(Dan Mohrmann)

MANITOU SPRINGS – Manitou Springs athletic director John McGee didn’t have to look far to find a new baseball coach to fill the void left by Rob Quarry, who retired at the conclusion of the 2014 season.

Thursday, McGee offered the position to longtime assistant Cory Archuleta, who accepted and will take the reins in 2015.

Archuleta first joined Quarry’s staff in 2006 after spending time as the head coach at Wasson. Prior to that, his coaching experience was primarily at the junior varsity level, mainly with Palmer and Sand Creek.

His vast baseball background dates back to his playing days at Lamar Community College. While there, he played for Brian Hochevar – the father of Kansas City Royals pitcher and Fowler High graduate Luke Hochevar.

“I think (with me in charge) practices will be more efficient and we’ll spend more time on fundamentals,” Archuleta said. “When Rob was here and he and I were here together for those eight or nine years, we had kids who played competitive baseball going up through the ranks. We don’t have that anymore.”

Although he may not have the same number of kids playing on traveling competitive teams, Archuleta has maintained consistency with the baseball program as a whole in his time at Manitou. His kids continue to play together each summer through a summer program that he has set up.

In the past, Archuleta has taken his team on the road to high profile tournaments in Las Vegas, Nev. but this year has opted for a wood-bat tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah.

He hopes that the summer competition combined with the return of the bulk of his starters will give the Mustangs an additional boost for the 2015 season. He expects the overall feel of the team to remain consistent, but cites some differences in how Manitou will approach the game with him in charge.

“I’ll play a lot of small ball and we’ll be a lot more aggressive than we have been,” he said. “We’re going to try and do everything in our power to make kids go up (to bat) with a plan of attack. I’m more of an aggressive guy, so I’m sure I’ll take some heat for being too aggressive at times.”

Archuleta is only the third coach for the program since 2001. Rick Hegg took to the team to a top-eight finish that year and coached for two more seasons before handing the team over to Quarry.

Downtown Boston, as seen from the air. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

BOSTON — The eight administrators on the CHSAA staff arrived here Friday afternoon in preparation for the 95th annual NFHS summer meeting, which begins Sunday.

The conference features daily panels, discussions and sessions across all areas of high school sports and activities. Included are various technology roundtables, as well as breakout sessions for individual sports.

In addition, the annual meeting is typically a forum for networking and exchanging of ideas and best practices between state associations.

Many of the topics discussed during this meeting will be relayed to CHSAA membership during the Association’s All-School Summit in late July.

The National Federation will also induct the 2014 class to its Hall of Fame during the meeting. Among the inductees is Colorado’s George Demetriou, a longtime football and baseball official as well as rules interpreter for those sports.

CHSAA staff will have prominent roles during the meeting. Assistant commissioner Bethany Brookens will head a session on transgender policies, and assistant commissioner Jenn Roberts-Uhlig is in charge of a marketing roundtable.

The Association’s board of directors is making the trip to Boston, as well, and they will attend various sessions during the conference.

Last year’s summer meeting was hosted by CHSAA and held in Denver.

Marco Gonzales, a 2010 graduate of Rocky Mountain, made his Major League debut for the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday — against the hometown Colorado Rockies, no less.

He allowed five earned runs on seven hits and two walks, and struck out three in five innings of work at Coors Field. True to his history as a talented two-way player, Gonzales also doubled to left-center field in his first major league at-bat and later scored.

Coors Field. (Dennis Pleuss)

Gonzales ultimately got a no-decision, but the Cardinals came back to beat the Rockies with a late rally, 9-6.

Gonzales was the winning pitcher in each of Rocky Mountain’s baseball championships from 2007-10, and remains the only high school player in Colorado history to do so.

He went on to star for Gonzaga as a left-handed pitcher and outfield/infielder. As a junior, he won the John Olerud Award award — given annually to the best two-way player in college baseball.

Gonzales was then selected by the Cardinals in the first round of the 2013 draft at No. 19 overall.

He made meteoric rise through the Cardinals’ farm system. After playing at the organization’s Rookie and High-A affiliates last season, he began 2014 at High-A, and then made seven starts for Double-A Springfield. Then, the 22-year-old Gonzales was called up on Wednesday.

Wednesday, he cruised through the first three innings — in fact, he didn’t allow a hit — but then surrendered all five earned runs in the fourth.

“It was a blast,” Gonzales told the Fort Collins Coloradoan afterward. “I had people flying in from everywhere and I’m very grateful for it. I’ve seen my fair share of games and I’ve played here a few times, so coming here and having family here was a blast.”

Gonzales is the first Colorado product to make their Major League debut this season, and the most recent since Grandview grad Kevin Gausman debuted for Baltimore in May 2013.

“(Gonzales) was really good, all things considered,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny told MLB.com after the game. “First opportunity here in the situation we put him in, it was an incredible test. Hopefully he answered a lot of questions for himself about himself.”

Gonzales’ father, Frank, played baseball at La Junta, and later coached at Fort Collins. He’s now the pitching coach for the Tri-City Dust Devils, the Rockies’ short-season Class A affiliate in Washington.

[recruiting-menu]

A on-going list of girls basketball college commitments from high school athletes in Colorado’s class of 2015. Send additions, along with position, height and weight, to rcasey@chsaa.org.

[caspio]http://b6.caspio.com/dp.asp?AppKey=d2f2300021ba3705d89e4f99b6e4[/caspio]

[recruiting-menu]

A on-going list of boys basketball college commitments from high school athletes in Colorado’s class of 2015. Send additions, along with position, height and weight, to rcasey@chsaa.org.

[caspio]http://b6.caspio.com/dp.asp?AppKey=d2f23000650ad857374b416d9d2e[/caspio]

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The 95th annual National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Summer Meeting will be held June 28-July 2 at the Boston Marriott Copley Place in Boston, Massachusetts. The NFHS is the national leadership organization for high school athletic and performing arts activities and is composed of state high school associations in the 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

About 900 individuals are expected to attend the Summer Meeting, including staff members and board members from the 51 member associations.

The 32nd annual induction ceremony of the National High School Hall of Fame and discussion of several key issues affecting high school sports and performing arts highlight this year’s agenda.

Five outstanding former high school athletes, including legendary Cleveland Browns’ tight end Ozzie Newsome from Alabama, pro basketball star Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway from Tennessee, former Major League Baseball players Michael Devereaux (Wyoming) and Casey Blake (Iowa), and track and field star Suzy Powell (California) headline the 2014 class of the National High School Hall of Fame.

Newsome was a three-sport standout at Colbert County High School in Leighton, Alabama, before becoming one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history. Hardaway scored more than 3,000 points in his career at Memphis (Tennessee) Treadwell High School and later was an All-American at Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis) and a four-time all-star in the NBA. Blake was a four-sport athlete at Indianola (Iowa) High School and was named one of the top 10 athletes in Iowa history before enjoying a 13-year professional career. Devereaux was one of the greatest high school athletes in Wyoming history at Kelly Walsh High School in Casper. His 12-year professional baseball career included two World Series wins with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves. Powell set the national high school discus record at Thomas Downey High School in Modesto, California, which stood for 15 years. She later competed in three Olympics.

Among the topics that will be discussed at the 45 workshops during the NFHS Summer Meeting are promoting positive academic impact of participation in activities, social media marketing, components of successful spirit programs, participation opportunities for students with disabilities, sportsmanship, branding, transgender policies, values of middle school interscholastic activities and legal issues.

The Summer Meeting will kick off on June 29 with the Opening General Session featuring a “We Are High School®” student program. Along with the seventh annual National High School Spirit of Sport Award ceremony, the NFHS will present – for the first time – its performing arts counterpart – the National High School Heart of the Arts Award.

Zach Pickett of Shingle Springs (California) Ponderosa High School will receive the National High School Spirit of Sport Award, and Leia Schwartz of Miami (Florida) Coral Reef High School will receive the National High School Heart of the Arts Award.

The Second General Session on June 30 will feature NFHS President Harold Slemmer, NFHS Executive Director Bob Gardner and USA Paralympic Athlete Jerome Singleton, Jr. The Closing General Session on Wednesday, July 2, will feature best-selling author and humorist Ross Shafer.

The Summer Meeting Luncheon will be held at 12 p.m. on July 1, and will feature the presentation of NFHS Citations to 12 individuals. State association honorees include Paul Hoey of Connecticut, Brad Cashman of Pennsylvania, Gary Phillips of Georgia, Sandy Searcy of Indiana, Debra Velder of Nebraska, Wadie Moore of Arkansas, Marie Ishida of California and Gary Matthews of Alaska.

Other Citation recipients are Jeff Hilyer of Alabama (NFHS Officials Association), Tom Zimorski of Virginia (NFHS Coaches Association), Rosanne Malek of Iowa (NFHS Music Association) and Ken Pickering of South Dakota (NFHS Speech, Debate and Theatre Association).

The Summer Meeting will conclude at 6 p.m., July 2 with the induction of the 2014 class of the National High School Hall of Fame.

High school coaches slated for induction this year include Bob McDonald, basketball coach at Chisholm (Minnesota) High School who retired this year after a legendary 59-year coaching career; Morgan Gilbert, who retired last year from Tuckerman (Arkansas) High School after winning more than 1,000 games as both a basketball coach and baseball coach during a 48-year career; Katie Horstman, who started the girls sports program at Minster (Ohio) High School in 1972 and led the girls track team to eight state championships; and Frank Pecora, who becomes Vermont’s first inductee in the National High School Hall of Fame after leading Northfield (Vermont) High School to 15 state baseball championships.

Other members of the 2014 induction class are George Demetriou, a football and baseball official from Colorado Springs, Colorado, who is a state and national officiating leader in both sports; Sheryl Solberg, a state and national leader in the development of girls athletics programs during her 34 years as assistant to the executive secretary of the North Dakota High School Activities Association; and Randy Pierce, a state and national debate leader who coached debate at Pattonville High School in Maryland Heights, Missouri, for almost 40 years before retiring in 2012.

Jack Thorne just finished his junior year at Berthoud. He is an all-state swimmer who competes for nearby Thompson Valley (Berthoud doesn’t field a team). Monday, Thorne came out as gay on Twitter, Facebook and OutSports.com.

He is believed to be the first openly gay high school athlete in Colorado.

Thorne won the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke championships at May’s Class 4A state meet. His time of 48.824 in the 100 back set the meet record. Thorne was also part of Thompson Valley’s 400 freestyle relay team which placed third, and in June was named to CHSAANow.com’s 4A all-state team.

In a letter Monday, Thorne wrote that he wants “to be the person that 14 year old me didn’t have, I want to help that 14 year old realize it’s going to get better. If I can do that, or if I can change somebody’s mind about the LGBT community then this will have been worth it.”

Last year, CHSAA became the first state high school association to team up with the You Can Play! project, which takes a stand against homophobia in sports.

The association launched You Can Play, Colorado! which included a state-wide video contest. The winning submissions were shown at the state basketball championships. That initiative was part of CHSAA’s We Are CHSAA positive leadership campaign.

“One piece of our positive leadership campaign was that kids that are struggling with coming out shouldn’t feel isolated nor an inability to express themselves,” CHSAA commissioner Paul Angelico said on Tuesday. “We hope that in some way it was helpful.”

Thorne’s full letter is being republished from his Twitter post on Monday afternoon:

I’ve spent months trying to figure out how to do this, when to do this and I’ve realized there’s never going to be a perfect time to say what I want to say. But there’s no time like the present. I’m gay. Some of you already know, and for some of you this may come as a surprise. Nothing has changed, I’m still the same Jack, the same Jack you race, the same Jack who you carpool with, the same Jack screaming for you on the side of the pool. This doesn’t define me, I’m not gay Jack, I’m just Jack. Being gay happens to be one of the many things that make me who I am, it’s not what defines me and I won’t let it define me.

I’m not doing this for attention, I’m doing this because I want to be able to be myself and I want to be able to help somebody. I want to be the person that 14 year old me didn’t have, I want to help that 14 year old realize that it’s going to get better. If I can do that, or if I can change somebody’s mind about the LGBT community then this will have been worth it.

I’ve had some people try to discourage me from doing this the way I am. If my close friends and family know, why should I tell the world about it? Unfortunately we live in a world where people are treated differently because they love someone of the same sex, one where kids are bullied and picked on because of this, one where people would rather end their own lives than face this discrimination and hostility. I wish we lived in a world where people didn’t have to pretend to be something they’re not and where people didn’t have to come out at all, but unfortunately we do. My sexual orientation is no more significant than my hair color, it’s part of me, but it isn’t something that defines who I am.

I want to thank my friends and family who have supported me. You are amazing. The world is changing for the better and I hope I can be part of that change and help break down those stereotypes and misconceptions people have about the LGBT community.

The last portion is for those of you who are struggling. The way you’re feeling right now, it isn’t always going to be like this. A year ago I was just like you, alone, sad, scared, I was pushing my friends away and I hated this part of me. Now I’ve come full circle and I’m actually proud of who I am. I’ve had help and support from some amazing people all the way through this process. Now that I’m here, I want to be able to help someone like those people helped me. You don’t have to deal with this alone. If you need advice, or just someone to talk to I’m here.

On that note, I have some very important things to do such as swim, eat and sleep, so I will end this with a thank you to those of you who have taken the time to read this letter.

Air Academy girls lacrosse coach Sean Harmon gives instructions to his team during a game this season. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Colorado’s girls lacrosse landscape just underwent a big change.

First came the news that Sean Harmon, coach of defending champion Air Academy, had resigned. Then, longtime power Cherry Creek announced Thursday that its coach, Brianne Tierney, was leaving to pursue college opportunities.

Harmon, the only girls lacrosse coach Air Academy has ever known, actually resigned at the end of school this spring. He led the Kadets to a state championship in May, their second title in three years, and third overall.

Harmon’s decision was first reported by the Colorado Springs Gazette. Air Academy athletic director Diane Shuck confirmed the move to CHSAANow on Thursday.

“He took our program from one that was fairly average to one that was a force to be reckoned with, and one that was among the top teams year after year after year,” Shuck said. “A very, very big loss to our program.”

Harmon and his wife are expecting their second child.

“I think he’s just ready to really spend time with his family,” Shuck said. “It’s always hard to take, but definitely I can’t thank him enough for the 15 years he gave to our program.”

The Kadets went 17-2 this season, with the lone in-state loss coming to Centaurus in early April. They won their final 12 games against in-state teams, including a down-to-the-wire win against Cherry Creek in the championship game May 21.

Air Academy’s first title came in 2009, when the Kadets went 20-0. Since that season started, Harmon’s teams are 101-12. According to the Gazette, he was 202-46-2 in his 15 years at the school.

When the Kadets won another title in 2012, it was official notice that the program had joined the state’s elite.

“I’ve got a team that’s trying to change the mindset that everything goes through Creek and Kent,” Harmon said prior to that season’s championship game.

At this point, Air Academy’s program has done just that.

The Kadets have been in the title game four of the past six seasons, and made five total appearances. Only Cherry Creek, which has made every title game in the sport’s sanctioned history and won 10 championships, has matched the success over that span.

Shuck said she hopes to hire Harmon’s replacement “somewhere near August or September.” Harmon is helping in that process, and will also help in the transition to the new coach during fall ball.

“(Harmon) accomplished I think everything he wanted to accomplish. I think he feels really good about where (the program is) at,” Shuck said. “It’s definitely a top program. It’s a destination job.”

Tierney’s exit means that arguably the top two girls lacrosse jobs in the state are open.

Cherry Creek athletic director Jason Wilkins tweeted the news that Tierney was leaving on Thursday:

Good luck to coach Brianne Tierney as she moves on from Creek and looks to coach at the collegiate level. #copreps

— WilkinsAD (@creeksports) June 19, 2014

She certainly has a college pedigree already. Tierney established the program at Division III Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania, and coached there for three years, and has also assisted at Cal and Monmouth. She played Division I lacrosse at Colgate.

For Creek, it’ll be the third time the program has been in search of a new coach since 2009.

Tierney, the daughter of University of Denver men’s lacrosse coach Bill Tierney, took over in August 2012. She led the Bruins to a state title in her first season, 2013, and a runner-up finish this past spring. 

Tierney’s teams were 28-9 in her two seasons. She also assisted with the school’s field hockey team, and serves as the director of operations for DU men’s lacrosse.

Whether they have lived in Colorado their whole life, or only for a few summers, it seems that every Coloradan shares the same top two secrets to a successful day in the mountains: sunscreen and snacks.

But, choosing what snacks to pack in your backpack can be challenging, especially when considering food safety.

Did You Know?

• Bacteria grows best on foods between 40-140 degrees (the temperature danger zone).
• All unpreserved foods should be thrown away if they have been out of the temperature danger zone for over two hours, or if cumulatively, they have been in the danger zone for four hours.
• If the outside temperature is over 90 degrees, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends only keeping perishable foods outside of the refrigerator for one hour.
• Picnic favorites such as potato salad, fried chicken, deviled eggs or pulled pork tend to be high-risk foods  — they contain large amounts of protein and water, combined a perfect breeding ground for bacteria at warm weather temperatures.

Reading the warnings and risks for food borne illness can turn many hikers away from packing the nutrition they need to support their bodies during exercise. But proper planning can help you simplify packing healthy backpack choices while outwitting food-borne illness threats.

There is no need to miss out on refreshing and refueling refrigerated items like chocolate milk, protein-rich cheeses, or deli meat wraps when you are hiking. Dairy products, along with other foods, are safe to eat when kept below 40°F with ice packs.

Let MyPlate — visit choosemyplate.gov — serve as a packing list. Plan meals using each of the Five Food Groups (whole grain rolls, dried fruit and nut trail mix, string cheese and pre-sliced fruits and vegetables) to support your body’s nutrition needs.

The following are a list of foods and ideas that are SAFE and HEALTHY; must-tries on your summer backpack day hikes: 

• Water Bottle Ice Packs: Keeping foods out of the temperature danger zone is the number one step in keeping foods safe both at home and outdoors. Toss frozen plastic water bottles in the bottom of your backpack for the perfect ice pack. Frozen water bottles also provide a cold drink when they start to melt, the perfect treat on a hot day.
• Frozen Smoothies: Frozen fruit smoothies also make a great ice pack for keeping food cold. Pre-make smoothies and freeze in easy-to-pack containers. Once the smoothie starts to melt, and has served its role as an ice pack, it is a perfect refueling snack with natural, energizing carbohydrate, fluid for hydration and protein to rebuild hard-working muscles.
• Hand Sanitizer: Keeping hands clean is important for preventing food-borne illness, even outdoors. Pack baby wipes, antibacterial wipes or sanitizer to use before eating.
• Powdered Milk: Most low-risk foods like potato chips, toaster pastries and baked goods don’t always fit into a healthy, well-balance diet. Get creative with shelf stable foods. Add granola, raisins or other dried fruit and powdered milk to a sealable container. Add water, stir, and enjoy with a spoon during a hike.  
• Canned Tuna fish: Canned foods can make great backpack snacks because they don’t require refrigeration. Pack a light can of tuna fish and small bag of whole-grain crackers (don’t forget the can opener). Enjoy with cheese slices kept cool in your backpack for a three-food-group snack.   
• Fruit and Vegetable Dips: Avoid adding sugar, mayonnaise or whipping cream to fresh fruits or vegetables before you pack them, instead, enjoy vegetables with yogurt-based dipping sauces, like this Tzatziki Sauce (prepared just prior to heading out, and kept cool in your backpack until eating) or enjoy hard fruits like apples, pears and pineapple on skewer sticks. Add salsa to a softened cream cheese and enjoy with carrot sticks or pre-sliced Fruit and Cheese Fries.
• Grab and Gos: Pre-make wraps by rolling deli meat, slices of cheese, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers or any other healthy add-ins in a whole-wheat tortilla. Wait to add spreads until right before serving; most spreads are considered high-risk foods and are more likely to cause food-borne illness. Take along flavorful yogurt dip like this Roasted Red Pepper Yogurt Dip for dressing your wrap or sandwich instead.
• Low-Risk Foods: Foods that don’t require refrigeration, like these Banana Walnut Muffins, are easy to throw in a backpack.

Enjoy your next day outside by refueling with foods that are safe and nutritious from all Five Food Groups. Athletes that hike can train harder and perform better with proper nutrition. Visit WesternDairyAssociation.org to read more about milk as an exercise recovery beverage and learn how to eat for peak athletic performance. 

(Pam Wagner)

AURORA — Girls golf may be in for a revolutionary change. The idea of introducing a Modified Stableford Scoring system is being kicked around.

Now, the idea hasn’t even been presented to the girls golf committee yet — they meet Oct. 7 — and it would also have to clear the Legislative Council in order to be integrated into the sport. But there is gathering evidence to suggest the Stableford system would create a better experience for all players, and also speed up the pace of play.

The Stableford system awards points for strokes in relation to par on a hole-by-hole basis, as opposed to the traditional method of simply counting strokes.

For example, in the unmodified version, a par is worth two points, a birdie is worth three, an eagle is four, and so on. The inverse is true, as well, meaning a bogey is worth one point, and a double-bogey is worth zero. Those points are then added at the end of a round, and the player with the highest total wins the tournament.

The major advantage here is that once a player reaches the stroke limit which awards no points — in the example above, that would be two-over-par — they simply pick up their ball and move on to the next hole. There would be no more 17s on a par-5.

Currently, some girls golf tournaments can last as long as six hours. With golfers having the ability to pick up after a certain number of strokes, the Stableford method could drastically speed things up.

The Stableford system also helps those just learning the game. For example, if a girl were to record a 4 for a hole on her scorecard when she actually made a 5, she would simply not get the Stableford points that hole. Normally, she would be disqualified from her entire round or tournament.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Additionally, the system means every golfer is viable late in the tournament as a potential impact on the team score — and, more importantly, there would be no more disqualifications at regionals. (Currently, CHSAA allows coaches to decide to pull players from regionals if they are at or near double-par after nine holes.)

Colorado would not be the first state to use a Modified Stableford System. Utah’s girls have been using it for a number of years now, and their rounds average about 4 to 4 1/2 hours.

Utah’s system awards five points for par, meaning a golfer is awarded zero points at 5-over-par and therefore picks up their ball at that point. That also puts a birdie at six points, an eagle at seven, and a double eagle at eight. A bogie is worth four points, a double-bogie is three, a triple-bogie is two and a quadruple-bogie is one.

Using Utah’s version of a modified system, CHSAA staff did a comparison of stroke play to Stableford scoring from the 5A and 4A state tournaments, as well as all regional events. Initial research showed that the Stableford system, while likely a more advantageous system for the general player, would not impact the top golfers.

At the state level, the order of the top 10 individuals remained the same in both classifications, even down to those who tied. The team state champions did not change, either.

At the regional level, the champions and top-10 remained the same.

Utah’s scoring method will be the basis of the conversation when the Stableford system is brought up in the committee meeting. Colorado could input its own system — say, picking up at 4-over-par — but that’s the type of detail the committee would hammer out if it chose to go the Stableford route.

This change is only being talked about for the girls’ game, where it would have the greatest impact. If the committee moved a Modified Stableford System through, the next step would be the Jan. 29 Legislative Council meeting. Conceivably, if passed there, that would be enough time to install it prior to the 2015 girls season.

Ultimately, the girls golf committee is seeking ways to speed up its tournaments. Another option is to cut rounds down to nine holes, which would allow for afternoon events where students don’t miss school time.

[divider]

Short stuff

• We released the rest of our all-state teams last week. Find every team from the 2013-14 season on our All-State homepage.
• Kyle Freeland signed with the Rockies last week. The Thomas Jefferson graduate who was drafted No. 8 overall earlier this month, inked a $2.3 million signing bonus, according to MLB.com. He’ll begin his professional career in Grand Junction, the Rockies’ rookie affiliate. Their season starts Monday night.
• Regis Jesuit shortstop Max George also signed a professional contract with the Rockies, forgoing a commitment to Oregon State. According to BaseballAmerica.com, he signed for $620,000. George will start in Grand Junction, as well.
• Wheat Ridge girls lacrosse’s Gianna Ossello, a first-team all-state pick, was the lone Colorado player picked to the Under Armour All-American games. The midfielder, who is headed to Duke, will play on the South Team. She’ll play in the game on July 12 in Baltimore.
• Chaparral’s Colton McCaffrey was the 5A boys lacrosse player of the year, and is also an All-American. He played in the Adrenaline All-American Game on June 7 — along with Cherry Creek’s Matt Goettelman, Wheat Ridge’s Jensen Makarov, Mullen’s Nick Phillips and Arapahoe’s Nick Runberg. McCaffrey, bound for DU, had two goals.
• Loveland swimmer Brooke Hansen committed to Texas last week, according to the Loveland Reporter-Herald. She is a two-time state champion, winning the 100 breaststroke as a sophomore, then the 200 individual medley this past winter. Hansen will be a senior this fall.
• Mountain Vista baseball’s Jack Strunc, a shortstop, announced on Twitter that he committed to Washington State. Strunc is an outgoing senior. He’ll join teammate Nick Leonard in Pullman.
• Greg Maestas, the only wrestling coach Grandview has even known, retired earlier this month. He was at the school for 16 years, and spent 38 coaching in the sport. “He has left a legacy that will be missed,” athletic director Jamee Ulitzky said in a statement. “Words cannot express our appreciation for all of his work and commitment to the sport.” Said Maestas, to the Aurora Sentinel: “It’s time. I enjoyed it, I had some great kids, great parents and good administrators.”
• Ashour Peera has left Gateway’s football program to become the coach at East Ridge in Florida, according to the Sentinel. He spent one season as the Olympians’ coach, and went 6-4. East Ridge is a 7A school in Florida, meaning Peera will return to the state where he coached prior to moving to Colorado. Here’s our updated list of football coaching changes this offseason.
• Bear Creek has hired David Berghoefer as its boys basketball coach.
• The state softball tournaments will stay at the Aurora Sports Complex this fall.
• Florida is mandating the use of helmets in girls lacrosse. The new rule will be effective in 2015.
• Poudre School District hired Ron Alexander as district athletic director, according to the Fort Collins Coloradoan.
• Former Grand Junction defensive end Austin Berk has left the Colorado State football program after his freshman season. He told the Fort Collins Coloradoan that he needs “some time to get my body back to 100 percent.” Berk has had problems with his hip.