ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME
INDUCTION BANQUET
J. FRANK DOBIE | PASADENA | PASADENA MEMORIAL | SAM RAYBURN | SOUTH HOUSTON
Tonight’s Program
ALUMNI CENTRAL WE’RE IN THIS TOGETHER
FOREVER PASADENA I. S.D.
Fight Song Medley
Pledge Allegiance
Bob Fawcett, Hall of Fame Committee Member
Presentation of Colors
Bob Fawcett, Hall of Fame Committee Member
Building the Legacy
Sam Rayburn High School NJROTC
The National Anthem
CONTACT THE ALUMNI COORDINATOR FOR MORE INFORMATION
Vickie Morgan
Board President
Jack Bailey
Board Vice President
Nelda Sullivan
Board Secretary
Mariselle Quijano
Assistant Secretary
Joe Horton, South Houston High School Assistant Principal
Invocation
Email: RBrown1@pasadenaisd.org
PASADENA ISD BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Rev. Emory Gadd, Hall of Fame Committee Member
Introduction of Emcee
Fred Roberts
Bill Barmore, Hall of Fame Chairman
Board Member
Emcee’s Welcome
Kenny Fernandez
Nate Griffin, FOX26 Sports Reporter
Board Member
Superintendent’s Welcome
Marshall Kendrick
PASADENA ISD ADMINISTRATION
Dr. DeeAnn Powell
Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Karen Hickman
Deputy Superintendent
Kevin Fornof
Dr. DeeAnn Powell, Pasadena ISD Superintendent of Schools
Board Member
Scholarship Presentations
Herman Williams, Hall of Fame Treasurer
Associate Superintendent
Dr. Steve Fullen
Associate Superintendent
Dr. Troy McCarley
Associate Superintendent
Keith Palmer
Associate Superintendent
Dr. Rhonda Parmer
Associate Superintendent
John Piscacek
Associate Superintendent
Cathy Supak, Houston Methodist St. John Hospital Outreach Athletic Trainer
Dr. Kenneth Brooks, Orthopedic Surgeon & PISD Team Orthopedic
PASADENA ISD STAFF
Cindy Parmer
Education Foundation
Executive Director
Isabel Trevino
Education Foundation
Administrative Assistant
Rupert Jaso Director of Athletics
Donna Branch
Special Presentation
Barbara Fuqua
Associate Superintendent
Terry Brotherton, Former Hall of Fame Chairman
Troy McCarley
Order of Induction
Associate Superintendent of Projects, Planning & Communication
Gloria Gallegos
Associate Superintendent
Allan Brown – Pasadena High School Coach
Alyta Harrell
Dr. Angela Stallings
Associate Superintendent
Jodie Kennemer
General Counsel
Art Del Barrio
Nikki Cockrell – Rayburn High School/Class of 1994
Associate Superintendent
Bobby Crenshaw – Pasadena High School/Class of 1959
Director of Communication
LaToya Davis – South Houston High School/Class of 2002
Reesha Brown
Bruce Dowdy – Pasadena High School/Class of 1967
Communication & Alumni
Harry Morgan – Pasadena High School and South Houston High School Coach
Development Coordinator
Johnny Parker – Rayburn High School/Class of 1968
Calvin Powitzky – Pasadena High School/Class of 1964
Assistant Director of Athletics
Bill Barmore
Chairman
Rupert Jaso
Donna Branch
Cindy Parmer
Robert Avery
Jade Wise
Communication Specialist
Pasadena High School Track Team – 1957
Pasadena ISD Athletics Address
Rupert Jaso, Pasadena ISD Director of Athletics
ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME COMMITTEE
Inductees’ Response
Travis Jaggers Vice- Chairman
Closing
Jack Bailey
Arturo Del Barrio
Bill Barmore & Nate Griffin
Terry Brotherton
Reesha Brown
Donna Branch
Calvin Powitzky – Pasadena High School/Class of 1964
Greg Clary
Tish Eubanks
Herman Williams Treasurer
Kenny Fernandez
Marie Flickinger
Rev. Emory Gadd
Autograph and Photo Session / Hall of Fame Museum
John Bryan
Bob Fawcett
Bob Gebhard
Secretary
Charlie Goehring
Linda Lukaszewski
Ben Meador
Dr. Troy McCarley
Mike Porterfield
Jade Wise
Welcome to the 2018 Pasadena ISD Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Banquet
Welcome to the 2018 Pasadena ISD Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Banquet.
It is an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of a distinguished football coach who led the South Houston High School Trojans to their first playoff berth, a PHS all-state lineman who lettered three years at Baylor and, as a senior, earned first-team All-SWC honors – the first Pasadena ISD product ever to be so honored, a South Houston basketball star who led the Trojans to regionals for the first time in the school’s history and later played in Europe, a PHS graduate who claimed All-State and All-Greater Houston honors as a tackle and signed with Rice University, a Texas Tech standout who reigned as one of the SWC’s best defensive players and later named to the SWC’s All-Decade team for the 70s, a Southwest Texas (Texas State University) legend who was named first-team all-conference and honorable mention All-American, a Sam Rayburn softball player who earned first-team all-district honors and a gold medal while playing for the USDA Junior Girls’ National team, and a Pasadena High School Coach who led the school’s track team to a state championship win. For the first time in the history of the Pasadena ISD Athletics Hall of Fame, the entire PHS 1957 track team will be inducted to the Hall of Fame tonight.
We are also honored to welcome our guest emcee, Nate Griffin, FOX 26 Houston Morning News personality who played football for Southern Mississippi.
Congratulations to our Athletics Hall of Fame Scholarship recipients. We wish them the best in their college experience and in their professional careers.
None of the above would be possible without the generous support of the Pasadena ISD Athletics Department, the Pasadena ISD Athletics Hall of Fame Committee and the Pasadena ISD Education Foundation. We want to thank our table sponsors, our Founding Donors and all of
our inductees – past and present – their families and their guests. We also wish to acknowledge the generous support of the Pasadena ISD Administration, the Board of Trustees and Pasadena ISD employees. In addition we would like to thank our Pasadena ISD high schools and the students and athletes who have volunteered their time this evening. Thank you to all.
Special thanks to Ernie and Susan Zardeneta for their catering services and for our delicious meal.
After the induction ceremony, we invite you to tour our Athletics Hall of Fame Museum, where you will have an opportunity to meet with the inductees for photographs and autographs.
This evening, we celebrate their achievements, spanning decades. From sports to academics, you can see that success is at the core of Pasadena ISD. I am thankful for the opportunity to showcase this tonight.
Thank you again for your attendance at this very special event.
Sincerely,
Welcome to the sixth annual Pasadena ISD Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Banquet. Tonight, we celebrate and honor the achievements of eight successful athletes and one extraordinary team - all graduates of our great school district.
These athletes demonstrated grit, discipline and dedication to reach their goals and achieve excellence in high school sports. We can only hope that our past success will continue to motivate and inspire future student-
Annual PISD Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Banquet Ceremony
athletes. Undoubtedly, our high school athletes continue to excel in each of our schools and make us proud on and off the field.
The accomplishments of these outstanding individuals and team could not have occurred without the continuous support of coaches, teachers and staff, alumni, and our Pasadena ISD Board of Trustees. Their contributions have and continue to be a crucial part of the success of our athletic programs and the district as a whole.
The Pasadena Independent School District Athletics Department would like to welcome everyone to the 2018 Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet. We are honored to have you as our guests as we recognize former PISD athletes who have made significant contributions on and off of the competition fields.
We would also like to thank our Hall of Fame committee members and sponsors who have contributed their time and efforts to making this special night a continued success.
Thank you for joining us as we recognize the outstanding achievements of this group of inductees into the Pasadena ISD Athletics Hall of Fame.
Congratulations to all the inductees!
Superintendent of Schools, Pasadena ISD Dr. DeeAnn Powell
Once again, congratulations to the 2018 inductees and their well deserved recognition tonight. We applaud the accomplishments of these former student athletes and the positive impact they have made on our PISD teams, community and beyond.
Sincerely,
Athletic Director, Pasadena ISD Rupert Jaso
Pasadena ISD Hall of Fame SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
Mackenzie
Cardenas
Track: 4 Letters
Basketball: 3 Letters
College: Undecided
Major: Public Service/Education
Frank Dobie HS
Frank Dobie HS
Brady Chant
Pasadena Memorial HS
Football: 1 Letter
Major: Family & Youth Ministry Pasadena Memorial HS
College: Lubbock Christian
Athletic Trainer Scholarship Recipients
Houston Methodist St. John Hospital, the official sports medicine partner of Pasadena ISD, is excited to announce the recipients of five $1,000 scholarships to PISD student athletic trainers from South Houston, Sam Rayburn & J. Frank Dobie High Schools.
2018 Hall of Fame Table Sponsors
Platinum Sponsors
CommunityBank of Texas
Gallagher Barmore
Gulf Coast Educators FCU
Meador Staffing Services, Inc.
Terry Brotherton Properties
Texas Citizens Bank
AVAdek / Matt Luebe
IBI Group Architects / Brooks & Sparks / Salas O’Brien
Gold
Sponsors
Ameraflex
Carl Choate - ‘57 Pasadena
HS Track Team
Bronze Sponsors
PISD Athletics Dept.
J. Frank Dobie High
Silver Sponsors
Cowart, Steven
Capital Bank
Coastal Flow Measurement
Dr. Harold O. Marshall
South Houston High ABC Dental Jones, Tom & Pam
Williams, Herman & Judy Ken Phelps Insurance
Connect
Putting Education in the Hands of the Students
and
NATE GRIFFIN
ABOUT NATE
Master of Ceremonies
Nate Griffin currently serves as general assignments reporter and sports analyst for KRIV-TV, assigned to FOX 26 Morning News. Before landing his current position, Nate covered professional, college and high school sports in Houston and the surrounding areas for more than 25 years in radio, television and on digital platforms.
Nate’s career began in Houston radio in 1989 as producer, weekday reporter and anchor. Nate wore many other hats during that time such as college basketball public address announcer and radio color analyst for high school and college football and basketball broadcasts. That experience eventually led to positions as a weekday reporter and weekend anchor at KBMT-TV in Beaumont, Texas.
Nate has since worked as a college football and basketball color analyst and contributing writer with regional and national TV networks including Comcast and ESPN3, as well as a reporter for the Houston Texans at www.houstontexans.com. The former Southern Mississippi and Los Medanos College wide receiver just completed his 10th season as radio color analyst for Rice Owls football broadcasts.
COACH TRACK
history. Brown, an assistant on Hall of Famer Bob Barfield’s staff, played an important role in that team’s development.
Fitting, too -- another of the Eagle players on that squad, Robbie Robinette, married Brown’s daughter, Sharon.
Brown was the son of a Creek Indian chief. When Brown was a boy, the oil business lured his family from Oklahoma to Texas, and Brown found a home at Pasadena High, where he played football for the Eagles and graduated in 1936. He went on to play at Southwest Texas State before
With the outbreak of the war, he joined the Coast Guard and served until 1946 when he rejoined the coaching staff at PHS. A decade later, in 1956, his Eagles track team took second at state, setting the stage for the Eagles’ title dash
That same track season, Brown organized the Pasadena Invitational Meet, an event that came to be regarded as an important regional warmup for the state championships. When he left Pasadena -- and gave up coaching -- in 1962, the meet was renamed the Brown Relays. The event
Presented by:
NIKKI COCKRELL
Sam Rayburn High School
ABOUT NIKKI
The record book for the University of Texas softball team has been rewritten many times since Nikki Cockrell played her final game for the Longhorns nearly two decades ago. Of course, it was Cockrell, in large part, who wrote it in the first place.
Cockrell was the key offensive and defensive component of a newly minted University of Texas program that rose to national prominence in just about the time took for Cockrell to run from first to third. Led by Cockrell – and the arm of former Dobie pitcher Christa Williams – the Longhorns landed a spot in softball’s College World Series in 1998, just the second year of existence for the program.
In a flash, UT softball was on the map – and the path opened wide for dozens of softball standouts from around the country to fill their shoes and break their records. A transfer from Texas A&M, Cockrell played on UT’s first three softball teams. When she left following the 1999 season, she ranked in the top five in 14 different recordbook categories.
The five-foot-two second baseman earned first-team AllAmerican honors as a junior when she drove in 46 runs and pounded 10 home runs -- both team highs. She repeated as an All-Big 12 honoree – and was named a third-team AllAmerican -- as a senior in 1999, belting a dramatic, extrainning homer that beat Missouri in the Big 12 Tournament, which the Longhorns went on to win.
At the end of the 1999 season, Cockrell was named the NCAA Woman of the Year for the state of Texas. Twice she was named an academic All-American. After college, she was drafted in the fourth round of the Women’s Pro Softball League draft. And in 2006, she was inducted into University of Texas’ Women’s Athletics Hall of Honor.
For her three seasons at UT, Cockrell hit 19 homers, 35 doubles, 10 triples and drove in 93 runs. She finished with a school-record of 48 steals in 57 attempts, half of those steals coming her sophomore year. As a junior and senior,
she handled 389 defensive chances while committing only five errors.
At Sam Rayburn, Cockrell lettered all four years in softball, earning first-team all-district honors her freshman, junior and senior seasons. She also lettered two years in basketball and earned Top 10 status academically. As a junior in 1993, she hit .594 and two years later earned a gold medal playing for the USA Junior Girls National team.
Pasadena ISD Athletics Hall of Fame
Presented by:
BOBBY CRENSHAW
Pasadena High School
ABOUT BOBBY
Baylor didn’t quite win the Southwest Conference championship in 1963. The Bears didn’t quite capture what would have been their first conference title in 40 years. But they did capture the imagination of everyone who followed college football in the early 1960s.
The quarterback was Don Trull, a pinpoint passer who twice was named All-American, finished fourth in voting for the Heisman Trophy and played six seasons with the Houston Oilers. The team’s star receiver was Lawrence Elkins, also a two-time All-American who also went on to play with the Oilers. Together, Trull and Elkins helped redefine the college passing game, setting records, some of which remain -- more than a half-century later -- on the Baylor books. Both were eventually inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
But there was a third leg to the stool that elevated the Bears to within one game of winning the SWC title in 1963 – a player mostly forgotten in time only because of the position he played. Trull served as co-captain of the 1963 Baylor team. The other co-captain, also a senior, was Bobby Crenshaw, a massive left tackle who guarded Trull’s blindside in true mama bear fashion.
Indeed, it was a common occurrence for the football paparazzi of the day, while on the prowl for photos of Trull, to later find Crenshaw somewhere in the shot, whether on the sideline or on the flank of a well-formed pass pocket. Their bond, it seemed, was sealed with glue.
There was one big difference: Trull and Elkins hit the bench after a Baylor touchdown. Crenshaw stayed on the field to play tackle on defense. His two-way dominance would help propel the Bears to an 8-3 record and a victory over LSU in the 1963 Bluebonnet Bowl that earned Baylor a Top 20 national ranking at season’s end. Only a 7-0 loss to the unbeaten – and eventual national champion – Texas Longhorns kept the 1963 Bears from winning the SWC crown.
Crenshaw was an all-state lineman for the famed Pasadena High team that went 12-2 in 1958 and reached the state
championship game, the only Pasadena ISD team ever to advance that far.
He lettered three years at Baylor and, as a senior, earned first-team All-SWC honors – the first Pasadena ISD product ever to be so honored. After the Bluebonnet Bowl, he played in the East-West Shrine Game and the Senior Bowl.
The Dallas Cowboys drafted him the 11th round of 1964 but lost him to the Oilers. Upstarts from the rival American Football League, Bud Adams’ talent gurus had drafted Crenshaw in the third round of the American Football League draft and had also napped Trull.
Crenshaw had all the makings of a pro standout, but fate dealt him a cruel blow in the Oilers’ next-to-last exhibition game in what would have been his rookie season. Playing against the Oakland Raiders in Las Vegas, Crenshaw injured his knee. He never played another down of football.
Years later, when Baylor announced its all-decade teams, Crenshaw was on the Bears’ defensive squad representing the 1960s. After football, he went into coaching for a few years and even carried a whistle for Pasadena ISD sports squads. He died in 2002 of a heart attack. Crenshaw was 61.
Presented by:
LATOYA DAVIS
South Houston High School
ABOUT LATOYA
It was almost as if someone had forgotten to tell LaToya Davis she wasn’t in high school anymore.
Her transition – from the basketball court at South Houston High to Texas Tech’s United Spirit Arena – was seemingly seamless. In the spring of 2002, she was the top gun of girls’ basketball in the Houston area. Before the fall of 2002 had expired, she was a key reserve for the nationally-ranked Lady Raiders, an explosive 6-1 forward with a knack for staggering Tech opponents with eye-popping bursts from the bench.
Promoted to starter her junior year, Davis began a twoseason run that rattled Tech’s stats calculators. As a senior, she compiled chart-busting numbers, 28.9 points and 10.5 rebounds per game with a 59.7 shooting percentage – all team highs. Davis was named first-team All-Big 12 that season and the Lady Raiders’ MVP. She was also selected as one of 10 finalists Senior Class Award, presented to the nation’s top senior player.
For her career at Tech, she posted 17 double-doubles. Her career shooting clip of 60.2 percent is a school record that still stands.
At South Houston, Davis was nothing short of amazing: four times a first-team all-district selection and the district’s MVP as a sophomore, junior and senior. She landed all-state honors as a junior and senior. And she was a three-time alldistrict volleyball player.
Her best numbers as a Lady Trojan came her sophomore year – before opponents had a clue how to defend her. Davis averaged 25.3 points that season with 16.1 rebounds and 5.2 blocks. She averaged 24.1 points and 11.3 rebounds as a junior.
As a senior, she led South Houston to the state regionals for the first time, averaging 17.4 points – including a one-game high of 51 and 12.1 rebounds. Along the way, she set the Lady Trojans’ record for career points. She finished her high school career as the No. 1 scorer in the Greater Houston area for three consecutive years.
After college, Davis played in Europe for five seasons before retiring from the game in 2011.
Presented by:
BRUCE DOWDY Pasadena High School
ABOUT BRUCE
For three consecutive seasons, Bruce Dowdy was Texas Tech’s symbol of football success. Any great play turned in by the Red Raiders’ 6-foot-4, 215-pound defensive end – and there were dozens of them during the 19681970 football campaigns -- would be followed by his own signature pose.
Standing erect, arms spread like a condor, his fingers flashing dual victory signs toward the stands. Tech fans knew what the fabled “Big Play” gesture meant. Dowdy had done it again.
A Pasadena High product and the son of a Houston police officer, Dowdy bruised many a ball carrier during his football career – and did his best to alter one of the most hallowed story lines in college football history. In 1968, playing in just his second collegiate game, Dowdy turned in a head-spinning performance against Texas, blocking a field-goal try, intercepting a pass and throwing the key block on an 84-yard punt return for a touchdown, all of which led to a 31-22 upset of the Longhorns. The victory
was Tech’s first ever against Texas in Lubbock. His efforts earned him AP National Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Recovering from their dose of Dowdy, the Longhorns wouldn’t lose another game for nearly three years. Their subsequent 30-game winning streak -- punctuated by national titles in 1969 and 1970 -was the longest in SWC history. Still, even that streak barely survived Dowdy’s big play antics.
Facing the Longhorns again as a senior, Dowdy slapped Texas with two fumble recoveries deep in Tech territory and made nine tackles. Although the Red Raiders lost the game, Dowdy’s performance earned him the second AP National Defensive Player of the Week award of his career.
Dowdy reigned as one the SWC’s best defensive players -- and an allacademic honoree, as well. He earned first team All-SWC honors as a sophomore and again as a senior. Named an honorable mention AllAmerican after his final
season, he topped off his career by taking home Tech’s Pete Cawthon Award as the Red Raiders’ best allaround player. Dowdy’s final game on the gridiron came in the 1970 Sun Bowl, where he sustained a careerending injury.
He was later named to the SWC’s All-Decade Team for the Seventies.
As a Pasadena High senior, Dowdy earned first-team all-district honors on defense and second-team laurels as a receiver after he led the district in touchdown catches. His clutch receptions during the 1966 season were critical to Eagle victories over Deer Park, Baytown and Sam Rayburn.
After his playing days at Tech, he coached high-school football for 11 years at PHS and Texas City before going into private business. Today, he still stands tall in the PHS halls as a participant – along with wife Connie, a fellow 1967 PHS alumnus -- in the school’s alumni mentor program.
Pasadena ISD Athletics
18
ISD
| Pasadena
Athletics Hall of Fame
Walter Woodard
Sam Rayburn HS Class of 1966
Supporter & Fan
Nikki Cockrell
Sam Rayburn HS Class of 1994
Christa Williams
J. Frank Dobie HS Class of 1996
Allan Brown Pasadena HS Track Coach
Jeff Wylie Pasadena HS Class of 1987
Bobby Crenshaw Pasadena HS Class of 1959
Bob Barfield Pasadena HS Football Coach
John Bryan J. Frank Dobie HS Track Coach
Amanda Buffalo Pasadena HS Class of 1985
Bobby Allen
South Houston HS Class of 1965
Brian Brazil
Sam Rayburn HS Class of 1983
Randall Kerbow Pasadena HS Class of 1959
Carl Choate Pasadena HS Class of 1959
Bert Coan Pasadena HS Class of 1958
Trevor Cobb J. Frank Dobie HS Class of 1989
Shane Nance J. Frank Dobie HS Class of 1996
Dan McIhany South Houston HS Class of 1961
Alicia Mills J. Frank Dobie HS Class of 1989
Gawain Guy
J. Frank Dobie HS Class of 1981
Scott Talton J. Frank Dobie HS Boys Basketball Coach
John Scheschuk J. Frank Dobie HS Class of 1995
Mickey Spencer Pasadena HS Class of 1947
David Webb Pasadena HS Class of 1959
E.W. Thompson Pasadena HS Basketball Coach
Hall of Fame Members
Mike
Gene
Bruce Dowdy
Calvin Powitzky Pasadena HS Class of 1964
LaToya Davis
South Houston HS Class of 2002
Johnny Parker
Sam Rayburn HS Class of 1968
Harry Morgan South Houston HS Football Coach
Pasadena High 1957 Track Team
McCarley
HS Class of 1955
Kirkland
HS Class of 1972
Randy McEachern
Mickey McCarty
George Cheshire Pasadena HS Class of 1964
Donna Branch
Sam Rayburn HS Class of 1975 Volleyball Coach
Weldon Phillips
HS Class of 1933 Director of Athletics
Steve Oxley
Sam Rayburn HS Class of 1969
Horace Duke Pasadena HS Class of 1960
Lilly Denoon Pasadena HS Class of 1990
David Freisleben
Sam Rayburn HS Class of 1971
Fritz Connally
HS Class of 1976
Kyla Hall Holas
Houston HS Class of 1990
John Holmes
Houston HS Class of 1986
Wes Hubert South Houston HS Class of 1976
Bill Henry Pasadena HS Class of 1946
Jimmy Johnson
Sam Rayburn HS Class of 1976
Lanny White Pasadena HS Class of 1968
COACH FOOTBALL
| Pasadena ISD Athletics Hall of Fame
Presented by:
HARRY MORGAN
South Houston High School
ABOUT HARRY
It was the most worrisome stroll of Harry Morgan’s life. Not his most perilous journey, however.
Long before he became the first head football coach in South Houston High School history, Morgan flew Liberator bombers as part of the Allied war effort in Europe. By comparison, Morgan’s walk to midfield to chat with the head referee in the waning minutes of a 1967 zone showdown game against Pasadena High might not have seemed like much. But it was.
The referee told Morgan what he wanted to hear –that his Trojans held a lead in penetrations and stood to earn a playoff berth if the game ended in a tie. Morgan watched as his team scored a touchdown to pull within a point of the Eagles in front of the 16,000 fans at Memorial Stadium. Trojan quarterback Donnie Brogna then added all that was required: an extra-point kick that left the game knotted at 13-13.
With that, Morgan’s team earned the first playoff berth in South Houston history. It happened in what many old-timers still consider to be the most
exciting game in Pasadena ISD football history.
Morgan stepped away from coaching after that season, disheartened by the loss of potential star players to new district high schools and constricting boundary lines. A decade earlier, it fell to Morgan to quickly assemble a competition program at Pasadena ISD’s first expansion high school – South Houston, a spinoff from flagship Pasadena. The results were remarkable: a 53-44-3 record over 10 years with only three losing seasons.
The Trojans made their mark quickly, beating the rival Eagles 12-8 in just the second meeting ever between the two schools. Two years later, Morgan’s team whipped PHS again. Those were the best of times for Morgan, himself a PHS spinoff. Morgan served as an assistant track coach and assistant football coach at Pasadena from 1954 to 1957. He was first assistant to PHS track Coach Allan Brown in 1957 when the Eagles won the state track title. Then it was off to South Houston and the daunting challenge of getting the Trojans’ football program off the ground. But
the old Liberator flyer got it done.
Morgan attended Hill Junior College immediately after the war and then earned his degree from Texas A&M. He landed a coaching job at Jackson Junior High and quickly set success standards that have never been matched at that level in Pasadena. From 1951 to 1953, the Jackson teams won 29 of 30 games and claimed three straight Gulf Coast district championships.
Morgan signed on as Dean of Boys at South Houston after the 1967 season. He became a district administrator in 1971 and retired in 1988 after 39 years of service to the Pasadena ISD.
Terry Brotherton
Presented by:
JOHNNY PARKER
Sam Rayburn High School
ABOUT JOHNNY
San Marcos, Texas, was known for two things at the start of the 1970s: A pig that could swim. And a football player who could fly.
The pig was Ralph, the darling of the town’s Aquarena Springs tourist resort. The football player was Johnny Parker, a wide receiver whose passcatching antics made him the darling of Southwest Texas State football for three seasons.
Not blessed with towering size or even sprinter’s speed, Parker nevertheless piled up receiving records like no one else in school history, before or since. Nearly a half-century later, several still survive.
His career total of 160 receptions still stands, as do his career marks of 2,479 receiving yards and a per-game average of 82.3 yards. His career mark of 19 touchdown catches wasn’t broken until 2008.
As winged wonders go, Parker was more the hummingbird than the falcon.
He could maneuver into open spaces where none seemed to exist. His ability to elude linebackers and defensive backs made him the Bobcats’ go-to receiver and a sure-bet for yardage in just about any situation.
A standout football and basketball player at Southmore Junior High and then Sam Rayburn, Parker signed on at New Mexico State when his first choice, Southwest Texas (now Texas State University), ran out of scholarships. After one season, he ran a comeback route, enrolled at Southwest Texas in 1969 and immediately became a campus football hero.
That season he caught 58 passes for school-record totals (since broken) of 927 yards and eight TDs. In one game alone, he caught 12 passes. And he averaged an amazing 102 receiving yards per game, a school record that still survives. As a junior in 1970, he posted a careerbest 189 yards in one game.
Extended fame caught up with Parker in 1971, his senior
season, when he helped lead the Bobcats to an 8-1-1 record and a Lone Star Conference co-championship.
In a season-ending showdown with Texas A&I, Parker tormented A&I defensive back Levi Johnson, who would later find NFL stardom with the Detroit Lions. In the game’s key play, Parker beat Johnson on a flag route for the Bobcats’ go-ahead score in a 29-24 Southwest Texas victory. After the season, Parker was named first-team allconference and an honorable mention All-American.
Perhaps the greatest wonder in Parker’s college career was that he played most of it hampered by a severe knee injury, the result of being waylaid by a teammate during punishment drills following a late-season loss his sophomore season. Despite four hours under the surgeon’s knife and three months of rehabilitation, Parker bounced back with enough resilience to torch the Bobcats’ record book but with a physical shortcoming that wrecked his pro football prospects.
Later, he spent 27 years with the campus police force at Southwest Texas – where he assisted with security at Bobcats football games. In 2016, he was inducted into Texas State’s Athletics Hall of Honor.
Presented by:
CALVIN POWITZKY JR.
Pasadena High School
ABOUT CALVIN
Calvin Powitzky’s father was an architect -- and Calvin decided as a young boy that he wanted to be one, too. Even football couldn’t change the blueprint of a man who would go on to become one of the top architects in the state of Texas. Not that football didn’t try.
As a Pasadena High School senior, Powitzky anchored the offensive and defensive lines for the only team in Pasadena ISD history never to lose a game. The Eagles that season won nine games and tied three. After opening the season with backto-back ties, Pasadena rattled off nine straight victories and advanced to the quarter-finals of the state playoffs.
There, they tied Spring Branch, 14-14, but failed to advance when Chris Gilbert, the nation’s best running back, provided his team with a late edge in tie-breaking penetrations.
Still, the Eagles were able to claim an undefeated season. Powitzky was able to claim even more: All-State and All-Greater Houston honors as a tackle. He was even named the most valuable player in District 12-4A – an unheard of achievement for a lineman.
Yet, even as he signed with Rice University to play football, he remained set on a career in architecture. His dad, Calvin Powitzky Sr., had designed
several of the most iconic buildings and dozens of homes in modern Pasadena. Calvin Jr. wanted to carry on that legacy.
And why not? Powitzky had graduated in the top three percent of his class. He served as senior class president and was crowned Mr. Pasadena High. And so it was that, during college, his dream took precedence over athletic prowess – with reality providing a guiding hand.
Powitzky lettered in 1965 and 1966 for a Rice team that won only two games each season. The highlight came his sophomore year when the Owls pulled a stunning upset, beating Darrell Royal’s fifthranked Longhorns in Austin. But for Powitzky, other memorable football moments were hard to come by.
Playing in Lubbock, he laid a tackle on Texas Tech AllAmerican Donny Anderson. Not many had. And traveling was a big thrill. Powitzky got to play at Tennessee and LSU. But the Owls were never treated like tourists.
Normally a second-teamer, Powitzky was sent into the game at Tiger Stadium when the Owls’ starting offensive tackle was knocked cold. The LSU player opposite Powitzky gave him a Tiger-like snarl and said simply: “I’m gonna kick your butt!”
“And,” as Powitzky recalls, “he did!” The seventh-ranked Tigers won by four touchdowns.
Powitzky’s junior season coincided with the final season for legendary Rice coach Jess Neely. Powitzky sensed that big changes were in the works. And Rice’s new coach, Bo Hagan, made it official.
“I need you,” he told Powitzky, “or I need your scholarship.”
So that was the choice -- either give up football or put his dream of becoming an architect on hold. Powitzky said goodbye to football. He graduated the following year with his bachelor’s degree and two years after that with his degree in architecture. He departed from Rice as the recipient of the Alpha Rho Chi Medal, the School of Architecture’s highest award.
Today, he is the co-founder of Bay Architects, also known as the Texas Studio for the IBI Group, a global design firm specializing in educational projects. Over the years, Powitzky has handled construction and renovation projects throughout Pasadena and surrounding communities, including PISD’s Kirk Lewis Career and Technical High School.
He has been at the front line of more than 28 campus renovation projects around the city, including one school that holds a special place in his well-prioritized heart -- Pasadena High School.
Presented
by:
‘57 TRACK TEAM
Pasadena High School
THE ‘57 TRACK TEAM
It was 1957. Elvis Presley’s “I’m all Shook Up” jammed the radio stations, “12 Angry Men” was playing in theaters across the country. It was the Kentucky Derby Day. While U.S. citizens watched these historical events, stitched into the fabric of American history unfold – the Pasadena High School track team created history of its own.
The 440-relay team consisted of Carl Choate, Larry Witte, Larry May and Bert Coan. The Eagles mile-relay team of Meador, Choate, May and Coan clocked one of the fastest times in the nation. Choate and Meador were quarter milers and Meador ran the 880 yd. dash. Coan and Phillip Breeden excelled in the sprints, Bill Donaldson threw the shot put and discus, Morris Cherry was besting others by leaps and bounds in the high hurdles while May was doing the same in the low hurdles. Robert Redwine and the late Larry Early shined as the team’s high jumper and pole-vaulter.
They competed at least twice each weekend throughout the season before the district meet, advanced to regionals and qualified for the big day, May 4, 1957 -- the state competition.
The meet was full of surprises that day. Clouds gave way
to a rainy forecast, but despite any hurdles, the team, led by coach Allan Brown and assistant coach Harry Morgan, was resilient, determined and committed to take home the gold.
Coan, one of the most celebrated football and track athletes in the state at the time, racked up the most points, helping the team get a leg up on the competition. Although Coan rarely competed in the long jump during the regular season, the 6 ft. 4 Eagle was thrust in action at the state meet where he soared 24 feet, 4 inches – shattering the state record. The jump also registered on national records, ranking No. 3 in the country.
Coan also won two sprint competitions in the 100-meter dash, clocking in at 10 seconds flat and the 220-meter in 22.1 seconds. A junior at the time, he tied in the high jump and ran the fastest leg on the 440-sprintrelay team.
With Coan in the game, the points kept adding up, closer and closer to the state championship finish line. It came down to the 440-relay. The relay team knew it came down to them.
It was almost as if Coan had passed an invisible baton,
pushing them to complete the last stretch on a win. In the 440-relay, a team comprised of Choate, Meador and May, not only did this group place first with a time of 43.3, but the entire team won the state championship.
While Coan was the undisputed star, he had a strong team behind him. Donaldson threw the shot put 49.8 and three quarters, earning first place in the division and setting a new record; and the Eagles’ 440-relay team clocked as one of the fastest in the nation. Meador, also bested the rest in the 880 yard dash, winning first place.
The meet went down as one of best in PHS sports history and Pasadena ISD, earning them a new moniker, the “Speedy Eagles”. The state title was listed as No. 4 in 1999 as Pasadena’s top 5 sports achievements of the century. It had been 11 years since Pasadena High School’s 1946 basketball team captured a state championship – which sweetened the victory for the track team.
On May 4, 1957, the Pasadena High School Eagles track team broke two state records and raced to victory to become state champions.
Today, they are claiming another place in history as they are inducted into Pasadena ISD’s 2018 Athletics Hall of Fame.
Congratulations
My friend at Pasadena High School & Baylor University
Coach Brown, Coach Morgan & The 1957 Track Team
Thanks for a great experience
Bobby Crenshaw
Carl Choate
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Congratulations to the 2018 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
Past President | Hall of Fame Committee Member
Terry Brotherton
ALUMNI CENTRAL WE’RE IN THIS TOGETHER
FOREVER PASADENA I. S.D.
Building the Legacy
CONTACT THE ALUMNI COORDINATOR FOR MORE INFORMATION Email: RBrown1@pasadenaisd.org
PASADENA ISD BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Vickie Morgan
Board President
Jack Bailey
Board Vice President
Nelda Sullivan
Board Secretary
Mariselle Quijano
Assistant Secretary
Fred Roberts Board Member
Kenny Fernandez Board Member
Marshall Kendrick Board Member
PASADENA ISD STAFF
Cindy Parmer
Education Foundation
Executive Director
Isabel Trevino
Education Foundation
Administrative Assistant
Rupert Jaso Director of Athletics
Donna Branch
Assistant Director of Athletics
Troy McCarley
Associate Superintendent of Projects, Planning & Communication
Art Del Barrio Director of Communication
Reesha Brown
Communication & Alumni
Development Coordinator
Jade Wise
Communication Specialist
PASADENA ISD ADMINISTRATION
Dr. DeeAnn Powell
Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Karen Hickman
Deputy Superintendent
Kevin Fornof
Associate Superintendent
Dr. Steve Fullen
Associate Superintendent
Barbara Fuqua
Associate Superintendent
Gloria Gallegos
Associate Superintendent
Alyta Harrell
Associate Superintendent
Dr. Troy McCarley
Associate Superintendent
Keith Palmer
Associate Superintendent
Dr. Rhonda Parmer
Associate Superintendent
John Piscacek
Associate Superintendent
Dr. Angela Stallings
Associate Superintendent
Jodie Kennemer
General Counsel
ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME COMMITTEE
Bill Barmore
Chairman
Rupert Jaso
Donna Branch
Cindy Parmer
Robert Avery
Travis Jaggers Vice- Chairman
Jack Bailey
Terry Brotherton
Reesha Brown
John Bryan
Arturo Del Barrio
Greg Clary
Tish Eubanks
Bob Fawcett
Herman Williams Treasurer
Kenny Fernandez
Marie Flickinger
Rev. Emory Gadd
Bob Gebhard
Donna Branch Secretary
Charlie Goehring
Linda Lukaszewski
Ben Meador
Dr. Troy McCarley
Mike Porterfield
Jade Wise