June 24, 2022 – San Antonio ISD will bring back its prestigious Athletic Hall of Fame this summer. The event had been delayed due to COVID-19 in 2020. This year’s ceremony will honor inductees for 2020, 2021 and 2022.
The District will induct six honorees into the Athletic Hall of Fame. They will be honored at a ceremony Aug. 27 at the Alamo Convocation Center, located at 110 Tuleta Drive.
Individual tickets are $35. A table of eight seats costs $280. Sponsorships are also available. To buy tickets or get sponsorship information, visit www.saisd.net/athletichalloffame or call (210) 554-2655.
The 2020, 2021 and 2022 honorees are:
Emilie Burrer Foster – A 1965 state champion tennis player at Jefferson High School, Burrer Foster holds the school record for never losing a set or a match during her senior year in singles girls tennis. As a high school sophomore, she was named to the AAU-affiliated all-state team in softball, volleyball and basketball, but gave up those sports to focus on tennis. She was known for her dominating play and precision strikes on the tennis court. Her efforts earned her a tennis scholarship to Lubbock Christian College (now Lubbock Christian University), where she won two conference championships. She finished her collegiate career at Trinity University where she soared and set a school record by winning or sharing four national collegiate championships in singles and doubles in 1968 and 1969. As a tennis pro, she made multiple appearances at the U.S. Open and was a two-time doubles quarterfinalist. In 1969, she advanced to the Round of 16 in singles. From 1979-1990, Burrer Foster was the tennis coach at Trinity where the Tigers finished national runner-up twice and took third place five times. After coaching, Burrer Foster started BioKinesis, Inc., a consulting business focusing on injury prevention and performance enhancement for athletes that is still in operation today.
Milyse Lamkin – A champion basketball coach at Sam Houston High School. Lamkin served as the Sam Houston girls basketball head coach for nine years (2006-2014), where the team won six district championships, made nine straight UIL state playoff appearances, and won three playoff games. She amassed a 172-118 record. As a high school student athlete, the 1981 Sam Houston alumna was All-City in basketball and volleyball and was a top hurdler in track. She led her basketball team to four district titles. Her athletic prowess earned her a full scholarship to play softball and basketball at St. Mary’s University. As an outfielder for the Rattlers softball team (1983-1986), Lamkin played a huge role in helping the school capture its first and only NAIA softball national championship in 1986. She had a batting average of .301 and started all 43 games for the Rattlers. But it was coaching high school girls athletics where she made her biggest impact. She worked 23 years for San Antonio ISD and worked her way through the ranks. In 2005, she was interviewed by the San Antonio Express-News shortly after being named Sam Houston’s girls basketball coach. “All I could do was cry,” Lamkin said at the time. “This is my dream, my passion. A reality.” Toni Thompson, SAISD Associate Superintendent, said Lamkin made a difference for her students far beyond the basketball court. “Milyse knew that having impact and influence went far beyond than just playing the game. It was about developing competencies and character that you want young girls to develop so they will be responsible adults. That was Milyse. She was revered and respected by many.”
Gerardo Marquez – A state champion basketball coach at Fox Tech High School, Marquez is a 1975 graduate of Burbank High School and worked 15 years as a teacher and coach for San Antonio ISD. The pinnacle of his coaching career came in 1997 when he led Fox Tech to the Class 4A boys basketball state championship. Marquez was a star basketball player in high school at Burbank. At 6 feet and 2 inches tall, he was known as a crafty shooting guard. He was a three-year varsity letterman who was named team captain in his senior year and helped the Bulldogs win the district championship in 1975. Marquez played for a star-studded Burbank team that included the likes of center Gilbert Salinas, who, at 6 feet, 11 inches tall, went on to play college basketball at the University of Notre Dame. Marquez played four years of college basketball at Trinity University. In 1981, he began his coaching career in SAISD. He became the head basketball coach at Fox Tech in 1995. In only his second season as head coach, he led the Buffaloes to the school’s first and only state basketball championship. The Buffaloes stampeded to a 36-3 overall record and beat Dallas Lincoln 68-59 to win the state title. Marquez’s Tech team revolved around five seniors, which included Robert Bell and Lenny Brown, both went on to play college basketball. In 1998, Marquez moved to Northside ISD where he was a school principal until retiring in 2017.
David Rodriguez – A 1945 Lanier High School alum, Rodriguez was known as a big man and solid all-around player on the basketball court. At 6 feet, 5 inches tall, Rodriguez was a two-time All-State center for the Lanier Voks. He played for legendary coach Nemo Herrera. The Voks won two Class A state championships in 1943 and 1945. In 1944, Lanier finished runner-up at state. Rodriguez was the dominating inside force that elevated the Voks to state recognition. At the 1945 state tournament, Rodriguez averaged 41.3 points per game. After high school, he served in the United States Air Force where he led Chanute Air Force Base to the Air Force basketball title in 1946. When completing his military duty, Rodriguez attended Tyler Junior College where he was named an All-American and led his team to the 1949 national championship with a 66-64 victory over Compton, California. In 1950, he transferred to the University of Houston where he was an All-League player and helped the team win the Gulf Coast Conference Championship. After college, Rodriguez worked as a coach, teacher, and administrator for 39 years for the El Paso School District.
Ricardo Romo – One of a select few high school athletes in the nation to win three individual state championships, the 1962 Fox Tech High School graduate was a four-year star on the track team and is regarded as one of the fastest distance runners in San Antonio ISD history. Romo won back-to-back state championships in the one-mile run in 1961 and 1962. His fastest time in the one-mile run came in his senior year at the Gulf Coast AAU track meet where he ran a blazing 4:10 time, a school record that still stands today. Also in Romo’s senior year, he won a state championship in cross country, a then two-mile race. After high school, he attended the University of Texas at Austin on a full athletic scholarship. He achieved All-American honors after becoming the first collegiate athlete in Texas to break the 4-minute time barrier in the one-mile race. In 1966 at a Southern California AAU meet, Romo rewrote the record books with a sizzling 3:58 time in the one-mile run, a school record that stood for 41 years. He attributes his success to running four to five miles to school every morning while in high school since there was no bus to take him. In his professional career, Romo rose to become the president of the University of Texas at San Antonio, a position he held from 1999 to 2017. Under his leadership, UTSA was named by the Texas Legislature as an emerging Tier One research university, enrollment grew by 68 percent, doctoral programs increased from three to 24, and an NCAA Division I football team was formed.
Greg Simmons – A long-time renowned sportscaster in San Antonio, Simmons is a 1974 graduate of Jefferson High School. He rose to become one of the most famous sports media personalities the city of San Antonio has ever produced. While in elementary school, he played catcher for the YMCA baseball league at the Madison Elementary School field. He got his first sportscasting break when YMCA league officials allowed him to call baseball games for the crowd. At the young age of 11, while attending Longfellow Junior High, he knew he wanted to be a sportscaster. At Jefferson High School, the principal allowed Simmons to help launch KJEF radio, an in-house station that would play music and news for the campus. He was also the announcer for Jefferson halftime shows at football games. While in high school, he got his first professional radio job as an announcer for KWED radio in Seguin. Upon graduating from high school, he was hired as the overnight news and sportscaster at KBUC radio. In 1980, he was hired at the San Antonio ABC affiliate, KSAT TV, as a sportscaster where he still works today. He became an award-winning sports journalist who has been on the radio and TV airwaves for more than 50 years. Simmons has covered Dallas Cowboys Super Bowls, San Antonio Spurs Championships, and interviewed countless professional, collegiate and high school athletes.
About the SAISD Athletic Hall of Fame
Established in 2014 in collaboration with the San Antonio ISD Foundation, the SAISD Athletic Hall of Fame recognizes alumni who have made a positive impact in sports, either through excellent athletic achievements or excellent athletic program contributions. Since its inception, 35 honorees have been inducted into this prestigious hall.
A timeless and elegant bronze plaque commemorating the honorees will be on permanent display on the Hall of Fame Wall located on the visiting team’s side of the historic Alamo Stadium. Additionally, inductees will receive a commemorative plaque to keep.
Nominations were received this past year and selection was made by a committee. Eligibility requirements for the SAISD Athletic Hall of Fame include:
• Student-athletes who graduated from an SAISD high school at least 10 years ago. Nominees could be considered posthumously.
• Administrators who served at the high-school level for a minimum of 20 years or as a high school administrator and coach for a minimum of 15 years, of which at least 10 years must have been as an administrator.
• Coaches who served at the high-school level for at least 20 years. Primary consideration was given to their achievements at this level and secondarily to those at the collegiate or professional level.
• Contributors in such areas as sports media, sports medicine, sports official, sports announcer or supporter. Nominees were considered primarily on the merits of their contributions to high school athletics and must have been involved in high school athletics for a minimum of 20 years.