California’s Ms. Softball.
The winningest female coach in CIF-Southern Section history.
Cross country and track state champions.
A high school jumper who grew into a runner who ran marathons around the world.
The 2025 inductees into the Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame are Simi Valley softball pitcher Sara Griffin, Westlake High tennis coach Connie Flanderka, Camarillo High high jumper Jeremy Fischer, Ventura High cross country coach Bill Tokar, and marathoner Ruth Vomund.
The quintet will be inducted as the Hall of Fame’s annual banquet on June 1 at the Serra Center in Camarillo.
Tickets may be purchased online at https://venturacountysportshalloffame.org.
Griffin was named California Ms. Softball by Cal-Hi Sports in 1993 and 1994. Her career ERA of 0.13 is 13th best in state history.
She led Simi Valley High to the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 championship in 1994, when she was named CIF-SS Division 1 Softball Player of the Year.
The three-time All-American and two-time Big Ten Player of the Year was the first University of Michigan player named Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year in 1998.
As a senior in 1998, Griffin was 35-3 in the circle, including 17-0 with a 1.09 ERA in Big Ten play.
She was the 15th pitcher in NCAA history to win 100 career games, going 106-19 with 40 shutouts and 602 strikeouts as a Wolverine. Griffin also hit .384 with 58 doubles and 184 RBIs.
The winningest female coach in county history, Flanderka’s teams won 818 matches, 26 league titles and four section titles.
Flanderka’s 1979 girls tennis team delivered Westlake High’s first CIF-SS championship in any sport.
The Westlake girls tennis program won 20 Marmonte League titles and four section titles in her 39-year coaching career.
When the Moundbridge, Kansas, native retired in 2017, she was Ventura County’s longest-tenured coach in any sport and her 601 wins were the most by any female coach in Southern Section history.
She also coached the Westlake boys tennis team from 2002-2017, winning 217 matches and six Marmonte League titles.
Tokar coached the Ventura High girls cross country program to the 2004 and 2005 CIF-State Division 1 championships.
From 1996-2005, Tokar's boys and girls cross country teams won 22 league titles, qualified for the state meet 10 times and finished in the top 10 at state seven times.
Tokar coached Josh Spiker, who won three section track titles and finished fourth in the 1999 state cross country meet.
In more than 30 years of service to Ventura High, Tokar ...
