2016 Inductees
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2016 Inductee Biographies
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Bob Shore was another great North High athlete born and raised in the streets of Oildale in the late 50’s and early 60’s. He attended Highland Elementary then later Standard Junior High where he was the Student Body President. He entered North in 1961 and would become one of the few athletes from the school to ever receive a football scholarship from Stanford University.
He was an outstanding football player obviously but also excelled in wrestling, track and field and even tried to play a little basketball as a freshman. He played Class B football as a freshman but a concussion limited his sophomore season on the JV’s. Then as a junior playing for legendary NH coach Turk Eliades, he began to blossom, playing offensive and defensive tackle. The 1963 team became co-Champs of the SYL by beating their old rival Taft High Wildcats. He was team captain of the 1964 team that played the BHS Drillers to a tie and ended their 18-game winning streak. For his efforts he was named All-City and All-SYL and the 1964 Harry Coffee Award as team MVP. At the end of the school year he was named to the 1965 California North-South Shrine All-Star game.
He was also a successful wrestler in Coach Win Bootman’s program, on the JV’s as a soph then 2 years on the varsity. He wrestled in both the 175 lb. and 191 lb. classes. He tried basketball as a freshman but switched to wrestling due to growing pains (6” that year!!). His big claim in basketball was that he made 9 of 10 free throws on the season. He threw the shot put and discus on the track team, as a soph on the JV’s and then 2 years on the varsity. He was a member of the record setting shot put team that won the EB Relays his senior year.
As a result, he was the 1965 winner of the Sam Lynn Award, symbolic of the best senior athlete in the school.
Then the good stuff began as he received a full ride scholarship to Stanford University. He played pulling guard and was a member of an undefeated freshman team coached by Hall of Famer Dick Vermeil. He then lettered the next three years on the varsity. He caught a tackle eligible touchdown pass from Stanford great Gene Washington and blocked for another Stanford legend Jim Plunkett. After graduation, he helped coach the freshman team in 1969 at Stanford before receiving a Bachelor’s of Science degree in petroleum engineering.
He began playing rugby as a sophomore and was a member of the Stanford team that won the Monterey National Rugby Tournament three years in a row. Then in 1971, he used his Rugby expertise to found and became a player/coach for the Kern County Rugby Club. He was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2012. He coached and refereed soccer for 12 years while his son Jason and daughter Brianna, played AYSO. He recently helped coach his grandson Christopher’s AYSO team.
In 1968 Bob married his high school sweetheart Tanis, a graduate of South High. He recently retired after a successful career in the Kern County oil and gas industry. But he’s still an active energy investment consultant along with working the family wine business in Paso Robles.
Congratulations to Bob, just another 08er making us proud.
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On a fateful day in the summer of 1965, before Bonnie’s first grade year, the young Vaughan Family: mom, dad, and four little kids, found themselves moving from lush Seattle to Oildale after Standard Oil transferred Mr. Vaughan’s job.
Bonnie’s athletic talent was obvious during her years attending Highland Elementary and Standard Jr. High. She still holds the long jump record at both schools and her coach at Standard remembers one track meet when Bonnie anchored the boys relay team for a big come from behind victory. She was NOR ‘Queen of the Court’ for her basketball skills and was a fierce competitor in the NOR softball program.
Bonnie came to North High in 1973, the same year Title IX went into effect. North’s administration selected Bonnie as the student representative for the school’s Title IX advisory committee.
As a freshman on North’s first ever girls’ track team, Bonnie set a long jump mark of 17’6”. All these years later, she still holds this record even though a knee issue ended her jumping career when she was a junior. Bonnie also competed in the low hurdles, the 220, 440, and various relay teams. Her long jump coach, Bill Bimat, was a huge inspiration for Bonnie all through high school and beyond. And with Coach Gary Kuster’s motivation, Bonnie became an accomplished hurdler and quarter miler.
Bonnie went out for volleyball her sophomore year and was voted “Most Improved Player” and named 2nd Team All-League. As a junior, she made 1st Team All-League and was voted MVP. Bonnie was 1st Team All-League again her senior year and was voted her team’s “Most Inspirational Player.” All these athletic accomplishments helped earn her the “Sam Lynn Award” as the school’s outstanding senior female athlete. Bonnie was also elected ASB Vice-President.
To help pay for college, Bonnie worked her high school weekends in the kitchen at North Kern Golf Course and, as a result, took up a life-long love for golf.
After high school, Bonnie went back north to Seattle to attend the University of Washington. She walked on to the UW volleyball team and earned a starting spot. After graduation Bonnie worked at the Washington Attorney General’s office, then in TV news at Seattle’s CBS affiliate until winning a round trip ticket to Finland and spending much of the next three years traveling through Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia. Bonnie returned to Seattle to earn a teaching credential and a master’s degree then taught elementary school for 12 years.
Pursuing a passion for kayaking, Bonnie moved to an island in southern Chile and became the English teacher for the children of the island’s subsistence farming families. She came back to the States with a new calling to teach English as a second language. After earning an ESL certificate in 2004, Bonnie moved back to Oildale and now teaches grateful immigrants from all over the world at the Kern High School District’s Adult ESL program.
In 2010 Bonnie married the North High classmate who sat in the desk next to her every time he had the chance.
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The saying goes that “Father Time” is undefeated but Dave Quick may well have dispelled that theory. And they say big things come in small packages. There couldn’t be a better definition of this guy. He entered North High in 1969, stretching out at 5’ tall and weighing 80 lbs. He graduated a gigantic 5’8” and 122 pounds!!!
When Dave was a sophomore in what may have been a first and only time in North high school history, all three of his other brothers were in school at the same time. Mike (Class of ’71), Pat (Class of ’72) and Jack (Class of ’74) were all there at the same time!!
He graduated from Standard Jr. High in 1969, then went on to North High and competed in football and track and field all four years. While at North High he was on the Class “C” football team his first two years and JV’s as a junior. As a senior he was a defensive back on the varsity. Although weighing just 122 lbs., North’s legendary coach Turk Eliades had him listed at 40 pounds heavier in the program so teams wouldn’t run plays at him. To show you his heart, in one game he went up against the great Foothill High and future NBA star Lonnie Shelton (6’6”-250 lbs.) and defended all 5 passing attempts thrown to him.
After a stellar track and field career at North High, Bakersfield College and Cal State Bakersfield, Quick went on the become somewhat of a legend on the Masters track and field circuit. The Masters is track and field’s equivalent to golf’s senior tour. His exploits as a triple jumper at all levels borders on amazing.
He set school records in the triple jump at every level. His high school idol and mentor was the great Mark Drennan and his big thrill was breaking his school record in the TJ. From there to Bakersfield College where he was an All-Metropolitan Conference selection both years under the legendary coach Bob Covey. As a soph he was the SoCal Champ and favored in the State meet but a motorcycle mishap kept him from competing. He was elected to the BC track and field Hall of Fame in 2004.
Cal State Bakersfield came calling after BC and as a Jr. was All-CCAA Conference and made All-American under another legendary coach, Charlie Craig. That year he set the school record in the triple jump at the conference meet with a leap of 51’3.” He was injured on his first jump and had actually fallen to 2nd place before convincing Coach Craig he could jump again, then winning the meet. He dropped out of school and incredibly returned to compete 16 years later and more than held his own. He placed 3rd in the CCAA Conference meet in 1996 at 40 years old. He also competed for CSUB in 2007 as a 41-year old in an indoor meet.
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Gary Kuster was born on a farm in Grand Forks, North Dakota, in 1939. He attended Central High School where he lettered in football, basketball, cross country, and, track & field. He was the co-captain of his track and field team which won two state championships in 1955 and 1956. During his senior year, he was elected class president, president of the senior choir, and, received the Rodney Johnson Athletic Award for outstanding male athlete of the senior class
After graduating high school in 1957, Coach Kuster attended the University of North Dakota where he ran track for four years and wrestled for three. Wrestling was a new sport at UND, only having been introduced in 1958 during his sophomore year. In November of 1958, he was asked to start the wrestling program at his alma mater, Central High School. He was able to practice with his college team every day, and, then travel to the high school to run wrestling practice there. He ended up coaching wrestling at Central for four years with his team placing sixth in the state in 1960.
Coach Kuster graduated from UND in January of 1962, and, that spring, accepted a teaching job in Pelican Rapids, Minnesota. From Minnesota, he went to William S. Hart High School in Santa Clarita where he taught Math and P.E. At Hart, he also coached track and cross country for four years and wrestling for six years. His wrestling team won two league championships in 1967 and 1968.
In 1968, Coach Kuster found his way to Bakersfield and North High School where he retired from coaching in 1994, and, teaching in 2002. He spent 12 years coaching the wrestling team, 25 years with the track and field teams, and, 14 years coaching girls’ cross country. During his tenure at North, his girls’ cross country teams won league in 1983, ‘85, ‘86, & ‘90, were second in valley in 1980, and, were valley champs in 1993. Coach Kuster’s girls’ track teams won league in 1981 & ‘91.
In 1991, he received state recognition as Outstanding Girls’ Track Coach (Central Section), and, Outstanding Girls’ Cross Country Coach (Central Section) in 1992. In all of his years of coaching track and field at North, Coach Kuster had six runners place in the California State Track Meet, and, his 1977 track team missed winning state by just ONE point.
Gary Kuster has amassed 29 years coaching track, 22 years coaching wrestling, and, 18 years leading cross country teams. To quote Pam Ash, a member of his 1982 girls’ two mile relay team, “For season after season he’s always returned. How he’ll get along without us we’ll never know. He’s our General Kuster (with legs all abow). We’d all like to thank him for all that he’s done”.
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Talk about having to follow in some big shoes, Greg Williamson had to do just that when he entered North High in 1978. His grandfather George Williamson was the Principal of North High from 1955-1965 and his father Bill Williamson was an outstanding football player at BHS, BC and later at Utah State. Both Grandpa and Pop were previously inducted into the NH Hall of Fame.
As a youngster, Greg grew up around North High, regularly attending Friday night football games with his father Bill and participating in youth sports. Jack Frost football, NOR basketball, baseball and track and field were all played on North’s facilities.
Greg was a standout two sport performer at North High but he also excelled in the classroom. He played two years on the varsity in both football and baseball. In football, playing for the great coach Turk Eliades, he played both offensive and defensive lineman. As a senior, he was named the team’s most outstanding lineman and also awarded the George Williamson Award as team MVP. That was dear to his heart since it was named after his late grandfather. Additionally he named to both the All-SYL and All-City teams.
In baseball, Greg played first base and pitched for head coach Tony Silver. In his junior year the Stars won the school’s first ever Valley baseball championship. On that team was future major league pitcher Bruce Walton. As a senior, he posted a 5-1 record on the mound as the team made the playoffs but were defeated in the first round. He was also named all-SYL.
Three different times he was awarded the STAR Award for athletic ability, scholarship, sportsmanship, competitive attitude and citizenship. To top off his high school career he was the recipient of the prestigious Sam Lynn Award, symbolic of the school’s best athlete.
After North High he received a football scholarship from San Diego State University. He earned three letters while playing for the Aztecs. A versatile player, he played both offense and defense. As a senior, the team won the Western Athletic Conference Championship and went on to play in the Holiday Bowl. He later signed a free agent contract with the San Diego Chargers but was let go on waivers.
From there it was on to bigger and greater thing. He graduated from SDSU with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration and quickly turned his education into law enforcement. Ironically his first job was as campus supervisor at guess where–North High. He went on to earn a master’s degree in public administration from Cal State Bakersfield and joined the Bakersfield Police Department in 1989. In 2010 he was named Chief of Police and still serves in that post.
While working at North High he coached the junior varsity and varsity football teams from 1987 to 1996 and periodically assisted with the varsity baseball team. He went on to follow in his father’s footsteps, coaching Jack Frost football until 2009. He’s proud of the fact that 14 of his former players now work for the department with numerous others working for public safety departments throughout the county.
He credits his athletic success to have been taught and coached by previous NH Hall of Fame inductees Aubrey Allen, Bill Bimat, George Culver, Jordan “Turk” Eliades, Rick Harvick, Stan Ingram, Keith Montgomery, Jack O’Brien, Dick Ross, Tony Silver and Lloyd Williams. Not to mention the imposing figure of his father Bill.
Greg and his wife Aimee (Class of 1988) will be celebrating their 25th year of marriage this year. They have a son Beau who is now an officer with the BPD and daughter Bryn who is on scholarship at Cal State Fullerton. She is also an athlete, competing in the pole vault on a ladies’ track team.
Move over North High Athletics Hall of Fame, there’s a new sheriff in town.
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Jack Hilton was a 1934 graduate of Bakersfield High School who, after attending college and serving in the armed forces, came back to Bakersfield for a career in the Bakersfield high school system which led to his becoming a very important part of the inception of North High.
He started out at North when the school opened in 1953 as the Vice Principal and Director of Athletics. After the untimely death of the first Principal Jack Hill, he became the school’s Principal in July of 1965. He stayed in that position until 1969 when he became the District Director of General Services before retiring in 1973.
He had an outstanding football career at BHS (then Kern County Union High School) where he played for a couple of coaching legends, Jack Frost (JV) and “Goldie” Griffith (Varsity). His teams went 3 years without a loss as he starred as a running back.
After High school, he enrolled at Washington State on a football scholarship, but the cold weather drove him home. In 1935, after enrolling at San Jose State, he played safety and left half back on the football team and quickly earned the nickname “snakehips” for his running ability. In his senior year, he received an award for “Superior Skill and Sportsmanship.” In addition, he was the junior class President and later the Student Body President.
His first teaching/coaching job came in 1939 at East High where he became a Physical Education Teacher and assistant Varsity Football coach. In 1942, he enrolled in the Army Air Force as a 2ndLieutenant and was stationed in Houston, Texas where he became Director of Physical Education. After returning to Bakersfield, he joined the staff of BHS as Dean of Students and was the Driller’s backfield coach from 1948-1953.
In 1953, Jack was given the opportunity for—what was probably the high point of his career—to participate in the opening of a new high school—North High! He told his daughter that joining the staff of a new high school was one of the best experiences an educator could have. His guiding hand in coordinating and developing the athletics program along with the coaches and students was a real highlight. He also believed that athletics was very important to the overall high school experience, fostering leadership, sportsmanship, teamwork and honesty–qualities that would develop contributing members of society.
Jack Hilton was all about doing things the right way, working hard, keeping his word and interfacing with students and staff. He believed in giving people additional chances to be successful, particularly young people. He had a great belief in the goodness of people and worked hard to bring out that goodness.
To quote his daughter Janet, “He had many wonderful experiences in his life, and being instrumental in the development of North High along with its athletic program was undoubtedly one his greatest memories.”
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Joe Cemo was introduced to wrestling at a young age by his dad, Louis. The family was living in Porterville at the time, and, Joe became involved in the youth freestyle wrestling program at Monache High School. When Joe and his family relocated to Bakersfield, he attended Fruitvale Junior High and joined wrestling programs at Foothill and South High because North did not have youth programs at that time. After junior high, the family moved to Oildale and Joe enrolled at North High. During his summers at North, he would practice with the CSUB team, and two time Olympic wrestler and family friend, Tim Vanni.
During his junior year, Joe began winning some top wrestling tournaments, including the prestigious Mt. Whitney tournament where he was voted Most Outstanding Wrestler his junior and senior years. The 132 pounder was also SYL, Divisional, and Valley Champion (the only athlete in the league to hold all three credentials that year), and, was the second wrestler from North High to ever qualify for the state meet. He was awarded MVP and Most Outstanding Lower-weight Wrestler titles for the Stars along with the Male Athlete of the Year. His 44-4 overall record also garnered him the All Area Wrestler of the Year. That same year, Joe competed on the Junior Olympic Cadet National Team in Missouri and was one of 50 grapplers to represent California at the National Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships in Iowa in July. That tournament featured more than 1900 wrestlers from 46 states.
After a very impressive junior year, Joe came back strong his senior year with a 52-5 record winning four big tournaments and, once again, being named the All Area Wrestler of the Year. He was also SYL champ, placed second at both the divisional and valley meets, and, was third at the California State Wrestling Tournament. His third place finish made Joe the highest place winner North High has had since the inception of the State Tournament in 1973. Following his high school graduation, Joe competed for CSUB for two years on a wrestling scholarship before joining his dad in the family business.
While coaching the wrestling team at North, Rick McKinney said that he considered Joe to be “an elite athlete, one of a rare breed. He’s the most talented athlete I’ve ever had and he puts in more time than anyone..He has excellent technique, is flexible, is very strong, and has an un-measureable amount of desire. He’s dangerous…”.
Joe and his wife of 22 years, Brandy, still call Oildale home. Their sons Sebastian and Joey graduated from North, and, Gino is currently a junior and plays tennis. Brandy is an accountant and is involved in the leadership program through CSUB where she is finishing her bachelor’s degree. Joe works for NRG Energy at the Midway Sunset Cogeneration Plant.
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Everyone has heard the old saying that “the apple never falls far from the tree.” That couldn’t be a truer statement in the case of Kori Ermigarat. She actually started high school at West High in 1989 where she earned three varsity letters as a freshman. But luckily for her and North High, her family moved into the Oildale area to start her sophomore year in 1989. She would be following the footsteps of her talented father Ray Ermigarat, a NH basketball legend. When she was finished, they would become the greatest father/daughter duo in the history of the school.
By the time she graduated in 1992 she set the bar so high for Lady Stars following her that it will be difficult for anyone to ever come close to what she and her teams accomplished in just three years. Excelling in three sports (volleyball, basketball and softball), she garnered nine more varsity letters for a grand total of 12 for her career. Unprecedented even now.
In volleyball as a soph and playing for Brooke Roberts and Jill Turner, the team was South Yosemite League co-Champs with a 12-2 record, finished 32-3 overall and lost in the Valley finals. In her junior year, the Lady Stars were SYL Champs at 12-0 and won NH’s first ever Valley Championship in volleyball. In Kori’s senior year, the team repeated the SYL title at 12-0 but also went back-to-back for another Valley Championship. To top it off, she was named All-Area player of the year.
As a sophomore in basketball, the team claimed the SYL Championship with a 13-1 record, 23-2 overall and once again a Valley Championship under North’s legendary coach Curt DeRossett. In her junior year, the girls went 12-0 to win the title, 23-5 overall and a runner-up in the Valley Championship.
In softball, playing for Brooke’s husband Randy Roberts, she played on SYL championship teams as a sophomore (11-3) and then again as a junior (11-1). The junior year was special because in that year she was named All-Area player of the year, going 11-1 with a microscopic ERA of 0.26, batting 4.10, and stealing 25 bases. She pitched 6 shutouts in the 12 league games, including 2 no-hitters, 3 one-hitters and 5 two-hitters. The team finished 3rd in league her senior year (8-4) but she was still named 1st team All-State Division-I Utility player.
So in four years at North, she played on 7 SYL Championship teams, 3 Valley Championship teams and twice on teams that lost in Valley finals. Individually she made 1st team all-SYL 7 times including 3 times MVP, Team MVP 5 times, and All-Area first team 6 times and once 2nd team All-Area. She was named All-Area player of the year in both softball and volleyball, one of only a handful of female athletes to ever accomplish the feat.
More awards came following her senior year. She was named co-winner of the Jim Tyack Award, symbolic of the best female athlete in Kern County. On top of that she was a finalist for the Mayor’s Trophy which combines the classroom and the athletic field. And she accomplished all this while serving as the ASB Commissioner of Clubs.
After North High, Kori went to San Diego State University on a volleyball scholarship, playing two years there. She then transferred to the University of South Carolina for her junior and senior seasons. There she made all-Tournament teams 5 times, was the Carolina Classic MVP and was All-Southeast Conference in both her junior and seniors years. She graduated from South Carolina in 1997 with a degree in Liberal Arts. From there it was on to coaching.
Her first job was as an assistant head coach at San Diego State, staying there for 3 years. Then she took another assistant job at the University of Toledo for one year before heading off Idaho State as an assistant for two years. That’s when and where her life changed. She met Jeff Banks, an assistant football coach at Idaho State and they were married in 2003. Her husband then took an assistant coaching at University of El Paso at Texas (UTEP) which lasted nine years. That’s where all of her three children were born.
She is currently living in College Station, Texas where her husband is an assistant football coach at Texas A&M University. She is a certified cross fit coach at “Cross fit Aggieland.” They have a daughter Sydnei and sons Tanner and Gage. Those are some lucky apples.
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Melinda Harrison was another in a long line of sensational female athletes to grace the North high campus in the late 1970’s and 1980’s. The Lady Stars took a back seat to no one in the Valley when it came to all the sports. And people like Melina were a big part of the success as the popularity of women’s athletics began to grow.
She started three years on the varsity in volleyball and basketball plus two other years on the varsity softball team. She was talented in all three sports. In volleyball as a senior she was a 2ndteam all-SYL selection and voted the team’s most inspirational. In basketball she was all-league twice and all-Area all three years on the varsity. As a senior she was the SYL’s Most Valuable Player, and made the all-Northern Cal all-Star team. In softball, she made 2nd team all-League as a senior.
The team accomplishments were also impressive. In 1982 as a sophomore, Melinda and the Lady Stars volleyball team went to the Valley playoffs for the first time. She was coached by Pat Mellan. Her basketball teams under the leadership of Tom McQuinn went to the playoffs all three of her varsity seasons. In 1985 they lost in the Valley finals to Delano, their first loss of the year as they finished with an incredible record of 24-1.
After high school, Melinda received a full ride for basketball at the University of San Francisco. She played softball as a freshman but the school dropped the sport after that season. So she concentrated on basketball. As a junior at USF she was twice named conference “Player of the Week” and then named “Player of the Month” for January. In addition, she made the all-Conference team. She suffered a leg injury going into her senior season and received a “Medical Redshirt,” allowing her to play a 5th season. As a senior at USF she was again named “Player of the Week” and another time “Scholar Athlete of the Week.” She topped off her career at USF by being named all-Conference and the team’s MVP.
In between her soph/junior year she played basketball in Europe with a travel team. And again between her junior/senior years she played basketball in Russia for two month with a travel team. She called this a great experience in her life.
Originally she had hopes of attaining a teaching credential at USF but due to the leg injury she had to work to stay in school and never got the degree. So she returned home in 1992 and began coaching girl’s basketball at North and stayed on for 19 years (2 on the frosh/soph team and 17 on the JV squad). One of her basketball players, Breanna James, became the North High girl’s coach this past season and asked her to be an assistant which she did.
She began worked for BARC locally in 1993 and stayed there for 19 years and recently took a job with MOVE Int., helping people with disabilities.
She would tell you her greatest memories of North High were being part of the girl’s basketball dynasty, playing in front of a packed gym and the roar of the crowd when the team was introduced. And the expectations of winning because they were North High girl’s basketball. Her other great memory “was walking back in the North High gym as a coach and feeling the nostalgia of girl’s basketball. And having an opportunity to give back to the school who gave me so much.”
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To know Terry Denesha, you know you are around one of the most enthusiastic people you’ve ever met. Not sure this guy ever had a bad day, always smiling, always happy to see you. And it carried over into his athletic career at North High.
He made his mark on the baseball field as a shortstop not only at North but also Bakersfield College. He also played basketball as a freshman and football as a freshman and a sophomore at North. He could have made the golf team any of those years but elected to play baseball and played all four years. He played on the Frosh/Soph baseball team as a freshman and won the SYL Championship in Tony Silver’s first year of coaching baseball at North.
He gave up basketball and football after his sophomore season to concentrate on baseball and that turned out to be a very wise decision. Moving up to varsity in 1975 as a soph, North tied for the SYL Championship under the legendary coach Sam Barton. Then in 1976 he was part of the Stars team that not only won the SYL title but also their first ever Valley Championship. And again as a senior, North was again SYL Champs.
From North High he attended Bakersfield College and in 1978 he hit safely in all 20 Metropolitan game, was named All-Conference SS and in addition was named BC’s Freshman Athlete of the Year. As a soph at BC he continued the hitting streak to 25 games, a record at that time, and set a record for triples. All this resulted in a scholarship to UC Santa Barbara. As a freshman he was able to play against Bakersfield buddies Jim Thomas and Steve Sakowski at UCLA.
His baseball career ended at the end of that season after suffering a dislocation of his left shoulder. Not to be deterred, he went out and made the golf team at UCSB, shooting even par while getting a tryout from the golf coach. In 1987, Terry won the very prestigious Kern County Amateur, shooting 2 under par 140, but had to make an eagle 3 on the first hole at Kern River to win a playoff. His older brother Doug had won the title in 1976, with Terry caddying for him. Ironically, Doug was caddying for Terry when he won. They were the first set of brothers to ever win the KC Am.
He later got involved in coaching youth baseball since his three young sons were active and in 1999 took a Northwest team all the way to Mattoon, Illinois for the World Series. He helped coach Highland from 2006 to 2009 and then in 2011 was on the Frontier staff that won the CIF Valley Championship. He also got involved in coaching a girl’s softball Club team.
He’s been active helping youth for many years and in 2008 he was named “Man of the Year” for the annual BC Baseball Hot Stove Dinner.
He and his wife Debbie (also a North High grad) have been married 30 years. They have three boys Tony, Chris and Scott and all were athletes and all attended Stockdale High. His oldest son Tony actually made all-SYL in golf and baseball in the same year.
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Webb Cady started at North High in 1964 and as a freshman played football, wrestled and was a member of the “C” Class track and field team. Gradually it became obvious that football was where he was most talented. So as a sophomore and a junior it was football and wrestling and then as a senior he concentrated on football only.
Not an imposing figure at just 150 pounds, he played varsity football as a sophomore, junior and senior. He probably would have been “B” Class as a soph but due to budget restrictions in 1965 the high schools were allowed to only have varsity sports. Nevertheless, he played on the team coached by North football coaching legend Turk Eliades.
In Webb’s junior year, the Stars won the SYL Championship and he was the starting corner back and occasional running back. As a senior, North High finished with an 8-1 record, the only loss coming against the rival BHS Drillers, 16-9. There were no playoffs that year. For his efforts however he was named 1st team all-SYL, all-Valley and the team’s “Most Inspirational Player.”
Wrestling for coach Win “Boot” Bootman, Webb was “C” Class as a freshman, “B” Class as a soph and then varsity as a junior, wrestling at 145 lbs. The team won the SYL Championship, making it two SYL team titles for him in 1966. He dropped wrestling as a senior since because they needed him to lose weight and he wanted to beef up for football.
He was involved in several school activities in addition to sports, serving as the ASB Vice-President as a senior. He was also a member of various other campus organizations including Key Club and Big “N.”
After North High he enrolled at Bakersfield College playing on the Renegades football team for another coaching legend Gerry Collis. He started both years at defensive back for the ‘Gades . Even though their only loss in 1968 was to Fullerton, they failed to make the State playoffs. But as a sophomore, BC won the Metropolitan Conference Championship but then were knocked out of the playoffs in the 2nd round by old nemesis Fullerton once again.
Accepting a scholarship to UNLV, Wade went out for spring ball but decided against playing any more football and transferred to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. There he majored in History with an eye on becoming a teacher and graduated in 1975.
His first teaching job was at North High where he taught Business Education for 7 years and helped coached some football and track. His 1976 JV team won the league championship. He also helped out with the Frosh-Soph team. He worked with former NH Principal Bill Bimat on the track team as well.
In 1982 Webb left North High and took a job with a local company Hopper Inc., and served as the General Manager of the Central Coast. When Hooper Inc. was bought out he was transferred to the Imperial Valley. He now owns his own company “All Valley Fence and Supply” and even has a store here in town.
Now single, he has three grown daughters Hallie, Chelsea and Carissa. They all attended Bakersfield High and between them were part of the Drillers’ cheer squad for 12 consecutive years. Congrats to Webb Cady, you are now a well deserved and proud member of the North High Athletics Hall of Fame. Just another in the long life of successful 08ers, on and off the field.
Bob Shore, Bonnie Vaughan, David Quick, Gary Kuster, Greg Williamson, Jack Hilton, Joe Cemo, Kori Ermigarat-Banks, Melinda Harrison, Terry Denesha, Webb Cady
