Embedded Files
Paul Cooper Jr., Tom Kelly, Linville Midgette, Gerald Polson, Clint Reese Jr., Vic Sorrell
Paul W. Cooper, Jr. (Class of '55): Paul Cooper is just another in a long line of talented athletes that starred at Cary High during the 1950s.
Whether on the football field or on the basketball court, Cooper was not accustomed to losting. In his final three years at Cary, the Imps lost only one game in football and four games in basketball, wimming the NCHSAA title in '54.
Football, though, was where Cooper made his name athletically. He was named all-conference his senior season and was only the second player from Cary to be named to the East-West All-Star game.
Cooper was later appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy, where he played football for all four seasons.
Cooper, of Virginia Beach, Va, played basketball at Cary for three years (on teams that lost a total of four games), including on the 1954 state championship team.
He played football four years on outstanding teams, making all-conference and all-East, and was the second Cary player ever selected to play in the East-West All-Star Football game.
Cooper played football at the U.S. Naval Academy for four years, and retired as a captain after a long Navy career that included service as a fighter pilot in Vietnam.
John "Tom" Kelly (Coach): Virtually every sport at Cary High has gone through periods of great success. In football, it was under Ed Lane in the 1960s; in basketball, it was under Simon Terrell in the mid-1950s; in wrestling, it has been under Jerry Winterton since the early 1980s.
Under the guidance of hall of fame inductee Tom Kelly, the track program enjoyed similar success. From 1966 to 1973, Cary compiled a 103-5 record in dual meet competition, won six conference championships and finished second the other two years.
In 1968, Kelly formed the Imps' cross country program and within a year Cary was a force. From 1970-1972, Cary never finished lower than fourth in the NCHSAA state meet - placing second in 1970.
Kelly, of Apex, led the track team to a 103-5 record in dual-meet competition, and six District III conference championships (and two runner-up finishes) in eight year. The Imps won their sectional in 1973.
Kelly started the Cary High cross country program in 1968 and led that squad to a second-place state finish in 1970, and fourth places in 1971 and 1972. His cross country teams won four straight conference titles.
Kelly was named conference track coach of the year six times. He also served as an assistant coach for other teams including football.
Linville "Chief" Midgette (Class of '53): Athletically, there wasn't much Linville Midgette couldn't do. And that much was known by his sophomore year when he was selected as Cary High's West all-round athlete.
Midgette was a four-year letterman in football, basketball and baseball. As a junior, he was an all county selection in basketball.
He later helped lead Louisburg Junior College to State championship in basketball and in '53 he signed a football scholarship with Wake Forest University.
Midgette, of Belhaven , was a four-year letterman in football, baseball and basketball, 1949-53, and served as co-captain of both the football and basketball squads during his career.
Among Midgette's honors were being named all-county for basketball as a junior and being named Cary High's best all-around athlete as a sophomore.
Midgette briefly attended Wake Forest College on a football scholarship before a stint in the Army. He then played on a state championship basketball team at Louisburg College. He also attended Atlantic Christian College, earned a master's degree and pursued a career in education.
At Belhaven's Wilkinson High in the early 1960s, Midgette became the first football coach in the state to lead his team to five consecutive conference titles (a mark broken by Ed Lane and Cary High). His basketball squad at Wilkinson won a state title in 1979.
Midgette became principal of Wilkinson and in 1988, he received the North Carolina High School Athletic Association's "Principal of the Year" award in recognition of his contribution to high school athletics in the state.
Gerald Polson (Class of 1950): Like many athletes of his era, Gerald Polson was a three sport - football, basketball and baseball - athlete, who played during the late 1940s.
Polson played on basketball teams that laid the winning foundation for Cary's dynasty years of the early 1950s. The Imps twice finished as runner-up to Fuquay-Varina High for the county title. And in football his senior season, Cary won six of nine games.
Testament to Polson's leadership ability was the fact that he was either captain or co-captain in three sports his senior year.
Former coach Jim Brown said of Polson: "...an all-around athlete good athlete, probably the best athlete I had in 1949-50, the most coachable athlete I worked with and in general a really good person."
Polson, of Emerald Isle, played three sports at Cary, lettering four years in baseball and three each in football and basketball during 1946 to 1950.
In those days, one man coached all the boys' sports (all threeof them), and Polson played under four different coaches during his four years, reportedly earnning the admiration of all. In football, he served as co-captain as a junior and a senior; in baseball, he was co-captain as a junior and captain as a senior; and in basketball, he was captain as a senior.
Polson was offered the chance to play baseball at N.C. State and the chance to play football at Elon College, but entered the Army for three years instead.
Clint Reese (Class of '79): There have been a long list of great wrestlers to have come through Cary High. But one of the first was Clint Reese. In the late 1970s, Reese was instrumental in laying the foundation for what has become, arguably, the finest wrestling program in North Carolina. Also, Reese was an outstanding linebacker in football.
In 1977, Reese helped the Imps to a state title by placing fifth individually as a sophomore. A year later, Reese won the sectional's most valuable wrestler award en route to a 29-4 record and a second-place finish in the state tournament.
As a senior, Reese had as great a season as any wrestler in Cary High history. Wrestling at 175 pounds, Reese went 31-1 and won a state title.
Reese, of Cary, was one of the athletes who laid the foundation for Cary High's outstanding wrestling program. He was a member of coach John Sanderson's state champions in 1977, when he was Cary High's first wrestler to advance to the state tournament as a sophomore, and finished as a state runner-up as a junior.
As a senior, Reese finished 31-1, captured a state title, was named Wake County Wrestler of the Year and made All-America. Mat News named him Outstanding North Carolina Wrestler twice.
Reese also excelled in football as a linebacker, playing in the N.C. Jaycees Boys Home Game and making all-conference and all-metro during his last season, when the 8-3 Imps lost in the first round of the play-offs.
In 1978-79, he was Cary High's athlete of the year, and the most valuable player for both the football and wrestling squads.
Reese was one of four Cary High seniors nominated in 1979 for the Morehead Scholarship to the UNC Chapel Hill. He went to Carolina on a wrestling scholarship before transferring to and graduating from UNC Wilmington.
Vic Sorrell (Class of '23): Vic Sorrell would follow a baseball path that went through Cary High on his way to the major leagues.
Sorrell pitched at Cary as a sophomore before transferring to Clayton. He returned to Cary, though, for his senior season and became known as a dominating strikeout pitcher.
In one game he struck out 21 of the 28 batters he faced. That same season he pitched several no-hitters and helped the Imps to a state runner-up finish.
Sorrell went on to star at Wake Forest College and then played nine seasons with the Detroit Tigers. During his major league career, Sorrell played on the Tigers' league championship team in 1934 and world championship team in '35. His career record was 92-101.
After the majors, Sorrell returned to the area, where he served as N.C. State's baseball coach for 21 years. Sorrell died in 1972.
Sorrell, who died in 1972, was born on a farm near Morrisville and pitched at Cary High as a sophomore, before transferring to Clayton and leading that team to a state title.
He returned to Cary as a senior and became known for feats such as striking out 21 Raleigh High batters in a game in which he faced 28 batters and Cary won 9-0.
After pitching several no hitters at Cary and leading the team to a state runner-up finish, Sorrell pitched on outstanding teams at Wake Forest College, where he first gained fame for striking out the first nine collegiate batters he faced.
He spent nine seasons with the Detroit Tigers (92-101), making the American League All-Rookie team, playing for the 1934 AL champs and '35 World Champions, and facing batters such as Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth.
Sorrell's 3-1 win against Lefty Gomez of the Yankees in a double-header late in the '35 season was a key in the Tigers' pennant drive. He would later call that July 23 game, played before 62,516 fans in Yankee Stadium, his greatest thrill, and it landed him on the front of The Sporting News.
Sorrell coached baseball at N.C. State for 21 years and won the Will Wynne Award, given by the Raleigh chapter of the National Hot Stove League to the North Carolinian who makes an outstanding contribution to baseball. He also served as an assistant athletic director at State.
Report abuse