Corrections & Clarifications: This article was updated to reflect that Pueblo County High School is the 2026 recipient of the Sollie Raso Award
Five people who’ve made their mark on the Pueblo sports scene will soon be immortalized as the newest inductees into the Greater Pueblo Sports Association Hall of Fame.
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This year’s class includes a longtime fixture in the local volleyball community, an accomplished coach, a notable sports broadcaster, a former all-state baseball player, and one of Colorado’s first Hispanic Division I football players.
Paul Arriaga, Jim Cornelison, George Gutierrez, Pat James and Arnald Swift are set to be celebrated as the GPSA’s newest hall of famers during a Nov. 18 induction ceremony in the Occhiato Ballroom at Colorado State University Pueblo.
In addition to the new hall of famers, the GPSA will also recognize three athletic achievements as its newest “Greatest Moments.”
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Tickets to the induction ceremony are $50 and can be purchased online on the GPSA website, pueblogshof.com. For additional information, call 719-406-0976. Tickets are on sale until Nov. 9.
Here’s what to know about the 2026 inductees.
Arriaga is a 1969 graduate of Pueblo Central who’s been a fixture in the Pueblo high school volleyball community, working as an athlete, coach, official, and ambassador to the sport, according to his official hall of fame bio.
Arriaga founded, managed, and played for the Pueblo Steelers Men’s Volleyball club, competing in the 1970s and 1980s.
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He has worked as a head girls volleyball coach at Pueblo Central, Pueblo Centennial, Pueblo South, and Dolores Huerta Prep High.
While coaching for Centennial, he was named the South-Central League’s Coach of the Year twice, in 2013 and 2016.
He also helped make Pueblo history in 2025 as an assistant coach under his son, Ramon Arriaga, with the Pueblo South boys volleyball team. The Colts finished as the Class 4A state runner-up in Denver, the highest finish by a Pueblo boys or girls volleyball team, according to his bio.
In 2026, he helped coach the Colts to the S-CL championship and regional championship. The team reached the Elite 8 of the 4A state tournament.
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Arriaga remains engaged in coaching girls and boys volleyball at South, and in Colorado Select 16s and 18s girls club volleyball with his granddaughters, Belle and Kai.
Cornelison, a Pueblo native, attended Pueblo Roncalli High School from 1965 to 1969.
Upon graduating from high school, he attended the University of New Mexico, where he realized his true calling was in broadcasting, according to his GPSA bio.
From that point forward, Cornelison pursued his dream of becoming a sports broadcaster.
More than 50 years later, “it’s clear that this Pueblo native made his mark on the Colorado broadcasting landscape,” his bio states.
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Cornelison’s career highlights include radio broadcasts in Arizona and Colorado.
In 1979, he was hired by one of Colorado’s most prominent news stations, KWGN-TV, in Denver, and for the next 22 years, Jim Conrad, as he was known in the broadcasting profession, “graced the airwaves in the Denver Metro area as the Sports Director for KWGN-TV,” his bio states.
Cornelison was named the Colorado Broadcasters Association’s Broadcast Citizen of the Year in 1997 and the Best Single Sports Program “Rockies Push for the Pennant” in 1995.
During his time in Denver, he served as the play-by-play announcer for the Denver Nuggets, University of Denver Hockey, University of Colorado football and basketball, and more.
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For 20 years, he also served as the public address announcer in the press box for the University of Colorado football games and seven years for Denver Broncos games.
Gutierrez is an alumnus of Central High School’s Class of 1962.
“An all-Pueblo and all-South-Central League star, George was the leading scorer on the best football team to ever play in Southern Colorado,” his bio states.
Gutierrez played left halfback on offense, outside linebacker on defense, and was the punter and did kickoffs for the Wildcats, who won the 1961 state championship against Lakewood 36-0.
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He lettered three times in football, twice in basketball, and was a three-year letterman in baseball, where he played catcher and shortstop.
He then went on to play football at Colorado State University as a left halfback and punter, making him one of the first Hispanic players to play Division I football in Colorado, according to his bio.
Before being sent to Vietnam, he played football for the U.S. Army at Fort Lewis in Washington.
He has been retired for 42 years and enjoys going to high school and college sports in Pueblo.
James, a 1968 graduate of Roncalli High School, was a three-sport athlete who ran cross country for two years and played basketball and baseball for four years each.
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During his senior year, he was named an All-Conference Honorable Mention basketball player, and he was also an All-Conference and All-State baseball player in 1968, according to his GPSA Hall of Fame bio.
After high school, James attended Fort Hays State University in Kansas, where he played basketball for two years and baseball for four. He was a four-year letter winner, a two-time team captain, and was named to the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) all-conference team in 1972 and 1973.
James spent 34 years coaching high school baseball and 18 years coaching basketball. His basketball teams compiled a 217-208 record, won seven conference championships and made 11 state playoff appearances.
His baseball teams compiled a 507-260-3 record, won 19 conference championships and made 22 state playoff appearances.
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In 2010, he was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame at Christ School in Arden, North Caroline. In 2022, he was inducted into the North Carolina Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame.
Swift spent more than six decades as a multi-sport athlete, young municipal recreation leader, championship-winning high school system coach, elite collegiate and state-level umpire, and Hall of Fame inductee, according to his GPSA Hall of Fame bio.
He has dedicated his life to shaping Colorado’s sports landscape.
Swift attended Adams State College in Alamosa between 1967 and 1969, earning three letters in baseball.
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He went on to become an accomplished coach, helping teams win numerous championships as an assistant coach at three schools: Holly High School, for wrestling; Roncalli High School, for baseball; and Rye High School, for football.
He was no stranger to the national and regional tournament scene, having been a head coach for the 15-year-old Babe Ruth World Series team in 1976, and an assistant for Legion baseball national tournament appearances in 1972 and 1973, according to his bio.
He was also a college baseball umpire for nine years and worked as a state tournament umpire between 1981 and 1991.
Swift served as a coach and administrator for 35 years at Rye High School.
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He was officially inducted into the Colorado Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2022.
In addition to the new hall of famers, the GPSA is also recognizing the following “Greatest Moments” and awards:
Greatest Moments:
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Era I – Eddie Lewis, 3X state swim champion, Central High School
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Era II – Jon Banker, 5X state swim champion, Centennial High School
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Era III – Andy Garcia, 4X heavyweight state wrestling champion, East High School
Macartney Award
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Enzo Pecoraro, East High School
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Drue Golob, Central High School
Jim Spanks Blasing Award
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Zack Rakowsky
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Evan Smith
Jessie Banks Award
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Jadyn Herron
Sollie Raso Award
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County High School
Chieftain Editor Zach Hillstrom can be reached at zhillstrom@usatodayco.com or on X at @ZachHillstrom. Support local news; subscribe to the Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Meet the 2026 Greater Pueblo Sports Association Hall of Fame inductees
