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The accomplishments of the 10th class inducted into the Parry McCluer High School Athletic Hall of Fame make one thing clear: the Fighting Blues won’t be running out of worthy candidates anytime soon.
“Parry McCluer has always had quality athletes, and they still do,” said Donnie Stinnett, a newly minted hall of famer from the Class of 1965.
Joining Stinnett in the new hall class were Landon Camper (Class of 1978), Terry Vest Smyth (1979), Joey Clark (1986) and Adam Gilbert (2006). The quintet, honored at Friday’s 45-12 football victory over Craig County and officially inducted at a banquet in the PM gym on Saturday evening, includes a two-time state champion wrestler, the boys basketball team’s all-time leader in points and assists, and a trio of three-sport stars.
PM also commemorated the 40th anniversary of its 1983 state championship football season, with 11 players and two cheerleaders from that team in attendance.
Mac Felts, who spearheads the selection committee and is himself a member of the hall – the 1957 PM graduate was inducted two years ago – affirmed that the latest group is as deserving of selection as the original class of 2013.
“Your face is going to be on that wall [in the gym] … for the rest of history,” Felts said while introducing the new honorees.
Stinnett was an all-district performer in both football – where he starred as a defensive back and saw time on offense at both quarterback and running back – and basketball. He competed as a second baseman on the diamond for two years.
Known as “Whitey,” Stinnett recalled playing alongside several other stellar athletes. Though Charlie Manuel is the most renowned Blue from that era – the 1963 graduate and multi-sport star went on to win a World Series title as the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies – several of Stinnett’s peers preceded him in entering the hall.
“They enabled me to accomplish the goals that I did,” said Stinnett, who also recognized the tremendous fan support that has long been a hallmark of PM athletics. “You helped us win a lot of ballgames and overcome a lot of obstacles – not just in sports, but in life,” he added.
Camper was one of two inductees who joined their fathers in the hall of fame. His dad, the late Kerry Camper Sr., was a longtime PM coach who earned induction back in 2014.
“I had the best family and childhood possible,” the younger Camper said. “Being here with Daddy is something that we talked about since he was elected.”
Landon Camper established his credentials as an elite wrestler, reaching four straight state finals and winning back-to-back titles as an upperclassman in 1977 and 1978. He finished with a career record of 66-6-5; during his first state championship season in 1977, he posted a 19-0 mark with 17 victories by pin.
Camper also played on the undefeated 1977 state champion football team, and he called the 1978 senior class the “greatest in PM history.” Three other athletes from that year – Greg Bartley, Robbie Douglas and Hans Mohler – are previous inductees.
Terry Vest Smyth also followed her father, Ted “Fooky” Vest, into the PM hall. Starring on the hardcourt shortly after PM reinstated girls basketball in 1973, Smyth was a two-time all-district pick and the 1978 Pioneer District player of the year. As a senior, she led the Blues to district and regional titles as PM advanced to the state semifinals.
Smyth was also a four-year letter winner in volleyball and a four-year member of the track and field team. She expressed her gratitude for the opportunities that she had, many of which may not have been available to female athletes just five or 10 years earlier. “I came along at a time when women’s sports were starting to take off,” Smyth said.
At age 9, Clark knew that he wanted to win 12 varsity letters during his high school career. The football, basketball and baseball star went on to achieve that very feat – and he secured all-district honors in all three sports as well.
In football, Clark added all-region laurels in two seasons, as well as all-state honors as a punter in 1985. He was also a three-time all-district pick as a shortstop for the baseball squad, securing one allregion selection.
Those accolades obviously came with some impressive numbers, but that wasn’t what drove Clark. “I didn’t care about my stats,” he said. “I just wanted to win.”
Clark’s most notable victory came during his sophomore season, when PM defeated Madison County at Washington and Lee’s Wilson Field to clinch the 1983 Group A football championship. Along with his punting duties, Clark recorded two interceptions and a fumble recovery in that contest – but he remembers the overall chemistry of Bobby Williams’ squad that fall.
“Our ’83 team, we played as a team,” Clark said in front of 10 other members of that group. “That was by far my best accomplishment in high school.” Gilbert became the first 21st-century graduate to earn induction into the PM Hall of Fame. A fouryear basketball star, he set program records with 1,401 points and 469 assists, earning three all-district citations and garnering all-region and all-state honors in 2006.
Gilbert duplicated those awards as an outfielder and pitcher for the baseball team, and he also competed on the links for the PM golf squad. Though his induction is due to the strength of his playing career, the 2006 graduate has coached the girls basketball team for the past 13 years, winning over 200 games and leading the Blues to three straight Class 1 state titles from 2017-2019.
The hoops and baseball standout grew up watching PM’s best athletes in the 1990s and hearing stories about those who had donned Blues uniforms in previous generations. Gilbert credited the sports culture in his hometown for helping to foster his athletic career.
“The Blue pride was in me from an early age,” he said. “It takes a village to raise a child. For me, that couldn’t have been more evident.”
Athletic achievements indeed seem to run in the water in Buena Vista. Describing the shared sensation of “sheer joy” among all members of the victorious team in the closing seconds of a championship game, Smyth acknowledged the good fortune that she and many others have encountered at PM.
“How lucky am I to experience so many of those moments, because I was a Fighting Blue,” Smyth said.
