his honor. In 1996 the Jackrabbits played in their third CIF-SS Basketball Championship in the 1-AA large school division losing to Long Beach Jordan High School, 54-38.


Football

The Jackrabbits compete annually against
Apple Valley High School Apple Valley High School is the name of two high schools in the United States: *Apple Valley High School (California) *Apple Valley High School (Minnesota) Apple Valley High School (AVHS) is a public four-year high school in the U.S. city of Ap ...
in the "Bell Game" and against
Barstow High School Barstow High School is a public high school located in Barstow, California. The school serves about 1,400 students in grades 9 to 12 from across the city and in outlying areas. History Founded in 1915, the school soon expanded and relocated to it ...
in the " Axe Game". The Bell game has been played since 1969. Apple Valley leads the overall series 33-15. The "Axe" game has been played since 1932 and is the longest high school rivalry game in the High Desert of Southern California. Barstow High School leads the series 51-44-4. The Jackrabbits have played in two CIF-SS Championships. The first was in 1966 against
Lawndale High School Lawndale High School is one of three high schools in Lawndale, California, United States. The school was closed in 1981, and reopened in 1998. It is one of three schools in the Centinela Valley Union High School District. In 2009, Lawndale High ...
, which they lost 19-7. The second was in 1987 against Arroyo High School, where the Jackrabbits lost 7-3 in overtime. Two players from the school are tied for the CIF-SS longest run from scrimmage of 99 yards. The first was run in 1998 by Carl Brown and the second in 2002 by Curtis Rudd, Jr.


Tennis

From 1952 to 1990, the Jackrabbits won multiple Golden and San Andreas League Team and individual Championships in both men's and women's tennis.


Track and field

The Jackrabbits have had eight CIF-SS Individual Champions in the following events: men's 100 meters, men's 110 meters high hurdles, men's 300 meter intermediate hurdles (twice), men's long jump (twice), women's 400 meters, and women's triple jump.


Wrestling

From 1983 to 1991, the team had 13 Individual 3A CIF-SS Champions in various weight classes and three California State Champions. In 1983, the Jackrabbits placed third in the CIF-SS Championships. In 1986, they placed second, and in 1987, placed third. Despite finishing third that year, the Jackrabbits won the school's only California State Title, anchored by two-time Olympian and Pride World Champion,
Dan Henderson Daniel Jeffery Henderson (born August 24, 1970) is an American retired mixed martial artist and Olympic wrestler, who last competed as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the last Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champi ...
. In 1990, the wrestling team won the CIF-SS 3-A Championship and finished fourth in the State Championships. Long-time head coach Sam Gollmyer retired and was inducted into the California Wrestling Hall of Fame. The team won the CIF-SS Coastal Division Championship and CIF-SS Division 4 Team Dual-Meet Championship in 2012. In all, the Jackrabbits have won eight various CIF-SS titles. For individual titles, the Jackrabbits have 15 wrestlers with a CIF-SS title, eight with a CIF Masters title, and three with a CIF State title.


Notable alumni

*
Rudy Redmond Rudolph Cruzette Redmond (born August 25, 1947) is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the 1969 NFL Draft. He played college football at Pacific. ...
(1965): NFL player from 1969-1972 with the
Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...
and
Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
*
Greg Hyder Gregory Peck Hyder (June 21, 1948 – October 1, 2014) was a former professional basketball player who played one season for the Kansas City Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Early life Gregory Peck Hyder was born on June 21, 19 ...
(1966): NBA player from 1970-1971
Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...
*
John W. Henry John William Henry II (born September 13, 1949) is an American businessman and investor and the founder of John W. Henry & Company, an investment management firm. He is the principal owner of Liverpool Football Club, the Boston Red Sox, ''The B ...
(1967): businessman, owner of
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
and
Liverpool Football Club Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...
* Tony Cherry (1981): NFL player from 1986-1987,
San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
; CFL player from 1988-1991 *
Dan Henderson Daniel Jeffery Henderson (born August 24, 1970) is an American retired mixed martial artist and Olympic wrestler, who last competed as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the last Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champi ...
(1988): professional
mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...
; two-time Olympic Greco-Roman Wrestler (1992 and 1996)


References


External links

* {{authority control High schools in San Bernardino County, California Public high schools in California Victorville, California 1915 establishments in California