Durango athletic director Dave Preszler is set to retire. (Blake McClain/El Diablo Newspaper, Durango HS)

DURANGO — After two years as the athletic director for Durango, Dave Preszler will be stepping down to a semi-retired role next year on his way to full retirement.

In his two short years, Preszler has brought tremendous life, enthusiasm and commitment to all activities within DHS. In the next year, he will assist in the transition process with new athletic director Adam Bright while continuing to oversee the stadium remodel project.

“I’m very careful, I can’t allow myself to call it retirement. I’ll call it semi-retirement. There are still a lot of things that I can give back to society that I can do for student-athletes or coaches,” he said.

Preszler has been an athletic director for 39 years, and began his career in Bismarck, North Dakota as a football coach.

“I had the great blessing of playing (football) all the way through high school and college, and after that point, what do you do? I wanted to stay involved in athletics. I started four years here, four years there, and kept moving up the line,” Preszler said.

As Preszler has progressed, he has been able to work at a multitude of schools, each with its own atmosphere. As an athletic director, Preszler experiences the weight of the tough situations revolving around activities and athletics.

“One might think that there is a uniqueness to what occurred, but do things happen at similar levels in other districts? Probably. In a lot of cases it may not be a situation of ‘if’ but ‘when.’ Stuff is going to happen all over the place,” he said.

The situations take a toll, though, and while Preszler makes decisions based on his past experience, there comes a time when enough is enough.

“I’m pretty wore out. Matter of fact, I’m really wore out, and I need to make sure I take a step back to allow myself to catch my breath,” he said.

His kids played a large part in his decision, weighing in heavily on the need for more time together with his grandkids. He plans to stay in Durango during the upcoming year with hopes of finding more time for himself in the process.

“In the old days as a young coach, we would push all day, recharge overnight and you were fine, ready to go. It doesn’t happen that way anymore,” Preszler said. “The coach part of me is saying, ‘I’m going to fight through this thing.’”

Preszler’s current work week varies from 65 to 70 hours, and his only time to exercise comes during 5:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. walks with his dog. The transitional year ahead gives Preszler more time to enjoy biking, hiking and kayaking.

He also hopes to reacquaint himself with some of his former students and coaches.

“Some of the coaches on my staff are still doing really well, coaching in the NFL. We will spend some more time with them during this fall. It’s kind of fun having that availability to do that,” he said.

Preszler hopes that Bright, the new AD, recognizes the importance of relationships.

“I think they need to realize that we have a responsibility to assist in the overall climate of things in the building, and have an opportunity to realize that athletics and activities are an integral part of this high school,” he said.

Along with the stadium reconstruction, Preszler will oversee the process of integrating the middle school and high school athletic programs. He will spend the next year at both the middle schools and DHS.

“I won’t be a hermit, you’ll see me around,” Preszler said. “I’m just going to have less keys.”

This story originally appeared in El Diablo, Durango High School’s student newspaper, on May 26.

After playing their last game on January 18 against Pueblo West, on Saturday  the
Eagles finally hit the court again, facing off with #5 ranked Sand Creek and expanded their winning streak to 6 games with a win over the Scorpions by a score of 68­-45. It was a close game going into halftime, but the Eagles pulled away at the beginning of the third quarter and sealed the deal at the end with great team play.

Chase Foster on a breakaway against #5 Sand Creek from ValorSportsNetwork on Vimeo.

The game started out quick for the Eagles being up 10 at one point. The Scorpions had a few good looks, executing their offense well but they just could not convert. The Eagles eventually went on a 9­-4 run causing the Scorpions to talk things over. Valor’s Keegan Wynja was owning the board both offensively and defensively. The Scorpions ended up going on a 9­-0 run led by Langston Bell and Garrett Bingham (who had 4 3­pointers in the opening half) to end the quarter despite the dunk from Chase Foster that was waved off by officials. The Scorpions leading scorer Dylan Clark was almost non­existent in the game. Chase Foster led the Eagles on the offensive end. It was a very low scoring and close game throughout the first two period and the game went into intermission tied at 24.

The Eagles came out of the half very strong and quick in the third quarter with two quick And­1’s by Paden Mueller and Marcus Wilson. The Eagles came out of the gate strong and never looked back. Foster says the reason for their success in this game was because, “We all bought into what needed to be accomplished and we fulfilled our roles and played together as a team”. The Scorpions never gave up, but without their main scorer doing anything for them, there seemed to be no light for them. It was a cold night shooting for the Air Force commit, Dylan Clark, and the Eagles took advantage of that by playing tough defense and finishing on offense. Christian McCaffrey says, “I think our hard work and preparation during our two weeks off focused us to come out and execute from thestart” which they did.

Below is the Broadcast:

After 3 games this past week against top 5A opponents Palmer, Heritage and undefeated Pine Creek, on January 21st the Lady Eagles expanded its win streak to 6 games with a win over the Pueblo West Cyclones with a final score of 63-48. It was a close game all throughout, but the Lady Eagles were the ones to pull through in the end.

The game started out very tight with both teams playing tough and tenacious defense. Junior sharpshooter Haley Simental shot lights out in the first quarter and Junior Kendall Bradbury did what she could to keep her team in the game during the first part of the game and then Madison McCoy and Caroline Bryan would start to chip in. Second quarter came around and the jitters went away for both teams. Valor passed the ball extremely well and found the open teammate all second quarter, but Pueblo West would still fight back just as hard. With both teams playing well, but not satisfied the game went into the half with at a score of 29-21.

During the half, Coach Klosterman said to the team, “You cannot let up and think you have already won this game, this team is very capable of getting back into the game if you let them.” The Lady Eagles came out and went on a 12-3 run to start the third quarter. There had been a spark on the rebounding game and the hustle game that started to win the game over for the Eagles.

Pueblo West never gave up. They were determined to fight until the end. Every Eagle who stepped into the game had an impact in some way and that is what wins team games. Despite the efforts of Haley Simental having 28 point, the Cyclones suffered a tough loss at home. Junior Kylie Rose says, “It gives us great momentum going into the next couple of days and shows what we still have to work on to prepare for the state tournament coming soon.” The Eagles will have the Ponderosa Mustangs at home on Saturday, January 25.

You can watch the game on the Valor Sports Network below:

On Sept. 12, floodwaters consumed Schenbeck Field located in Utah Park in Aurora and home of Overland High School baseball program.

The scene was grim. The scoreboard was completely engulfed in the 10-foot high water, as were the dugouts, batting cages, storage sheds and concession stand. Not a single part of the field was untouched.

When the water receded, it was clear to Overland’s head baseball coach, Michael Prichard, that he had another challenge to conquer. The force of the water had turned the benches in the dugouts upside down, displaced the bolted-down bleachers, engulfed the tractor used for field maintenance, washed rocks onto the playing field, flooded the concession stand, and drenched equipment and other team necessities.

The job would be daunting. Enter a new team of 60 baseball players, their coaches and parents from across the metropolitan Denver area. In consultation with coach Prichard, Allen Dyer (head coach of Cherokee Trail/Team Colorado) and Brian Bonn (Valor assistant coach) organized 50 individuals from their schools and organization, who worked alongside Overland baseball representatives on Sept. 21.

This group descended onto Schenbeck Field, with shovels, brooms, muscles and commitment to help a competitor in need. For three hours on a sunny Saturday, these volunteers worked diligently to bring the field back to life. On this day, they were all Trailblazers at heart.

Because of this team effort, Fall practices are possible, and in Spring, we’ll be able to welcome everyone to Overland’s field of dreams. Play ball!

(via @WeAreOverland on Twitter

(via @WeAreOverland on Twitter

Today’s tennis matches between Kent Denver and Valor Christian ended poorly for Valor Christian.

Valor’s Erik Ratkelis played Kent’s David Mitchell who is currently ranked the #1 overall tennis player in Colorado. Mitchell showed he deserved that title today with a devastating win over Ratkelis.

Winning in the first 2 sets, Mitchell gave a strong performance to edge out Ratkelis by 6 to 0 in the first set and 6 to 2 in the second set.

The first set was all Mitchell winning without giving up a single game.  The second set, however, Ratkelis rallied enough to put 2 up against Mitchell.  But despite this effort, Ratkelis could not overcome Mitchell dominating performance.

Mitchell is a ranked very high nationally and is planning to play in college.

The other games didn’t go much better for Valor with Kent Denver winning every match.

Jimmy Amundson lost his match in two closely contested sets. Drake Bailey lost as well in similar manner. In the doubles, Jerry Farmer and Hunter Kas lost their match and a well played game. Michael Pistili and Dan Stephen lost a hard fought game.  Daniel Lorden and Collin Ratkelis also lost in a well played match. Blake Wynja and Jonathan Hurtle lost in a back and forth game.

Coach Eppings said after the game that Kent was a very good school and they were a “little too tough competition, tonight.”  He believes they’ll will learn from this loss and come back even better the next time they play Kent Denver.

Tuesday, September 17, the Valor girls’ volleyball teams took on Golden, playing 4 matches overall. The Freshman team has been training hard each day in the gym and their hard work is demonstrated on the court. They pulled out another win for their fantastic season as they defeated the Golden Demons. The Sub-Varsity team also was rewarded a win for their intensity in practice and during games. During the first set the Eagles showed excellent defense and brought down the Demons. The second set fell to the talented players on Golden.

Valor, who has been constantly winning third sets, accomplished their goal and knocked out the Demons. Junior Varsity defeated Golden because of their teamwork on the court. They never gave up and worked together to gain a win well deserved win.

The Varsity team also added a win onto the season as they beat Golden in four sets. The first set went to the Eagles as they started well and had energy on the court. During the second set Valor lost momentum and communication, and they lost to the Demons. They came back in the third set and Junior outside hitter Kyleigh Mcdaniel played great defense as well as offense. The girls fought hard and defeated Golden in the third, leaving one more game to go. The Eagles were prepared to win and played with great intensity. Although Golden defended themselves well, Valor was able to beat them in the fourth, giving them a 3-1 victory. All four Valor teams demonstrated good sportsmanship and represented Valor well. They are ready to play again on Thursday!