Cornerstone Christian hired Reed Doughty as its next athletic director. (Courtesy of Amy Downey)
Cornerstone Christian hired Reed Doughty as its new athletic director last week.
The school announced the move to its community on Friday.
Doughty attended Roosevelt High School, and is a 2005 graduate of Northern Colorado, where he was an All-American football player. He played eight seasons in the NFL with Washington.
“I am excited to direct a program that has enormous impact on young people,” Doughty said in a statement
Cornerstone Christian has teams in football, volleyball, boys and girls golf, boys and girls basketball, baseball, and girls soccer. It has an enrollment of 77 students, and competes in Class 1A in most sports.
“We are very pleased to have someone with the depth of knowledge and experience in professional athletics that Reed Doughty will bring to our AD position,” Cornerstone Christian principal Larry Zimbelman said in a statement. “Reed understands the importance of the role that athletics plays as a component in the culture of a school, and he is committed to the process of continuing to build Cornerstone’s athletic program.”
AURORA — The athletic department-wide restriction on Pine Creek was lifted by CHSAA commissioner Paul Angelico on Friday following a mutually agreed-upon improvement plan between the school and CHSAA.
Angelico confirmed to CHSAANow.com that the restriction was lifted. The resolution to the restriction is due in large part to an 18-point plan from Pine Creek to ensure that all CHSAA rules are known and followed.
“The plan that they have submitted to ensure awareness, knowledge and compliance is exemplary, and could be used as a model by any school,” Angelico said.
Pine Creek’s plan is aimed to fix issues that caused the restriction in the first place. The Eagles’ athletic department was placed on restriction in early January following incidents in the fall and winter. Under CHSAA bylaws, teams on restriction are prohibited from competing in the postseason.
But the school and the CHSAA office had been working on the issue throughout January to ensure the Eagles’ athletes could participate in the upcoming postseason. It is very rare that a restriction is not lifted prior to the postseason.
Pine Creek’s athletic department is now on probation, as per CHSAA bylaws. Any school or program removed from restriction is placed on probation as a next step.
Wheat Ridge High School is hosting a number of events to celebrate the upcoming release of “My All American,” a movie based on the life of Farmers alum Freddie Steinmark, which is set to release on Nov. 13.
Steinmark graduated from Wheat Ridge in 1967 after lettering in football, baseball and basketball. He led the Farmers to the Class AAA football title as a senior, and then went on to play at the University of Texas.
At Texas, he helped the Longhorns win a national title in 1969, and gained national renown for his performance on an injured leg against Arkansas that season — a leg that was amputated just six days later when a bone tumor was discovered.
Steinmark died in the summer of 1971, but his memory lives on through the Steinmark Award, which is given each year to a male and female recipient who are multi-sport athletes and excel on the field, in the class and in the community.
Wheat Ridge’s events culminate with the school’s homecoming football game — the 119th in Wheat Ridge history — against Green Mountain on Oct. 1. The school is inviting all former Steinmark Award winners to participate.
“We’d like to have as many of those guys and gals there as possible,” said Wheat Ridge athletic director Nick DeSimone. “That’d be pretty cool.”
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The full slate of events:
“Someone who has walked in your shoes” Sept. 23, 7 p.m., Wheat Ridge auditorium
Shelley Smith, Wheat Ridge alumni and ESPN reporter, will be giving an inspirational and courageous presentation on being a Farmer, an ESPN reporter, and a woman battling cancer. This will be a ticketed event. Admission to the event will be $10, for $20 you receive admission and a Pink Showdown t-shirt.
Wheat Ridge High School will donate all proceeds to the Lutheran Medical Center/Cancer Center of Colorado.
Pink Showdown Breast Cancer Awareness Game Sept. 24, 4 p.m., Jeffco Public Stadium
Wheat Ridge will battle Dakota Ridge in the 2nd Annual Pink Showdown game in Partnership with Lutheran Medical Center/Cancer Center of Colorado.
Thousands of students and fans from both schools will be wearing pink t-shirts made especially designed for this event. Coaches and players from both schools will be in their “pink” as well to help bring awareness to the fight against cancer.
As part of this event students from both high schools will be visiting the Lutheran Medical Infusion Care Center to spend time and support those undergoing treatment.
Shelly Smith, a Wheat Ridge High School alum and ESPN reporter will be honored at Halftime. Shelly is currently battling cancer herself, and we will honor her and her fight, as well as offer her all of our support at halftime.
Bower Yousse: “A Night With Freddie Steinmark and Friends” Sept. 30, 7 p.m., Wheat Ridge auditorium
Bower Yousse, Wheat Ridge High School alum and author, screenwriter will be giving an inspirational multimedia presentation covering his friendship and life with Freddie Steinmark. Bower will bring friends who played together with Freddie, classmates, family members, and more, to celebrate who and why Freddie Steinmark is still such an inspiration to all.
Wheat Ridge High School will celebrate a “homecoming” with students, alumni, and friends of the Farmers (wearing Freddie Steinmark No. 43 commemorative shirts) to honor Freddie Steinmark, his legacy, and of course the homecoming football game. The assembly will have skits for homecoming royalty, the band, Poms and Cheers and a tribute to Freddie and what he stands for at our high school.
Homecoming game Oct. 1, 7 p.m., Jeffco Public Stadium
Wheat Ridge High School will play Green Mountain High School in our 119th homecoming game. This night has been dedicated to the memory of Freddie Steinmark and his legacy. Students, staff, parents, fans, little leaguers will all be wearing commemorative No. 43 jersey/t-shirts in the stands.
Alumni, former athletes that played with Freddie, and Freddie’s close friends and family will be in attendance and recognized at halftime. We will be using the scoreboard screen to bring back the memory of Freddie with quotes, photos, and hopefully previews of the upcoming feature film about his life.
The school’s choir teacher is writing a song that our choir singers will sing at halftime about Freddie, as well. We are hoping to bring together the 87 recipients of the Colorado Steinmark Award, the most prestigious award that is given to a Colorado High School student athlete, for the game and/or “A Night With Freddie Steinmark and Friends.”
The appointment is pending approval from the Boulder Valley board.
Hartnett has been the district athletic director at Adams 12 for the past six years. He has also been a member of CHSAA’s Board of Directors since 2012.
Hartnett announced the move in an email to CHSAA staff and the Board.
“I have had the honor to work for many of Colorado’s the strongest teachers, coaches, band directors, and administrators within Adams 12 Five Star Schools,” he wrote. “Many of you know that over the past 6 years I have faced many different challenges, both professional and personal.”
He added that he missed being in a school building, where he was able to witness his “direct impact on the students.”
“I realized that I, too, missed that, when my wife Shelley reminded me of when I was happiest as an AD/AP at the schools where I can make a difference,” Hartnett wrote. “I was happiest when I spoke to kids on academics, family, sports, role modeling, sportsmanship, and progress — not to just adults. If you know me you realize that I live everyday as if it is my last.”
“I am lucky to have been given a second chance, and a new perspective on life and my career,” he continued. “I want to spend my last decade in education working with kids and adults in a school and making a difference.”
Hartnett will become CHSAA’s 60th Board president in June of this year.
His career started as an athletic director at Nederland, and he also held the same role at Northglenn. He was also a teacher and a coach at Broomfield, and also graduated from that school.
In addition to everything else, Harnett is also active in the Colorado Athletic Directors Association, and is on CHSAA’s equity committee. He played a major role in developing the Association’s transgender policy.
Jamie Heiner has been named the new athletic director at Valor Christian.
The move was announced to the school’s community on Friday in an email.
“We considered dozens of applicants and ultimately made the decision that Jamie Heiner was the best choice for our school,” Valor head of school Kurt Unruh said on Friday. “Jamie has done a fabulous job as our Director of Performance and we know he will be wonderful in this new role.”
Heiner has been the school’s Director of Performance since 2012, and has also headed the school’s Athletic Chaplaincy Program for two years. He will officially take over on June 1, and replace Rod Sherman.
Sherman, the only athletic director in the school’s highly-successful eight-year history, is set to move to a new role as Valor’s Director of Institutional advancement. That move was announced in January. Sherman will remain the school’s football coach.
“We are very grateful for Rod Sherman’s founding of Valor athletics,” Unruh said. “Thanks to Rod and his team, Jamie Heiner takes over a successful program. Our expectation is that Jamie will continue to improve and enhance Valor athletics for the benefit of our students and I believe he is the perfect individual to lead our program into the future.”
Heiner, meanwhile, oversaw the school’s strength and conditioning program, and owned a local sports performance training center prior to joining Valor in 2012.
Vince Massey, the new athletic director at Mullen. (Courtesy of Mullen HS)
Mullen has named Vince Massey, a longtime figure in the school, as its new athletic director.
The school announced the move in a press release on Wednesday morning.
Massey has been at Mullen for 20 years, serving most recently as wrestling coach, dean of students, and director of safety and security. He has coached wrestling for 19 seasons.
In addition, Massey has taught social studies, and been an assistant football coach.
He will remain as director of safety and security.
“For the last five years, as Dean of Students, Mr. Massey transformed the role of Dean, modeling the Lasallian principles of positive discipline,” Mullen principal Janell Kloosterman said in a statement.
“At the national Lasallian Huether Conference last fall, Mr. Massey’s presentation was widely acclaimed and has been implemented in several of our Lasallian schools. While Dean of Students, Mr. Massey also served as the Director of Safety and Security. Vince Massey will continue to serve Mullen High School in this role.”
Valor Christian’s Rod Sherman, pictured during last season’s Class 5A football championship game, is moving from athletic director to a new role. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Valor Christian has appointed Rod Sherman as the school’s Director of Institutional Advancement, meaning one of the state’s most successful athletic departments is in search of a new head.
The school announced the move in a press release on Tuesday evening.
“Rod is a founding member of our leadership team and I know he will do an exceptional job leading these (other) areas for our school (in his new role). We felt strongly this position needed to be filled from within,” Kurt Unruh, Valor’s Head of School, said in the release. “Of course there is concern when you take a highly accomplished person out of their area of expertise and ask them to lead a new area, but, we believe strongly in Rod and know that the skills he brought to developing our athletic program are transferable to other areas of the school.”
Sherman has been the Eagles’ AD since the school was founded in 2007. In his time heading the athletic department, Valor Christian has won 11 state championships, including five in football, as well as 30 league championships.
His new role will oversee “the functions of admissions/retention, branding, fundraising and parent community,” according to the release.
“I am honored to have served the Valor community as athletic director since the school’s inception in 2007,” Sherman said in the release. “I have learned much during my tenure, and am thankful for the many relationships and experiences it has afforded.
“Looking forward, I am humbled and excited to transition to the role of Director of Institutional Advancement and am equally excited to watch the athletic department grow under the leadership of a new athletic director.”
The school’s search for a new athletic director will begin “immediately,” according to the release.
