The Long Beach Century Club held its 69th Annual All Sports Hall of Fame Banquet at The Grand on June 15.
The club, with over 300 members, recognized Clara Adams, a track and field athlete at Wilson, and Kiele Ho-Ching, who played softball at Poly, as the Girls High School Co-Athletes of the Year. Adams took home two individual state titles and one team title in her junior season and was the Press-Telegram Girls Athlete of the Year, while Ho-Ching won gold with the USA Softball U-18 Women’s National Team in 2025 and signed with Oklahoma as Prep Softball’s No. 1-ranked recruit.
Long Beach Poly swimmer Lucas Jue, the club’s Boys High School Athlete of the Year, won the CIF state title in the 500-yard freestyle and placed ninth in the 100 breaststroke. He also set meet records in the 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle at the Moore League finals.
Poly senior Lucas Jue etched his name into the Moore League record books a few more times, setting a new meet and league record in the 500 Freestyle, a record he’s been eyeing since his freshman year. (Photo by Tracey Roman)
Wilson junior Clara Adams celebrates after winning her second gold medal, in the girls 200 meters, following her win in the 400 meters earlier in the meet. (Photo by John Napalan)
The Century Club added three inductees to its hall of fame – lawyer Rich Foster, Olympian Bryshon Nellum and former Grand Prix President and CEO Jim Michaelian – and handed out a variety of honors in the sports community.
Three-time All-American Elisa Portillo and Big West Golfer of the Year Alejandro de Castro Piera were named the Athletes of the Year from Long Beach State for their contributions in women’s water polo and men’s golf, respectively.
The club awarded All-American Olivia Birdsall and Andrew Zevallos as Long Beach City College’s Athletes of the Year. Birdsall, the 2025 3C2A State Championship’s Most Valuable Player, helped the Vikings defend their state water polo title. Zevallos is transferring to Concordia University in Irvine, where he’ll continue his soccer career as a student-athlete.
Of the 35 high school athletes recognized as the Athlete of the Year in their respective sports, 11 hailed from Millikan, 10 from Wilson, eight from Poly, three from Lakewood and one from each of Jordan, St. Anthony and Cams.
Additionally, Kalin Badgley won the Hank Hollingworth Award, which recognizes unique achievements in sports and is named after a former Press-Telegram sports editor, for becoming the first girl to play varsity baseball at Wilson.
Long Beach State men’s volleyball coach Nick Macrae, who replaced three-time national champion Alan Knipe, brought the Beach to the NCAA semifinals in 2026. Long Beach also won the Big West Tournament, triumphing over the eventual national champions, Hawai’i, in the title match.
Michaelian’s addition to the hall of fame comes posthumously, following his death in March at 83.