The Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame’s 55th banquet will serve as a family reunion for relatives of inductees Cecil Smith and Billy Clarke.
Family members from across the country will converge on the Pittsburgh Shriners Center, Harmar, on May 16 to help celebrate the athletic achievements of the New Kensington natives and cousins.
A prominent track athlete in Valley High School’s early years, Smith will be honored posthumously.
“Our mothers were sisters,” said Clarke, a former New Ken High wrestler who also will be inducted into the A-K Sports Hall of Fame.
“Cecil was a good athlete, really quick. He was always trying to outdo me. Being a little older and smaller, I had to try to hang with him.”
A 1969 Valley graduate, Smith also played football for the Vikings. He accounted for more than 850 all-purpose yards during his senior season.
“His speed on the football field convinced the track coach to go after him,” said cousin Melvyn Smith.
At 5-foot-9, Smith didn’t look the part of a track sprinter.
“You wouldn’t expect him to be such a fast runner,” Melvyn said. “He wasn’t tall and didn’t have the long stride. But he had a determination about him.”
In track, Smith’s specialty was the 100-yard dash, losing just once in the event over the 1968 and ’69 regular seasons. He clocked a time of 10.3 seconds or under in all of his races in 1968. That included a stadium record 10.2 at the Richland Invitational.
As a senior, Smith set an All-West Conference record in the 100 at 10 flat and won the 100, 200 and 800 relay at the AIC Section 2 meet.
“I didn’t get to see his high school career because I was in the military. But I heard about his exploits,” Clarke said.
After high school, Smith graduated from Wayne State in Detroit. He went on to become a Detroit police officer.
“It was a tough place, but that’s where he wanted to go and be a police officer,” Melvyn said. “He ended up retiring as a detective sergeant from the Detroit force.”
Upon retirement, Smith moved back to New Kensington and went into the ministry. He served as assistant pastor at Canaan Outreach Ministries.
“Cecil was very family oriented,” Melvyn said. “We ended up spending more time when we were older than when we were younger.”
Smith passed away in 2016 at the age of 65. One of his five children, Lisa, is scheduled to travel from Las Vegas to accept his induction.
Melvyn was asked how Cecil would react to being welcomed into the A-K Hall.
“He would have been elated,” Melvyn said. “He would have felt really good about being listed among a group of great athletes to come out of Ken High, Valley and other places in the A-K Valley.”
Besides Smith and Clarke, the Class of 2026 will include Bill Callahan (Valley, Pitt, Steelers football), Jeff DeSantes (Burrell, Geneva football), Dick DeVenzio (Springdale, Duke basketball), Dave Fortun (Springdale soccer, coaching), Crystal Heder Kosecki (Kiski Area, IUP soccer), Scott McKillop (Kiski Area, Pitt, 49ers football), 1965 Arnold baseball team and 1985 Deer Lakes girls basketball team.
Tickets to the banquet are $40 and can be purchased by visiting akhof.com.