CHSAA’s All-School Summit began on Thursday. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

LONE TREE — The classification system in Colorado seems headed for a change.

It’s not quite drastic, but the direction CHSAA’s Classification and League Organizing Committee (CLOC) is headed is definitely different than the current system. In short, CLOC’s idea would give each sport unique enrollment cutoffs which would then be used to divide classifications evenly.

Currently, all sports — save for football and wrestling — use one set of enrollment cutoffs to determine classifications. And those cutoffs are based upon basketball, the sport with the highest participation among CHSAA member schools.

The new approach was first presented to the membership at CHSAA’s All-School Summit on Thursday afternoon at the Denver Marriott South.

“It’s a philosophical thing right now,” Randy Holmen, CLOC’s chair and the principal at Holly High School, said at the CHSAA office on Wednesday ahead of the Summit.

And so CLOC is seeking feedback from the membership over the next few months. Still, make no mistake, CLOC seems intent on heading this direction for the next two-year cycle (2016-18).

“This was discussed pretty seriously,” Holmen said.

The idea was first hatched at CLOC’s most recent meeting in May. One month earlier, wrestling’s move to unique enrollment numbers was approved at the Legislative Council meeting. Wrestling wanted to create an even split of teams across its classifications.

This spawned a discussion at CLOC’s May meeting, which soon turned to the question of equity among the classification system as a whole.

“The CLOC committee was very open to this” new idea, Holmen said. “Actually, we were really excited to look into it.”

Randy Holmen explains the new alignment idea at the All-School Summit on Thursday. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

The current system has been in place for nearly 20 years. It seeks to keep the higher and lower cutoffs of a classification’s enrollment figures right around a ratio of 2.2 to 1.

“We’ve struggled for a couple of years now of how to have equity in our classification system,” said Paul Angelico, CHSAA’s commissioner. “There is no perfect way to find equity, but our current system may actually work against equity.”

So, how to find equity? Like wrestling did, CLOC wants to have an even amount of teams playing in classifications — in each sport.

Every sport would have different enrollment cutoffs for classifications in order to balance the teams. In some cases, schools would have teams playing in different classifications.

However, the change isn’t all that drastic. Early projections have shown that 10-12 schools would be affected at the very maximum in certain sports.

“We don’t envision this to be a landslide change in any classification,” Holmen said. “It can’t be. It won’t be.”

CLOC’s next meeting is in November. It is there that the committee will set the structure to be used for the 2016-18 two-year cycle, so any feedback from schools needs to come prior to that meeting.

“Please be active in this,” Homen told the gathered athletic directors on Thursday, “because there are going to be some tough decisions to be made.”

Implementing the new idea wouldn’t require a bylaw change, but it would require the Legislative Council to approve the CLOC report at its meeting in January 2015.

Many details remain to be ironed out — for example, how would play-up and play-down requests be handled? — but those things are likely to be hammered out at CLOC’s November meeting.

“There are going to be some real hard questions we’re going to have to answer,” Angelico said.

Under the new plan, wrestling and football’s enrollment cutoffs would not change as they are already unique.

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New classification cutoff

Below are projected cutoffs for CLOC’s idea of evening out teams among classifications. This chart includes data on teams in each classification for the 2014-16 cycle, as well as the projected number of even teams in a given sport.

For sake of comparison, the current 2014-16 enrollment cutoffs are included, as well.

Frank Sferra.

For 57 years, Frank Sferra was a speech coach at Mullen High School. But the breadth of his impact in speech activities reached throughout Colorado and the nation.

Sferra, 77, had long been recognized as the preeminent speech coach in the country by educators and speech/debate professionals. He passed away Wednesday morning after a long illness.

“Frank was a passionate man who gave his life to his students. His impact on the Colorado speech community is immeasurable,” CHSAA commissioner Paul Angelico said. “He is speech to Colorado’s high schools. We will miss him as a teacher and coach, but even more as a man of integrity and character, and as a friend.”

Sferra served 10 years as president of the National Forensics League (NFL) and spent nearly every year since 1966 on the NFL Executive Council. In Colorado, he served 20 years on CHSAA’s Speech Advisory Committee, including 18 as chair.

He is a member of the National Forensics League Hall of Fame, the CHSAA Hall of Fame (1991) and the National Federation of State High School Associations’ Hall of Fame (2003).

In fact, Sferra was the first speech individual inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame.

Just this past June, Sferra was presented with the inaugural NFHS Section 6 Heart of the Arts Award for his work in speech activities.

He will be remembered as the person who started the Colorado state speech tournament. His Mullen students enjoyed great success at the state and national level. In 2012, Sferra became a 7 Diamond coach in the NFL, one of very few to reach that level.

Frank Sferra’s Heart of the Arts trophy.

Sferra was a graduate of Regis Jesuit High School and Regis Univeristy. He held a Master’s Degree in Communication from the University of Colorado. A Denver native, he was a teacher at Regis Jesuit, St. Joseph, Bishop Machebeuf and Mullen high schools for 57 years.

In an email, Mullen President and CEO Carl Unrein wrote:

We recognize Frank’s passing will impact our Mullen community on many levels. Frank was such an integral part of Mullen’s history and our Lasallian Mission. Frank was a long-time educator at Mullen High School and his tenure spanned seven decades. Notably, his accomplishments included a nationally prominent Speech and Debate program. However, Frank impacted the entire Mullen community with unmatched dedication to our students and an unrivaled commitment to excellence and integrity. His legacy will endure for many years to come, particularly to Frank’s friends in the Speech and Debate community and the Colorado High School Activities Association.

Services are pending and will be updated when known.

New Valor Christian girls basketball coach Jessika Caldwell. (Courtesy of Valor Christian)

Valor Christian has hired Jessika Caldwell to take over its girls basketball program, the school announced Tuesday.

Caldwell had been the lead assistant at Colorado Christian University, a Division II school in Lakewood, for the past five seasons. She was also the head coach at Colorado-Colorado Springs from 2005-08, and played at Baylor prior to coaching.

At Baylor, Caldwell was named the 2004 Big 12 Sportswoman of the Year.

“I am completely honored to continue my coaching journey at Valor Christian High School,” Caldwell said in a statement. “My desire is to continue to encourage student-athletes to pursue excellence spiritually, academically and athletically.”

Caldwell takes over for Sherryl Klosterman, who resigned in May after five years leading the program. Klosterman’s teams were 79-40 during her time there.

Valor went 23-4 last season, including a trip to the Final 4.

The Eagles figure to be very good again next season, as their top seven scorers return — including Kendall Bradbury, who averaged 17.1 points, and Caroline Bryan, who averaged 17.0. Both will be seniors this fall.

“We are excited about what Jessika brings to the program,” Brian Kula, assistant AD at Valor, said in a statement. “She has a deep and passionate love for the Lord, a heart for mentoring players and skills to develop young women on and off the court. She is well respected in the basketball community and with her playing and coaching experience has the tools to achieve excellence here at Valor.”

Colorado State football has another in-state commitment.

The Fort Collins Coloradoan reported on Tuesday that Rocky Mountain offensive lineman Salofi Gaoa committed to the Rams. Gaoa told GoldandGreenNews.com that he committed last Thursday.

Gaoa joins Bear Creek’s Olabisi Johnson, who pledged on Friday, in the Rams’ 2015 class.

At 6-foot-6 and 274 pounds, Gaoa is a big body at tackle for Rocky Mountain. The senior-to-be helped the Lobos to a 5-5 record last season.

He’s the second Division I commit from Rocky Mountain’s football team this season. Punter/kicker Alex Kinney has committed to Colorado, meaning the two will be teammates as seniors, but rivals as college freshmen.

Gaoa’s addition means there are now eight Division I recruits in Colorado’s 2015 class thus far. Colorado has three of those commits, CSU and Nebraska each have two, and Wyoming has one.

Cross country athletes will be allowed to wear jewelry at meets beginning this fall in Colorado. (Pam Wagner)

AURORA — Cross country athletes will be allowed to wear jewelry during meets this fall after CHSAA lifted a ban on Monday.

The move comes in anticipation of a NFHS decision to remove a ban on jewelry in track and field starting with the spring 2015 season.

That national jewelry allowance will extended to cross country in the fall 2015 season, but CHSAA decided to allow jewelry this season. Previously, runners weren’t allowed to wear jewelry during meets.

“As a state, we decided that we will go ahead and proceed with it this fall in preparation for the rule change next year,” said Jenn Roberts-Uhlig, the CHSAA assistant commissioner in charge of cross country. “The big reason is that we’re going to do it in track. We know it’s coming down. This way, it’s in the same school year as the rule change for track.”

There are no restrictions as to the jewelry that can be worn.

“We spent time this weekend talking (with coaches) about ‘common sense,’ but no, there’s no restriction,” Roberts-Uhlig said.

Ponderosa boys lacrosse celebrates its 4A title last spring. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

AURORA — Boys lacrosse’s championship games are moving to a Friday night at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in the spring of 2015.

The Class 4A and 5A title games will change from their usual Saturday afternoon slot because of a conflict with a college lacrosse tournament. The 2015 championship games will be May 15.

As a result, there will be no Denver Outlaws game after the championship games conclude.

Regis Jesuit is the defending 5A champion, while Ponderosa won 4A last year.

Girls lacrosse’s semifinals remain scheduled for May 16, which is a Saturday. That championship game is May 20, a Wednesday.

(Cynthia Betancourt/MaxPreps)

Bear Creek athlete Olabisi Johnson committed to Colorado State to play football on Friday night, according to various reports.

(Derek Regensburger/MaxPreps)

The 6-foot-1, 186-pound Johnson will be a senior this fall. His commitment was reported by GoldandGreenNews.com, PrepColorado.com and The Fort Collins Coloradoan.

“They’re a really cool coaching staff, and I know they’re turning the program around up there,” Johnson told the Coloradoan.

He is the first in-stater from the class of 2015 to commit to CSU. Colorado has three in-state commits so far this cycle: Rocky Mountain’s Alex Kinney, Regis Jesuit’s Tim Lynott and Pomona’s Dillon Middlemiss.

Johnson becomes the seventh in-state commit from the class. Gateway’s Kevin Prosser is headed to Wyoming, and Nebraska has two defensive backs in Pine Creek’s Avery Anderson and Valor Christian’s Eric Lee.

Johnson is the reigning champion in the Class 5A 110-meter hurdles, winning in 14.34. He also finished seventh in the 300 hurdles, and was tenth in the pole vault. And he was a finalist for both hurdle events as a sophomore.

It all adds up to one thing: Johnson is a well-rounded athlete — with some speed. He lists his 40-yard dash time as 4.46 seconds on his Hudl profile.

Johnson played receiver and defensive back for the Bears last season. He caught 19 passes for 219 yards and three touchdowns, and also had a rushing touchdown. On defense, he made 68 tackles, and had one interception and forced a fumble.

(Lance Wendt/MaxPreps)

He was also Bear Creek’s returner, and returned two kickoffs for scores: one for 93 yards against Green Mountain, another for 96 against Chatfield.

Johnson told GoldandGreenNews.com that the Rams were recruiting him as a receiver.

“They like my speed and also they say they can see me at like a safety or something because they like my aggressiveness on the field,” Johnson told the site.

He picked CSU over an offer from Army, according to his Rivals profile. Cornell, Wyoming and Yale were also showing interest.

Johnson will join 2012 Bear Creek grad Jake Bennett, an offensive lineman, at Colorado State.

Bear Creek went 3-7 in its second year under coach Zach Morris last season.

Skyview’s George DiTirro Stadium. (Pam Wagner)

Skyview’s football team has never stepped onto its home field under the lights. This season, the 27th in school history, that changes.

Due in large part of a grassroots community effort, as well as determination from its school board, Skyview has installed lights onto George DiTirro Stadium in Thornton. Those lights will turn on August 29, a Friday, when the Wolverines open the season against Summit.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

“Playing on Friday nights is going to be awesome,” Skyview coach Bill Nelson said on Thursday. “Everybody’s excited.”

Skyview had been relegated to playing Saturday afternoons ever since the school was founded when the old Mapleton and Highland high schools combined in 1988. Mapleton had lights on its football field, but the new school moved to Highland’s campus. That stadium didn’t have lights.

So Saturdays became the norm when playing at home for Skyview. Early in the season, that meant dealing with heat. It usually always meant playing in front of sparse crowds.

“Saturday afternoons were wicked,” Nelson said. “I love coaching there, the people are good to me. But playing on Saturday afternoon just killed me.

“We are hoping attendance is going to go up,” Nelson added. “Even sometimes (entire) visiting team’s (crowds) didn’t come. A lot of our people didn’t come.”

(Pam Wagner)

The Wolverines have six home dates this season. All games are scheduled for 7 p.m. on Fridays.

“It just puts a different tone on our program,” Nelson said. “It’s more of a typical high school setting. We’re going to try to do some new traditions. Either have a meal or have some kind of session that we didn’t normally do.”

The school’s other teams that use the facility will also benefit from the lights. Notably, soccer games can start later. Those athletes had been leaving classes at 2 or 3 p.m. to prepare for a 4 p.m. start.

“Getting out of school just to play a home soccer game?” Nelson said. “Now we’re not going to have to do that.”

As part of the agreement to put lights up, the City of Thornton will also have access to the facility.

But on a Friday night in late August, DiTirro stadium will belong to the Wolverines. There’s a public Facebook group inviting alumni to attend.

Chris Kemm, Skyview’s girls basketball coach and a 1991 alum of the school, is a driving force behind the night.

“The only time we ever pack the stadium is for graduation,” Kemm said.

That may soon change. A full house is expected for the opener.

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MLB draft picks sign

Ralston Valley graduate Jordan Holloway. (Dennis Pleuss)

The MLB’s deadline for 2014 draft picks to sign was July 18.

Colorado had 23 products picked this year, including Kyle Freeland at No. 8 overall; 14 ended up signing.

Among those starting professional careers were Freeland and 2014 graduates Brock Burke (Evergreen), Max George (Regis Jesuit) and Jordan Holloway (Ralston Valley).

Freeland has made three starts for the Rockies’ Rookie-A affiliate in Grand Junction, but has thrown just nine innings. He has a 1.00 ERA, seven strikeouts and hasn’t allowed a walk.

Burke has thrown three innings for Tampa Bay’s Rookie-A affiliate, and hasn’t allowed a run.

George is with Freeland at Grand Junction and is hitting .303 with three home runs and 13 RBIs in 21 games. He hit for the cycle on July 13.

Holloway has yet to play a game.

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Short stuff

• MaxPreps recently ranked the 20 “most dominant” football programs in Colorado since 2004. The top three are not exactly a surprise: Mullen, Valor Christian and Columbine. Those three schools have won all but two Class 5A titles since 2004.
• Earlier this month, we wrote about the Nate Ekhoff Kicking Camp. Campers got an awesome surprise when Broncos kicker Matt Prater showed up as a counselor. “Matt worked with the kickers for over four hours and never left the turf,” Marshall Ekhoff wrote in an email.
• Jefferson Academy’s Jennifer Kupcho, the reigning Class 4A girls golf champion, lost during the match play portion of the U.S. Girls Junior Golf Championship in Flagstaff, Ariz. this week. Kupcho did finish in a tie for eighth at 1-under during the two-day stroke play portion, and was the highest Colorado finisher. Dakota Ridge’s Gillian Vance (+12), Regis Jesuit’s Jaclyn Murray (+21), Dakota Ridge’s Sydney Merchant (+22) and Skyline’s Erin Sargent (+27) also took part in the stroke play event, but missed the cut for match play.
• Eaglecrest’s Jordyn Poulter and Lewis-Palmer’s Alexa Smith both won a gold medal while competing for the United States at the Under-20 NORCEA Continental Championship, an international volleyball tournament.
• The inter-Colorado Springs coaching swaps continued when boys basketball coach Jarris Krapcha moved from Mitchell to Doherty last week.
• Erie was hit hard by flooding last season. The school’s football field recently underwent a turf replacement to repair damage from the water.
• Check out the new center-court logo for Liberty’s basketball teams.
• New Denver Bronco DeMarcus Ware helped Doherty’s football team during its fundraiser.
• Former Columbine athletic director Ed Woytek will remain in his advisory role with Valor Christian this season.
• Front Range Christian and Jim Elliot will co-op in football for the 2014-15 school year.
• Coveted 2016 big man De’Ron Davis of Overland added an offer from Oregon, according to his club team. Among his offers: Arizona, Indiana, UCLA and Wake Forest.
• Valor Christian graduate Alex Kozan was a Freshman All-SEC pick as a redshirt freshman at Auburn last season. A guard, he’s now landed on the Outland Trophy watch list, given annually to college football’s top interior lineman.
• Arapahoe graduate Hannah Wood, runner up in the 5A girls golf tournament last spring, won the CWGA’s stroke play championship on Wednesday. She then got a shout-out from Oklahoma’s golf team, which she’ll join this fall.
• Regis University is hosting a development baseball league on Saturdays and Sundays this fall. Here’s more info.

(Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

The following are recommendations from CHSAA’s Sports Medicine Committee for heat acclimatization and early-season football.

The committee is made up of three doctors, two district athletic directors, two assistant commissioners, two of the state’s top athletic trainers, the chair of the football committee, and the president of the football coaches association, who also is a master trainer for USA Football.

These recommendations outline the heat acclimation process during the heat of the summer spanning a three-week window from the start of fall practice through Labor Day. They come from highly qualified individuals and are based in part on research done by other states and the NFHS. They have been adapted to Colorado’s conditions.

The Sports Medicine Committee is headed by CHSAA assistant commissioner Jenn Roberts-Uhlig.

“We don’t want to react. We want to be proactive,” said Harry Waterman, assistant commissioner at CHSAA who oversees football. “We wanted to get this out there before something unfortunate happens.”

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Football recommendations during the acclimatization period:

• Practice is defined as time on the field including warm-up, stretching, practice and conditioning.
• Any single practice should not exceed 2 hours in length with an additional 25 minutes added for water breaks. A minimum of 2 water breaks should be incorporated each hour. Water should be readily available at all times.
• If a second practice takes place on the same day, this practice should only be a walk-through and no protective gear (with the exception of a helmet) should be worn. A walk-through is defined as time dedicated to reviewing plays and field positions and should not exceed 1 hour.
• A minimum of 2 hours should separate practices on the same day.
• Total practice time should not exceed 2 hours for one practice and 3 hours total practice (on days when two practices are scheduled). This does not include water breaks.
• Helmets should be removed for water breaks during warm weather conditions or after intense or prolonged exercise. This will help cool the core body temperature.
• Every coaching staff should have a heat index application downloaded so they may monitor heat conditions at every practice.
• See the USA Football Heads Up link for detailed information on heat, hydration and concussion. Heat index information and guidelines are outlined in this document.

Sports Medicine Committee Members

• Jenn Roberts-Uhlig, CHSAA Assistant Commissioner
• Larry Bull, District Athletic Director for Cherry Creek Schools
• Eddie Hartnett, District Athletic Director for Adams 12 School District
• H. Andrew Motz, MD; Advanced Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Specialists, P.C.
• Karen McAvoy, PsyD; Director, Center for Concussion/Rocky Mtn. Youth Sports Medicine
• Dr. Aaron Provance, MD; Children’s Hospital Colorado
• Darryl Miller, MS, ATC, CSCS, EMT; DPS District Athletic Trainer
• Chad Schmidt, MA, ATC; Sports Medicine/Orthopedic Spine Center of the Rockies

Invited Guests

• Harry Waterman, CHSAA Assistant Commissioner
• Michael Krueger, District Athletic Director for Aurora Public Schools/Football Committee Chair
• Wayne Voorhees, Head Football Coach at Legacy HS/CHSCA President for Football/Master Trainer for USA Football Heads Up Program

Callie Kaiser has committed to Colorado State to play basketball. (Pam Wagner)

Broomfield senior-to-be Callie Kaiser has committed to Colorado State to play basketball, according to her club team.

Kaiser, a 5-foot-10 wing/post, was a key part of Broomfield’s 27-1 season in 2013-14 in which the Eagles finished runner-up to Mesa Ridge. She averaged 14.3, 7.2 points, 3.4 steals and 2.5 assist per game.

Kaiser plays club basketball for BC Denver, and the club tweeted on Wednesday morning that she was headed to CSU:

Congrats 2015 G Callie Kaiser! Verbal commitment to Colorado State! #BCDproud #BCDlegend @THEcalpal02 @CSUWomensBball pic.twitter.com/jyXcPox9f5

— BC Denver (@bcdenverhoops) July 23, 2014

The Rams have just one other Colorado product on their roster right now: 2014 Poudre graduate Myanne Hamm.

Kaiser is the second known in-state girls basketball commitment from the 2015 class. Fairview’s Annika Lai, who also plays for BC Denver, is headed to Montana State. (Find other 2015 commitments in our database.)

Callie Kaiser, pictured during a game against Pueblo East last season. (Pam Wagner)

Last year’s class eventually sent 49 girls to play college basketball, including 18 to Division I schools.

Kaiser has played varsity basketball for Broomfield since she was a freshman, but really emerged as a sophomore when she averaged 13.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.0 steals per game.

She only continued her development last season, and was named first team all-state in Class 4A by CHSAANow. She was the lone non-senior to make the first team.

Kaiser also plays for the Eagles’ volleyball team as an outside hitter, and actually led the team in kills (4.0 per set) and digs (3.1) last season.