> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Tommie Smith, Lynn Hill and Jerry Davila-Castro join SMC Hall of Fame - URL: https://www.smdp.com/second-to-none/ - Published: 2006-11-02T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T22:00:58.000Z - Author: Melody Hanatani - Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import *Three world-class athletes enshrined into Hall of Fame* SMC — It was a defining moment in the struggle for civil rights. Following the 200-meter race in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, wearing a gold medal around his neck, sprinter Tommie Smith lowered his head during the national anthem and raised his leather-covered fist into the air, symbolizing black power. Ten years later, Smith — the only man to hold 11 world records simultaneously — became the track and field coach at Santa Monica College, where he remained until his retirement in 2005. He is one of three world-class athletes who will be feted by the school on Saturday for a lifetime’s worth of achievement, not only in sports, but SMC sports. Smith, female rock climber and former SMC track and field member Lynn Hill, and table tennis champion Jerry N. Davila-Castro were selected from more than 60 nominees to be enshrined as the second class of the SMC Hall of Fame. The Santa Monica College sports talent pool is loaded with former superstars like current Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson and Carolina Panthers wideout Steve Smith, both of whom played at the school together in 1997. “We have a lot of professional athletes out there right now who started their careers here at SMC,” said SMC Foundation Executive Director Dr. JoAnn McLin Ortiz. “It was time we celebrated it.” Last year, SMC inducted four-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Lenny Krayzelburg, four-time track and field Olympian Johnny Gray and 44-year SMC swimming coach John Joseph. “They’re all champions in their areas and (make up) an extremely diverse class,” McLin-Ortiz said. Hill, 45, is considered to be the best female rock climber in the world. She is the only rock climber to have free climbed the nose route of El Capitan — the most historic route in Yosemite. It was another 11 years before another climber repeated the dangerous feat. Free climbing is rock climbing with only rope and no equipment, unless it is used as a protective last resort. Her association with Santa Monica College is as a member of the 1982 Women’s Track and Field State Championship team. Hill, a rock climber for 31 years, did not consider track and field as an option until she was discovered and recruited by coach Anna Collier to join the team. She found it a good opportunity to keep in shape for her first true passion, rock climbing. Hill currently resides in Boulder, Colo. “I think the whole purpose of having a Hall of Fame is to show you worked hard and put your mind to something,” Hill said.“It was kind of magical to achieve (a win) in the state meet.” Wheelchair-bound because of infant polio, Davila-Castro attended SMC from 1989 to 1993, becoming a member of the 1992 USA Paralympics Team in Barcelona. Among his achievements are silver medals in the 1986 Pan American Games and 1987 World Championships, a gold medal in the 1991 California State Championship and a silver medal in the 1991 National Championship — all in table tennis. Davila-Castro was not available for comment as of press time. Born in Clarksville, Texas, in 1944, Smith coached thousands of students in both men’s and women’s track and field during his 27-year tenure at SMC. His achievements as coach include numerous conference championships in the Western State Conference. In addition to coaching,Smith taught sociology and different swimming and water workout classes at SMC. Though he never coached Hill in women’s track and field, he remembers her well. “I used to watch her all the time and thought ‘my goodness gracious, where did all that energy come from?’” said Smith. Santa Monica College is a fine institution because of the dedication of its coaches and because of the strong recruiting program, said Smith, who now resides in Atlanta, Ga. “We came there to do the best we can,” he said. “The best I can do is no less than winning. I was very upset when we didn’t win.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 2, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/110206.pdf?ref=smdp.com)