Barbara Lucas – Contributor
Whether it be on the football, basketball, or baseball sidelines, a soccer match, swim meet, tennis match or even on the sidelines with the cheerleaders that support the athletes, Barbara Lucas is sure to be found with her camera in hand, ready to capture the special moments of Wasco High athletes.  Barbara first began taking family still pictures and movie pictures of her two sons, David and Dale, during the late 1950’s, and when they started competing in Little League Baseball and junior high flag football, basketball, and track during the late 1960’s, she began to photograph and video their games, continuing as they went on to high school.  One eventful moment early in her picture-taking career was in 1968, when she captured Otis Hailey’s record setting National Prep High Jump record of 7’ 1¼” at Bakersfield College with her Super 8 movie camera.  Even after her two sons graduated from Wasco High, she continued her passion for photography, and the photographs kept coming, roll after roll, challenging herself to get the best pictures she could at the many athletic contests she attended, eventually leading to her taking pictures of her grandson’s athletic events and granddaughter’s cheerleading squads, as well as countless other Wasco High athletes and teams.  Since Barbara’s passion for photographing athletes began over forty years ago, she has photographed many special and exciting moments in Wasco High sports’ history, and finds it very rewarding to give these pictures to the athletes.  She says, “I have been the fortunate one, thinking about all of the exciting moments I have witnessed and about all of the many students I have come to know throughout the years.”  With her digital camera in hand, she continues to be as active as ever as she follows Wasco High athletes, as well as those Wasco High graduates that have a son or daughter at other area schools, recording those magical moments that last a lifetime.

Carl Smith – Athlete (Class of 1966)
Carl Smith, a 1966 graduate of Wasco High, was an excellent all-around athlete for the Tigers, earning varsity letters in football, basketball, and baseball. During Smith’s senior year as quarterback on the Tiger football squad led by Head Coach Pat Mills and assistant Jim Parker, he earned South Sequoia All-League honors, as well as team Co-Captain and Most Valuable Player. That same season saw Carl also earn All-League recognition as a guard on Jim Parker’s basketball squad, with Smith also playing an important role as catcher on the baseball team. After graduating From Wasco High, Smith went on to start at quarterback for the Bakersfield College Renegades, before transferring to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo for his final two years of college football, where he played defensive back for the Mustangs, earning his Bachelor, Master, and Teaching Credentials in Physical Education.

After playing college football, Smith went on to a twelve-year college coaching career, beginning at his college alma-mater Cal Poly, as well as positions at Colorado, Louisiana-Lafayette, Lamar, and North Carolina State. Smith then moved on first to the United States Football League for three seasons and then to the National Football League. Carl began his very successful NFL coaching career in 1986, serving eleven years as the New Orleans Saints’ Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach. While Smith was with the Saints, the New Orleans franchise recorded its first-ever winning season, earned its first playoff berth, won their first division title, and qualified for the post-season on four occasions. Smith then served as the New England Patriots’ Assistant Head Coach and Quarterback coach in 1997, the Patriots Tight-Ends’ Coach in 1998 and 1999, and the Cleveland Browns’ Quarterback Coach from 2001 to 2003. The 2004 football season saw Smith go back to the college level as the University of Southern California’s Quarterback Coach, helping the Trojans capture the 2004 NCAA Championship, while helping to mentor Heisman Trophy winner quarterback Matt Leinart. Carl again went back to the NFL as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Offensive coordinator in 2005 and 2006, and during the 2009 NFL season served as the Cleveland Browns’ Quarterback coach.

Jim Parker – Coach (1961-1991)
After a ten-year teaching and coaching career in Idaho, Jim Parker came to Wasco High at the beginning of the 1961 school year as a teacher, with no intentions of coaching.  However, after his first year, Jim agreed to get back into the coaching ranks, and fortunately for Wasco High, that decision would lead to an extremely successful coaching career for the Tigers. Beginning his second year at Wasco High in 1962, Parker served as an assistant with the varsity football program, many years as a line coach, as well as an assistant basketball coach.  Jim took over the Football Head Coaching duties for three seasons, from 1971 to 1973, and was also the golf coach, leading the team to a South Sequoia League Championship.  However, it was on the basketball court that Parker was most at home, where he eventually took over the varsity program, leading the Tigers to many successful seasons, winning six South Sequoia League Championships in 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1979, and 1980.  His 1970 squad lost an exciting Valley Playoff contest at gym-packed Bakersfield College to the San Joaquin Memorial-led Pondexter brothers, one who eventually played in the NBA; and the 1974 squad placed 3rd in the Valley Championships.  Both of these Parker-led teams played during an era when all teams, large or small, competed in the same division to determine one Valley Champion.  With the exception of Pat Mills, with whom he assisted on the football field, Parker was an  influential  coach in one or more sports for all of this year’s Wasco High Hall of Fame Athlete inductees, and after forty years in education, thirty of them spent at Wasco High, Jim retired in 1991, twenty-three of those years coaching the Tigers.

John Hale – Athlete (Class of 1971)
1971 Wasco High graduate John Hale was an outstanding all-around athlete, excelling in football, basketball, baseball, and golf. Hale’s senior year saw him capture All-League honors in football from his cornerback and receiver positions on the Pat Mills led Tigers, as well as another All-League honor as a forward on Jim Parker’s league championship basketball squad. The baseball diamond was where John truly excelled, as he was chosen by league coaches from Jack Burtner’s squad as the South Sequoia League’s Most Valuable Player. However, Hale wasn’t finished, as he finished off what might be one of the greatest years a Wasco High athlete has ever had, as he stepped onto the golf course, and with little practice, qualified for the Valley Championship.

Because of his success in baseball, John was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers after his graduation from Wasco High in 1971, and after minor league stops in the Dodger organization at Ogden, Daytona Beach, and Bakersfield, Hale was called up from Waterbury of the Eastern League to the Los Angles Dodgers at the end of the 1974 season at the age of 21, making his Major League debut on September 8, 1974. Hale made an immediate impact on the Dodger’s 1974 Tommy Lasorda-led squad, as well as a memorable highlight in his professional career, by driving in the 1974 Western Division-clinching run for the Dodgers. John went on to play for two pennant-winning Dodger teams before being traded at the beginning of the 1978 season to the Seattle Mariners, where he ended his playing career in 1979. In 1991, John Hale became the first Wasco High athlete to be inducted into the Bob Elias Kern County Sports Hall of Fame, a fitting reward for his excellent high school and professional careers.

Otis Hailey – Athlete (Class of 1968)
Otis Hailey, who graduated from Wasco High in 1968, lettered in basketball and track, and was blessed with tremendous athletic talent, which earned him South Sequoia All- League honors in basketball during his senior year on Jim Parker’s squad.  However, it was during his senior track season that Otis, at only 5’ 11” in height, brought national attention to Wasco High when he set the national prep high jump mark of 7’ 1 ¼” at the Kern Relays held at Bakersfield College, clearing the height on his third and final attempt.  This mark stood as the California Central Section record for twenty-nine years until it was broken in 1997.  Another highlight for Hailey was during the summer of 1968 when he competed with the typical “western-roll” high jumping style used during this era against some of the finest high jumpers in the United States in an exhibition at the Bakersfield Civic Auditorium, including the eventual winner of the fall 1968 Olympic Games held in Mexico City, Dick Fosbury, the innovator of the “Fosbury Flop,” the technique used by most jumpers today.  After graduation, Otis went on to compete in track at Grambiling University for one year, as well as at Porterville College, but then his tremendous basketball skills caught the eye of the Harlem Clowns traveling basketball team, for which he played in the late 1970’s and early “80’s, even making one stop in Wasco for the community to see him play.  After Hailey’s playing career ended in the early 80’s, he spent almost thirty years coaching in the International Basketball Association, spending most of those years coaching in Canada.  On January 19, 2010 Otis was hired to coach the Maryland, Virginia, Green Hawks of the Premier Basketball League, but passed away suddenly due to kidney failure on January 30th, 2010, one week shy of his 60th birthday, but doing what he loved, coaching basketball.

Pat Mills – Athlete (Class of 1953)
Pat Mills graduated from Wasco High in 1953, lettering in varsity football, basketball, and baseball. Though Mills was cut from the football team at the beginning of his freshman year, Coach Jack Trout saw enough potential in him that he issued him a uniform, and the rest is history, as during Pat’s senior year as quarterback of the Tigers, he helped lead the team to a 10-0 season record and a Valley Championship in an exciting, foggy night 14-13 win over Sanger. Mills then went to Bakersfield College, again a three-sport letterman for the Renegades in football, basketball, and baseball. An interesting note is that from Pat’s eleventh grade year at Wasco High through his sophomore year at Bakersfield College, he played on football teams that won thirty-six straight games without a loss. A highlight during his freshman season at BC was his football team under legendary coach Homer Beatty playing Cameron, Oklahoma, for the 1952 Junior Rose Bowl title. After two years at Bakersfield College, Mills went on to letter in both football and baseball at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and after his college graduation in 1957, Pat signed a pro baseball contract with the Sacramento Salons of the Pacific Coast League, and also played in the Class B Western International League in Lewiston, Idaho. During previous summer breaks from college, he also played for many of the local baseball teams including the Wasco Dons, Wasco Eagles, Wasco Merchants, as well as one summer playing with Fresno State’s baseball team in Canada. For several summers Pat was the player-manager of the Wasco Merchants baseball team, a perennial power during that time in the Kern County Baseball League. After his athletic career was over and he completed his active military service, Mill’s came back to his hometown in 1958 to begin his teaching and coaching career at Wasco High, coaching the same three sports he excelled in - football, basketball, and baseball. Pat left for short teaching and coaching positions at Porterville College and the University of Nevada, Reno, but accepted the opportunity to return to Wasco High, where he again coached football and baseball. When his coaching tenure ended at Wasco high , Pat became a high school administrator, which included the Vice-Principal, Principal, and eventually the Superintendent positions in the Taft Union High School District, from which he retired in 1995, after 35 years in education.

Richard “Dick” Permenter – Athlete (Class of 1964)
Dick Permenter was a three-sport letterman in football, basketball, and baseball at Wasco High, graduating in 1964. During his senior year, he displayed the athleticism that earned him the Most Valuable Player in all three of those sports. On the basketball court, he had record scoring nights with 31 points during his junior year and a 33 point game in his senior season. Dick was a top pitcher for the Tigers’ baseball squad, with a highlight during his junior year in 1963 when he threw a perfect game against his brother Ned Permenter’s Foothill High baseball team. After graduating from Wasco High, Dick continued his success in football, basketball, and baseball at Bakersfield College. During his freshman season on the Renegade football squad, Dick earned All-Conference honors, and also that year was named BC’s Freshman Athlete of the Year. In Permenter’s sophomore year, he was selected as the BC’s Most Valuable Player. A special honor during his football career at Bakersfield College was being named as a player on their All-Time Football Team. The University of California at Santa Barbara was Permenter’s next stop, where he lettered two years in football and baseball, with a baseball highlight being when Dick pitched in a game when UCSB beat the eventual National Champions, the USC Trojans. Other highlights at UCSB included playing in the 1968 Northern California All-Star Football game, leading the football team in interceptions which tied the school record, and being a Gold Card Recipient for receiving four varsity letters.

Tim Durando – Athlete (Class of 1975)
Tim Durando,a three-sport letterman in football, basketball, and baseball, graduated from Wasco High in 1975.  On the basketball court, Tim was an integral member of the 1973 and 1974 South Sequoia League championship teams, his 1974 junior year team placing 3rd in the Valley Championship.  Durando’s senior year earned him numerous basketball awards, including Team Captain, 1st Team All-League, and saw him selected as a finalist for the Kern County Basketball Player of the Year.  Tim’s success continued in baseball as a four-year varsity letterman, earning three All-League shortstop awards, the SSL Batting Championship his senior year with a .536 average, as well as another Team Captain award.  On the football field, he was a three-year varsity letterman as the Tigers starting quarterback, defensive back, and punter, passing for over 1300 yards during his senior year while earning team Most Valuable Player and Co-Captain awards.  Other football awards during his senior year included High School All-American honors and two Tiger-Of-The-Week awards.  In the classroom, he was a Life Member of the California Scholarship Association, an Exchange Club Student of the Month, and Wasco High’s Boys’ State Representative.  After graduating from Wasco High, Durando earned a football scholarship to the University of Oregon, where he saw action as quarterback and defensive back.  Tim started five games at quarterback during his junior year, and that year he was selected “Player of the Week” for leading the Ducks to a win over UCLA.  Tim graduated in 1980 from the University of Oregon with a degree in Business Management and came back to Wasco, along with wife Pat whom he met in college, and raised two sons, Michael and Mark, and continued the family farming operation until passing away from cancer in 1999.