Gallery: (3-5-2025) 2025 CSUN Hall of Fame

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – CSUN Athletics inducted its first Hall of Fame class in seven years on Friday, February 28, as three individuals and one team were honored at a dinner and ceremony at the Warner Center Marriott.

More than 200 Matador friends and family attended Friday's event, which inducted new Hall of Famers Channon Fluker (Basketball), Don Strametz (Track & Field/Cross Country), Joseph Vaughn (Football) and the 1987 National Champion Softball Team.

Master of Ceremonies and CSUN alum Bill Courtland began the evening by welcoming CSUN President Erika Beck and Director of Athletics Shawn Chin-Farrell to the stage.

"When I look at our current scholar-athletes, I see them drawing inspiration from the examples set by tonight's inductees," Beck said. "They see that being a Matador means striving for success not just in competition, but in everything they do. They understand that competing as a CSUN athlete means representing something larger than themselves."

Chin-Farrell returned to the podium to further celebrate the night's inductees.

"It is humbling to be in a room with this much greatness," said Chin-Farrell. "Our honorees, you embody the very best of what it means to be a Matador. You are an acknowledgment that the sacrifices that are required to be the best are worth it. Whether as a student-athlete and teammate or as a coach/mentor/father-figure/teacher of student-athletes you have proven anything and everything is possible at CSUN. I thank you for showing us the way. Tonight we immortalize your many achievements and we celebrate who you are as people."
 
Following dinner, the attention turned to the inductees.

First up was Vincent Johnson who inducted his former CSUN football teammate Joseph Vaughn.

Joseph Vaughn lettered for the Matador football team in 1993 and 1994 after playing two seasons at Cal State Fullerton. A 6-foot, 200-pound senior safety from Sylmar High School, Vaughn was the first CSUN football player to earn Associated Press I-AA All-America first-team honors. After leading the Matadors in tackles and total defensive points as a senior, Vaughn earned I-AA First Team All-America honors in 1994 from the Associated Press. He sadly passed away on July 9, 2023, at the age of 50.
 
During his career, he also tied the CSUN single-season record with nine interceptions in his final season. Vaughn also has the rare distinction of returning four interceptions for touchdowns to tie two NCAA Div. I-AA marks. He had 265 yards in returns to set another division record - the previous record was 251 return yards by Zack Bronson of McNeese State in 1993.

Vaughn's son, Jacob accepted the award on his father's behalf.

Presenting next was Serafina Maulupe who inducted her former women's basketball teammate Channon Fluker.

One of the most decorated women's basketball student-athletes in program history, Fluker was a was a four-time first-team All-Big West selection and a two-time Big West Player of the Year in 2017 and 2018. She was also named Big West Defensive Player of the Year twice and earned Big West Freshman of the Year in 2015-16. During her four years at CSUN, the Matadors, coached by Jason Flowers, won the Big West Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2018.
 
One of the greatest players in program history, Fluker is CSUN's career leader in points scored with 2,119 and ranks second in points per game at 17.0. She is the only player in program history with 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. She also holds CSUN career records in field goals (860), free throws (387), free throw attempts (588), rebounds (1,425), and blocked shots (311). Currently playing professionally in Europe, Fluker shared the following via a video message.

"I would like to thank the selection committee for the honor of being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Being a Matador means being part of the community and a family, and I will be forever grateful for what that has added to my life today and where it has taken me. The four years I spent on the campus and in the Matadome have brought me some of the most rewarding and memorable experiences I could have asked for. When I stepped onto the court I always had one goal and that was to leave my mark and that is what I have done."

Next up, former assistant coach Debbie Ching inducted the 1987 Matador softball team.

The 1987 CSUN softball team reached the pinnacle of their sport yet again, winning the Division II National Championship to give the Matadors their fourth national title in program history. Under the guidance of CSUN Hall of Famer Gary Torgeson, the 1987 Matadors finished the season with a 58-7 overall record, claiming their fourth national championship in five seasons.
 
CSUN, which still holds the NCAA Div. II record with four national championships, defeated Florida Southern, 4-0 in the championship game in Quincy, Ill.
 
In finishing 58-7 overall (18-1 in the CCAA), the 1987 Matadors set the single-season program record for winning percentage (.892). CSUN's 58 wins rank second to only the 1985 and 1989 teams that won 62 games. During the memorable '87 season, the Matadors lost their opening game of the postseason (1-0 to UC Davis at the NCAA West Regional in Sacramento) before winning six straight to capture the national title.
 
In three games at the national championship tournament in Illinois, CSUN outscored its three opponents, 11-3 while posting a pair of shutouts.
 
Torgeson was named NCAA Division II Coach of the Year, West Regional Coach of the Year, and CCAA Coach of the Year following the season. 10 CSUN student-athletes earned All-CCAA honors with Delanee Anderson earning first team and Most Valuable Pitcher honors and Beth Onestinghel also earning first team and Most Valuable Player accolades. Kim Bernstein, Debbie Dickmann, Barbara Jordan, Priscilla Rouse, Lori Shelly, Kelly Winn were all named first-team All-CCAA while Barbara Flynn and Tricia Saxton earned second-team honors.
 
Ching, a longtime assistant coach on Torgeson's staff, reflected on her memories of the 1987 season.

"I feel very privileged and it's an honor to be inducted," said Ching on behalf of the 1987 team. "I'm mostly grateful for the team, it's a great bunch of girls and they deserve it. What they did on the field and all the tournaments, I'm really glad they're getting recognized. This team did some incredible things, we had an incredible record, and it was fun with this team. We had to come back and re-commit after a rough 1986 season to bring a championship back to Northridge."

Last but not least, current CSUN head track & field coach and former student-athlete Justin Johnson inducted his former head coach Don Strametz.

Strametz coached the Matador women's track & field team for 31 years and the men's team for 26 years, retiring in 2011. He was also in charge of the CSUN men's and women's cross country teams from 1979-2011. 
 
One of the most successful coaches in CSUN history, Strametz received an astounding 29 Coach of the Year awards while winning 21 conference championships. He led CSUN to 13 Big West Conference championships, eight on the women's side and five on the men's side. He also won America West championships in 1995 and 1996 (men and women) as well as Big Sky titles in 1997, 1999 and 2000 on the women's side. More than 100 of his student-athletes earned All-Big West honors while nearly 150 of his student-athletes were honored by the Big Sky Conference.
 
Strametz oversaw CSUN's transition from NCAA Div. II to Div. I where the Matador women finished as national runners-up in cross country in 1985 and again in 1986. Led by the school's first All-American, Darcy Arreola, CSUN finished fourth at the 1989 NCAA Div. II National Championship meet as Arreola became the school's first NCAA champion, winning the 1,500-meter title at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. 
 
In 1990, CSUN's final season at the Div. II level, the Matador men finished second at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships while the women placed fifth for the second consecutive season. The fifth-place finish for the Matador women capped a streak of six top-10 finishes.
 
Strametz, who produced 11 DI outdoor All-Americans and five indoor All-Americans during his tenure, is credited with coaching a total of 10 NCAA Div. II individual national champions including Carol Keller (3,000 meters - 1983), Marlene Harmon (Heptathlon - 1983), Colleen Gainey (Javelin - 1987), Arreola (1,500, 3,000 meters - 1988, 3,000 meters - 1989), Walt Stewart (High Jump - 1989), Kevin Hendrix (100 meters - 1990), Erick McBride (800 meters - 1990) and Chris Perry (Long Jump - 1990).
 
More recently, DaShalle Andrews was the NCAA Long Jump champion outdoors in 2007 and Reindell Cole followed suit, winning the indoor title in 2008.
 
Strametz was also a 2015 inductee into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Hall of Fame and is also a member of the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays Hall of Fame.

"Of course, the student-athletes were always my number one," said Strametz. "The camaraderie between the coaches, those that are still here when I was here, it was just a great time to be together. We had a lot of battles to get what we needed to be successful, but overall it was just a great time. After you've spent over 30 years at an institution, and for it to come back and honor you is just an awesome feeling. It's something you don't think about as you're going through it but when your career is over and the honor comes your way it's just a blessing."
 
Throughout the day, the common theme was how each inductee's time as a Matador has impacted his or her life after college. From lifelong friendships, to lessons learned from teammates and coaches to how to overcome adversity, excellence was present all around.

#GoMatadors