Photo courtesy Devin Malast/Long Beach State Athletics
The Long Beach State Athletics Hall of Fame gained eight new members on Wednesday evening, with the induction of five former student-athletes and three community members in the Class of 2025.
The five athletes enshrined into the Hall were Kyle Abbott (baseball), TJ DeFalco (men’s volleyball), Ashley Gonzales (women’s soccer), Shayna Kimbrough (softball), and Caitlin Ledoux (women’s volleyball).
Longtime donors and dedicated Beach Athletics supporters Marilyn Bohl, and Mike & Arline Walter were also inducted as community members.
Long Beach State Executive Director of Athletics Bobby Smitheran welcomed attendees to the event, the second Hall of Fame induction ceremony during his tenure at the Beach.
“Congratulations to our former student-athletes for cementing your legacy in Long Beach State Athletics history,” Smitheran said. “Your achievements provide our current student-athletes someone to emulate, and set a standard of excellence to strive for. And a special congratulations to our community members being inducted tonight. Their impacts on the Long Beach community and the passion they have for our student-athletes is nothing short of inspiring.”
Smitheran also introduced CSULB President Jane Close Conoley, who is set to retire this summer but got to celebrate one more Hall of Fame class for the athletic department.
“This is such a special event, an opportunity to bring together the past, present and the future of Long Beach State Athletics,” Conoley said. “Thank you for joining me and honoring those who have made outstanding contributions to the university’s rich tradition of athletic excellence.”
Kyle Abbott was the first athlete to be recognized, and discussed his time as a member of the “Original Dirtbags” on the historic 1989 baseball team. That group was the first coached by Hall of Famer Dave Snow, and the first Long Beach State team to reach the College World Series.
“It’s just that brotherhood of amateur athletics where you’re just a bunch of kids in the pirate ship,” said Abbott, who played in four MLB seasons after his time in Long Beach. “We were a unique group of guys. The team that Dave assembled that year had so many characters, and it was a lot of fun.”
Next to be inducted was Marilyn Bohl, who was instrumental in the recent facility upgrades at the aptly-named Bohl Diamond at Blair Field, the home of Long Beach baseball.
“The student-athletes are what it’s all about,” said Bohl. “There are a lot of young men and young women who are athletes, and education opens the door to opportunity. So if we can help athletes understand the real benefits and the importance of being student-athletes, it’s a win for everybody.”
TJ DeFalco won a pair of men’s volleyball national championships and was twice named the AVCA National Player of the Year during his time at the Beach. Though he was unable to attend the ceremony in person while he’s currently playing professionally in Japan, he discussed his experiences at Long Beach during a pre-recorded interview.
He said the biggest moment in his college career was the decision to stay in Long Beach, turning down a pro contract after leading the team to consecutive FInal Fours.
“I had an offer to leave after my sophomore year, and I stuck with my guys,” DeFalco shared. “And without me having made that decision, having those hard conversations with (head coach) Alan (Knipe) and his leadership that he instilled in me, I wouldn’t have had either of those national championships. So that’s one of my proudest moments–one, the step of maturity that the school really helped me through, but then also my ability to understand that it’s not time for me to go. It’s time for me to stay with my boys, to finish this thing we started.”
Next up was Ashley Gonzales, the leading goal scorer in the history of Long Beach State women’s soccer with 36. She remembered back to her first official visit to the Beach, and she loved seeing the camaraderie and spirit of the program during her trip to George Allen Field.
“I watched Nadia Link play when I went to go visit for my first time,” Gonzales recalled. “And I was thinking okay, this is no USC or UCLA, but I love this environment and just the culture that Long Beach State brings. It’s like no other, I feel.”
Softball star Shayna Kimbrough also had fond memories from her first time visiting the Beach, and was immediately drawn to the family feel of the program. She’s one of only two players in Big West history to earn both Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year honors in her career, and helped lead Long Beach State to a pair of Big West titles in her career.
“On my visit, it just felt like family,” said Kimbrough. “I remember going on my official visit and my teammates over here, Carly, Erin–I stayed with them the first night and they took me in, took care of me and everything. It just felt like family on my official visit and I made my choice then.”
There was also a second national champion in the Class of 2025 as volleyball star Caitlin Ledoux was enshrined for her accomplishments as both an indoor volleyball and beach volleyball athlete. She was a four-time All-Big West player indoors, and then earned First Team All-America recognition in beach volleyball, competing in each of the sport’s first two years at the collegiate level.
Ledoux and her teammates made history at Long Beach State, winning the 2013 national championship with an upset of No. 1 Pepperdine in the finals.
“It was an incredible experience,” said Ledoux of winning the title. “I wasn’t even sure that I was going to come back for that fifth year, so to be able to come back and then win the national championship with a bunch of teammates that I had started my freshman year with was really special. And then who gets to go jump in the ocean after they win a national championship? Not very many people. Some of those pictures are some of my favorite memories to this day.”
The final inductees of the night were Mike & Arline Walter, whose names adorn the Walter Pyramid–the iconic facility that’s become synonymous with Long Beach State Athletics. The couple arrived in Long Beach in 1993, when Mike took over as Dean of the College of Business. In the more than three decades since, both have been dedicated fans and supporters of Long Beach State and the surrounding community.
“The administrators, the teams, the culture. The idea that there was such pride across the university in what they were as an institution,” said Arline of what attracted them to Long Beach State. “And such pride in the athletic department. There was always the idea that we could be the best. And we like that.”
Disclosure: Marilyn Bohl is the founding sponsor of The562.org and a board member for our non-profit.
