Highclimber Stadium field to be named after Shelton coach who won 2 state titles

The Shelton school board unanimously voted Tuesday to name the football field at Highclimber Stadium after former Shelton High School football coach Jack Stark.

Stark coached at Shelton from 1969 to 1993, leading the program to the state playoffs six times. He is the only coach in the program's history to lead the Highclimbers to the state playoffs, and he guided them to state championships in 1974 and 1985.

"His philosophy on and off the field was that his program be judged by the type of student athlete produced rather than a win-loss record," the district wrote in a news release. "He wanted to help students strive to be better people."

Stark sent at least 69 players to play college football during his coaching career. Three of his former players — Raul Allegre, Terry Dion and Doug Long — went on to play in the NFL.

Long played two seasons for the Seattle Seahawks in 1977 and 1978, while Dion played one season with the Seahawks in 1980.

Allegre, an exchange student from Mexico who played at Shelton in 1978 and 1979, played football for the first time under Stark. Formerly a soccer player, Stark encouraged Allegre to try placekicking.

Allegre went on to play in college at Montana and Texas, eventually signing with the Dallas Cowboys after going undrafted in 1983. He was later traded to the then-Baltimore Colts, and continued to play for them when the organization moved to Indianapolis.

He also played for the New York Giants and New York Jets during his nine-year career as a kicker, and was a two-time Super Bowl champion with the Giants in 1987 and 1991.

Allegre is the only former Shelton player to participate in or win a Super Bowl.

In 2016, Allegre presented Stark with a golden football. The NFL marked its 50th Super Bowl anniversary that season, and gave players the golden footballs to present to their high schools. Stark accepted on behalf of Shelton.

A celebration of Stark's coaching career will be held at Highclimber Stadium at a Shelton football home game this fall.

This story was originally published June 28, 2018 at 11:42 AM.