By Chris Abdelmalek
The Pueblo Chieftain
Nov. 15, 2024
The 2024 Greater Pueblo Sports Association Hall of Fame night commenced on Thursday evening at the Occhiato Center Ballroom on the campus of Colorado State University Pueblo.
The night was filled with excitement, as seven new members joined the ranks of the Hall of Fame.
“This is my fourth year doing this, but every year, it gets more exciting,” GPSA president Jerry Sisneros said about the night's events.
“We keep adding things with staging the inductee and adding the gift baskets as well, so it's just gotten better,” Sisneros said. “We want them to have the most fun and exciting night. It's not like your high school hall of fame — it's like the overall Hall of Fame for Pueblo, and I don't think there are very many communities in Colorado that do what we do.”
Among the 2024 inductees were some very talented and important sports figures from Pueblo’s past.
Prim Ivan was part of the ceremonies Thursday night and was excited about the call to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
“This means the whole world to me because of my services to the golf industry,” Ivan said. “I just love helping people and all the tournaments that I ran at Hollydot and all the people that I taught. It's just a culmination of all that is really important to me. To help people out to be a better golfer.”
Alexa Sandoval (Snyder) was the only woman elected to the Hall of Fame this year (41 overall) and she was taken back by all the support she received to be inducted.
“It's just an honor and super humbling,” Sandoval said. “You know, the sports community is a community of people, and you meet so many amazing people who join your journey. Today is a testament to that. I was kind of in shock, I didn't really know what to think. I am very humbled again by feeling good enough for someone to nominate me like that. That was kind of them.”
Sandoval also spoke about the impact of another woman making it into the Hall of Fame and what she hopes to inspire future generations.
“I think the biggest thing is, sports are so much more than just the sport itself,” Sandoval said. “It teaches you a lot about life. I think for women, that could be resilience and being able to do whatever you want in life. I think that this is a testament to that as well.”
Another member who was inducted on Thursday was former Chieftain sportswriter and editor Joe Cervi.
“It's pretty amazing. For 23 years, I wrote the feature stories of people going in, and I never thought I would be one of those people going into the Hall of Fame,” Cervi said. “I'm of that age where I still think it's a big deal, and I still appreciate the people who put it on and the GPSA to honor all of the Puebloans, and not just athletes, but coaches, administrators, officials and contributors. It's a neat thing to be a part of it.”
Cervi recalled what it was like to get the phone call.
“It was on a Monday night, and it was kind of late, and it was a number I didn't recognize, and I usually don't answer those,” Cervi said. “I don't know what made me answer it, so I answered it, and it was Gary Adamson who I covered forever. He told me this and I kind of started laughing I said, ‘Man, did they open up a wing for JV players?’ and he said, 'You know you're going in as a contributor,' I was joking, he goes, 'You're going in as a contributor and congratulations.' It was a very special phone call.”
Before the introduction of the Hall of Fame Inductees, awards were handed out to high school and college athletes.
The Brian Macartney Winners for 2024 included Pueblo South’s Maurice Austin and Pueblo Central’s Hadli Welsby.
The Sollie Raso Championship Award winner for the best school overall for athletics over the past year was Pueblo West.
The Jessie Banks and James "Spank" Blasing award winners were Kylie Severin, Shjon Andrews and Kenshin Uneo.
