Class of 2018
Ed Beard
LaTasha Colander Clark
Ronald Curry
Jess Kersey
Bruce Rader
Joe Smith
Ed Beard was a football standout at Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake, but perhaps his most impressive prep accomplishment was the state heavyweight wrestling championship he won – despite being unseeded and coming from a school that did not field a wrestling team.
After two years at the University of Tennessee, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and was named the Most Outstanding Player on the Army football team. Beard then played eight years for the San Francisco 49ers as a linebacker and special teams star, helping his team to three straight division titles. He also spent 10 years as an NFL assistant coach.
LaTasha Colander Clark won 12 state track and field titles at Wilson High School in Portsmouth, and she was just getting started. She also won national junior titles as a sprinter, and then went to the University of North Carolina where she registered 14 ACC championships.
In her international career, she was a standout in the 200- and 400-meter distances. She was a two-time U.S. champion in the 200, and was part of the American 4×200 team in 2000 that set a world record that still stands – 1 minute, 27.46 seconds. A two-time Olympian, she won a gold medal in 2000 as part of the U.S. 4×400-meter relay team.
Ronald Curry had a dazzling prep career at Hampton High School, leading the Crabbers to three state football titles and one in basketball. As the nation’s most highly sought recruit, he chose to attend the University of North Carolina to play both sports. Despite injuries, he passed for almost 5,000 yards for the Tar Heels and rushed for another 1,249 – setting a school record for total offense that has since been surpassed. He was MVP of the 1998 Las Vegas Bowl and the 2000 Peach Bowl.
In the NFL he switched from quarterback to wide receiver and spent seven years with the Raiders, totaling 2,347 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. Since retiring, he has worked on the coaching staffs of the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints.
Newport News native Jess Kersey worked in pro basketball arenas for 36 years without ever scoring a point. Kersey was a respected referee for 31 years in the NBA, after first spending five years in the rival American Basketball Assocation. In Hampton Roads, he was a mentor to younger officials on their way up.
He worked three NBA All-Star Games and three NBA finals. NBA commissioner David Stern praised him for “the consistent excellence, integrity and work ethic he displayed in one of the most difficult jobs in all of sports.” He was also inducted into the Virginia Fast-Pitch Softball Hall of Fame.
Bruce Rader was 23 years old when he arrived at WAVY-TV as a sportscaster. In more than four decades since then, he has been a tireless supporter and promoter for local high school sports, known around the region for his “Friday Night Flights” coverage of prep football. He has won multiple awards for sportscasting and was inducted into the CIAA Hall of Fame for his years of coverage.
Rader established a charitable foundation that has raised more than $1 million to support local nonprofits and help underprivileged children attend sporting events and camps. He hosts an annual golf tournament to raise money for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, and has been a regular presence at numerous charity and fundraising events around the region.
During his prep career at Maury High School in Norfolk, Joe Smith largely flew below the national radar – but the 6-foot-10 forward burst onto the scene once he arrived at the University of Maryland. As a sophomore, he was named the national Naismith Player of the Year, and upon entering the NBA draft he was taken with the first overall pick by the Golden State Warriors.
He was named to the NBA’s All-Rookie first team, averaging 15.3 points and 8.7 rebounds. He went on to a 16-year career in which he played for 12 different teams, averaging 11 points and 6.4 rebounds.