Alumni Spotlight: Harry Tholen
This week's Alumni Spotlight is Harry Tholen who coached Baseball from 1982-1985 and 1989-2006!
Gainesville, FL
This week's Alumni Spotlight is Harry Tholen, who coached Santa Fe Baseball from 1982-1985, and 1989-2006!
Harry Tholen became the first coach for Santa Fe Baseball when the college added it as a sport in the 1981-82 academic year. In the 1982 season, the Saints went 22-20, including a 10-10 conference record. Tholen's 1985 Saints were crowned champions of the FCSAA State Tournament and earned their spot at the 1985 JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado. Over Tholen's 22 years as skipper for Santa Fe, he added two more Mid-Florida Conference Championships, one in 1992 and the other in 1995.
When Tholen eventually retired as the Saints Head Coach, accumulating a total record of (526-423), he has continued to stay involved in the program as a volunteer coach ever since current coach Johnny Wiggs offered him the opportunity in 2009.
Tholen was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame in 2011, as well as the Florida Community Colleges Activities Association Hall of Fame in 2004 and NJCAA Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1999.
Santa Fe College renamed the baseball field in Tholen's honor in February 2024 and has been called Harry Tholen Field ever since.
Tholen can been seen pictured above (left) with Johnny Wiggs (center) and Howard Roey (right). The three coaches had recently gotten together and shared a meal where they reconnected and looked back on the days when they were coaching in the FCSAA/NJCAA together. Roey is the former baseball coach of Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ), formerly named Florida Community College at Jacksonville (FCCJ). Roey was inducted into the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1995 and compiled 759 wins at FCCJ. Wiggs enters his 20th season with Santa Fe in 2026 and was inducted into the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in the summer of 2025.
Athletic Director Chanda Stebbins mentions "I can speak for our coaches and those in our department that having someone like Harry [Tholen] drop in and share words of wisdom inspires us all. His commitment to Santa Fe, our student athletes, and our coaches reminds us of why we do what we do. Certainly Harry's dedication to the ABCA, the NJCAA as well as the FCSAA is invaluable and we are lucky to benefit from him and his continue impact us all!"