Charles Roberts is the most accomplished student-athlete in Sac State’s Div. I era. The little running back (he stood 5-foot-6) was a two-time first-team All-American at the Division I-AA level and is the leading rusher in school history.

Roberts set a national Div. I-AA rushing record in 1998 with his 2,260 yards. He currently plays for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Canadian Football League. The 409-yard performance in 1999 against Idaho State was the greatest athletic achievement in school history.

Only two other players have been named first-team All-America in football — offensive lineman John Osterhout and wide receiver Fred Amey. Osterhout, who was a first-teamer in 1999, is the Hornets’ current defensive line coach. He along with current New England Patriots offensive lineman Lonnie Paxton helped open holes for the aforementioned Roberts.

The other was Fred Amey who was named All-American three times and first team in 2004. He is one of the best receivers in Big Sky history and just signed a rookie free agent contract with the San Francisco 49ers last week.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of Sacramento State’s first teams’ move up from Division II to Division I and the 10th anniversary of the completion of the transition.

In the spring of 1990, both the baseball and softball teams were the first to represent Sac State at the Div. I level. The next school year, 1990-91 every team but football moved up to Div. I.

In the late 1980s baseball, softball and women’s volleyball were all enjoying tremendous runs of success at the Div. II level.

The baseball team, led by current head coach John Smith, went to the NCAA Regionals in four of five years from 1985 to 1989. Under Smith’s guidance, the Hornets made two Div. II College World Series appearances, appearing in 1986 and in ’88 they were the Div. II runners-up.

The next season, the Sac State softball team was also the National runner-up.

Debby Colberg and her volleyball team were the most dominant force on campus in that era and arguably still are today. From 1981-1990, Colberg’s team made the Div. II Regionals every year and made it to the NCAA Div. II Nationals in five of those years. They took home the National Championship in 1981 and were national runners-up in 1989.

Colberg, whose 29 years of coaching at Sac State team are the longest among any Sac State head coach ever, said the move up was one of the reasons she decided to stay in Sacramento.

“It definitely was motivation for me,” Colberg said. “We gradually had to move up because we were playing Div. I quality players and teams and it was an adjustment for us to get the better athletes in order for us to compete at this level.”

Colberg has had continuous success in recent years as her team has won the Big Sky conference tournament six times in the last eight years including the last three on the road at Eastern Washington. They have also made the NCAA tournament seven of the last eight years — winning their first round match against Houston in 1998.

Of all the players Colberg has had in her time at Sac State, Jill Haas was mentioned as the best she’s ever had. She considered Haas the player that put their program over the top and gained credibility for Sac State volleyball. Haas was the first first-team All-American in school history of any player at the Div. I level.

Even though she wasn’t a first-team All-American, Kristy Ryan left her mark on her sport as well. Ryan is the all-time leading scorer in Sac State women’s hoops’ history; she played from 1990-94 and in her senior season she led the nation in scoring with 28 points per game and finished third in rebounding (13.3 per game) as she finished second team All-America. She had her number 21 retired in 1995.

Earlier this year, former softball pitcher Susie Bugliarello joined Ryan and former baseball player Vince Beall as the only players in school history to have their numbers retired. Bugliarello was a three-time All-American and she holds six school pitching records including career strikeouts (945) where she stands at 22nd all-time in NCAA history.

In 1995 Bugliarello finished third in the country with 0.59 ERA and led the Hornets to a 40-15 record and a No. 8 ranking in the final polls as Sac State hosted its second NCAA Regionals in three years. Bugliarello competed for Italy in both the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.

One women’s sport that may not get attention as others is the gymnastics team who has also had its share of top athletes. Toni Peterson was a national champion in the floor exercise in 2000.

In 1999 the gymnastics team made it to the 1999 West Regional, the best posting of any gymnastics in school history.

However, coach Kim Hughes mentioned that for them to finally get scholarships is what he feels is most significant moment for his team in the last 15 years.

“Getting scholarships was the base of all of our success as a program. We were able to offer full-rides and this really allowed us to compete at the Division I level,” said Hughes, who just finished up his 23rd year as gymnastics coach.

There have been many other high points in the last 15 years for the Divison I Hornets. Colberg’s volleyball squads have been very competitive in both the Big Sky and in the country. Beating Eastern Washington three years in a row in Cheney, Wash., to win the conference title is something that the coach puts high on her list of achievements. Softball finished eighth in the country in 1995 and in 2000 they knocked off the No. 1 team in the country, UCLA, in a tournament in San Diego.

The first ever Big Sky Conference championship was from 1997 men’s golf. They were led by current men’s golf coach Adam Pohll, who was a co-medalist at the Big Sky Championship as a senior, as he won four tournaments that year.

“I remember winning that championship vividly,” Pohll said. “It’s exciting to look back on what happened, especially since we were a school that wasn’t supposed to win the Conference.

“Because we are at the Div. I level now, it gives us and all of the other teams on campus a chance to compete for championship and in tournaments that we weren’t able to before the move up.”

Another sport where individual achievement is very high is on the track. Track and field has had two two-time All-Big Sky performers in long jumper Brandon Parker in the long jump and hurdler who Rosheena Duree. Both Parker and Duree competed in the 2003 and 2004 NCAA Outdoor regional championships. Parker competed in the 2003 National Championships as he finished in 18th place.

Because of the notoriety gained by athletics throughout the Big Sky and the country Sacramento has been able to host events such as the 2000 and 2004 USA Track and Field Olympic Team Trials and the 2005-07 NCAA Div. I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

“Being able to host an event like the Olympic Trials or the NCAA Championships is always a positive for the institution,” said Bill Macriss Sac State Associate Athletics Director. “When events like that are broadcast nationally too much of the country, it can only bring many positives to the city of Sacramento, Sac State athletics and the entire university.”

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Mitch McLaughlin can be reached at [email protected]