Trahan is a Colorado coaching veteran, having most recently served as the head coach at Smoky Hill from 2015-17. His teams were 3-26 in his three season.
Davis previously hired Trahan to be Smoky Hill’s coach in February 2015 when he was the AD at that school. Davis moved to Highlands Ranch prior to the 2017-18 school year.
Trahan also coached at Montbello (now known as Far Northeast) from 2010-13, where he was 14-27 in four seasons. He led a turnaround there, helping Montbello going 7-4 in 2013, and reach the Class 4A playoffs.
At Highlands Ranch, Trahan will inherit a program that went 6-5 in 5A in 2017. He takes over for interim coach David May, who replaced full-time coach Mark Robinson just before the 2017 season.
DENVER — The mid-season jumpstart D’Evelyn’s boys basketball team needed might have come Tuesday night with a non-league victory over a formidable foe.
“It’s non-league, so it wasn’t the end of the world,” D’Evelyn coach Dan Zinn said after the 10-point home victory. “But we need to be able to put games like this away and in the ‘W’ column. We haven’t been doing that this season so that was good to get tonight.”
Faith (6-5, 0-2 in 3A Metro League) held a 36-35 halftime advantage. Senior Jonah Gardner poured in 11 of his team-high 19 points in the first half.
D’Evelyn’s Cole Clifton (23) is challenged by Faith’s Benjamin Hawkins. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
However, D’Evelyn (6-7, 1-3 in 4A Jeffco League) turned things around on the defensive end and got more players involved offensively in the third quarter. The Jaguars outscored Faith 15-7 in the opening eight minutes of the second half.
“Our defense in the third quarter completely shut them down,” D’Evelyn senior Cole Clifton said. “We got the momentum swing we needed to get the lead.”
D’Evelyn junior Evan Willis (10 points) was scoreless in the first half, but nailed a pair of 3-pointers on his way to eight points in the third quarter. Junior Dan Brady (10 points) also hit a key 3-pointer for the Jaguars to help turn the tide.
Charles Dinegar had 18 points in the first half for D’Evelyn to keep the Jaguars in the game. He finished with a game-high 22 points, but Zinn knows Dinegar can’t be a one-man show.
“We have to have other guys step up. It can’t be the Charles Show,” Zinn said. “Charles is going to be the featured figure, but it can’t be his show alone. It’s got to be a team one.”
Faith’s Jacob Thielen plays defense from his knees Tuesday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Clifton finished with 18 points as D’Evelyn got closer to the .500 record mark after losing 3 of 4 conference games to start league play.
“Every game from here on out is important. You can’t have any games off,” Clifton said. “We stepped up tonight in the second half. It’s nice to get out of this slump.”
D’Evelyn gets back into 4A Jeffco play with a pair of road games this week. The Jaguars head to Standley Lake tomorrow (Wednesday) and Littleton on Friday.
The Jaguars need to get on track in conference play if they want to get in the league title mix with 4A’s top-10 ranked Evergreen (11-2, 4-0), Valor Christian (7-6, 4-0) and Golden (10-3, 3-1). D’Evelyn’s three league losses have come against those ranked teams, but the Jaguars will get another shot at all of them during the second go-around with league games.
“(Faith) is a great team. It was a great team win,” Dinegar said. “We’ve got two more tough ones this week that we’ve got to get.
Faith Christian also needs to turn things around in league play. The Eagles dropped 3A Metro games to No. 3 ranked Kent Denver and Colorado Academy in double overtime last week.
Longtime coach Andrew Hasz has his team back in conference action on the road against Prospect Ridge Academy on Friday.
Despite double- and triple-teams, D’Evelyn senior Charles Dinegar (0) scored 20+ points for the seventh game this season in Tuesday’s win over Faith Christian. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Luo Vullo, the ninth-year boys basketball coach at The Pinnacle, won the 200th game of his career on Tuesday night.
Vullo’s Timberwolves secured the milestone for their coach with a 78-29 win over Lake County.
Vullo’s career started at Thomas Jefferson, where he was junior varsity head coach. He got his first job as a head varsity coach at Sheridan in 2004-05, and was twice named lead Frontier League coach of the year. Vullo led the Rams to 63 wins, including a 19-3 season in 2006-07, and they made the state tournament each season.
Since joining Pinnacle in 2009-10, the Class 3A program has gone 137-59, averaging 16 wins per season. The Timberwolves have made the state tournament each year of Vullo’s tenure.
It means that in each of his seasons as head coach, Vullo’s teams have qualified for the state tournament.
Over the course of his 14-year career, Vullo’s record is now 200-110.
COLORADO SPRINGS — David Barkley, the legendary volleyball coach who led Cheyenne Mountain to six state championships, has resigned.
Barkley, who spent 15 seasons as the school’s coach, is among the state leaders in career wins, winning percentage and state titles. He was 350-58 in his 15-year career.
“He’s been stability that I’ve been fortunate with,” Cheyenne Mountain athletic director Kris Robert said. “He’s the second-longest tenured coach on our staff behind (tennis coach) David Adams. He is irreplaceable when it comes to the game of volleyball and the environment he’s in over at Cheyenne Mountain High School.”
Cheyenne Mountain went 10-17 in 2017, yet still advanced to the state tournament with a great run through the regional round.
Barkley’s teams set a standard for the 4A classification. From 2008-12, they won won five-straight state championships, and also captured 4A in 2015. Included in that run were perfect 31-0 seasons in 2009 and 2011.
His team won 49 consecutive matches from 2010-12.
Initially, CHSAANow.com had his decision listed as a retirement, but Barkley backed away from that word, not liking that it sounded so final. He admitted he may never coach again, but he wanted to step away and evaluate everything before deciding on his next life journey.
“Once I retired from teaching, I knew it was inevitable that something would happen,” Barkley said. “For the last two or three years, I gave it some time after the season to see where my heart was and if I wanted to go back.
I’d look at it and realize that I love the kids and I love to compete, so I’d go back.”
He said the feeling just wasn’t the same this year. It had nothing to do with the kids, because through the season he consistently said that this team had the potential to be his favorite. It was a young team, full of girls that he could really take the time to teach.
And at the end of the day, Barkley always thought of himself as a teacher, not a coach.
Barkley came to Cheyenne Mountain after receiving an offer to teach English in the district from then-principal Paul Martin.
He fell in love with the school and the area so he moved his family out from Ohio in 2001 to begin teaching.
His children went through high school at Cheyenne Mountain and he watched countless kids come through his program and develop as athletes and aspiring young-adults.
“It’s been a beautiful thing, living here and working here,” Barkley said. “I’m the one who is honored to have gone through this, it’s not the other way around.”
Roberts is hoping to get rolling on the hiring process in February.
“In a perfect world we’ll have that position filled by the end of March,” he said. “But we have to see what that interest level looks like.”
Eaglecrest has hired Dustin Delaney, a very successful coach in Kansas, to head its football program, the school announced on Wednesday.
Delaney spent the past five seasons as the head coach at Shawnee Mission East in Kansas, leading the school to a Class 6A championship in 2014, and a runner-up finish in 2013. His teams were 55-8 in his time as coach.
“Coach Delaney will have a significant, positive impact on our students — both academically and athletically,” Eaglecrest athletic director Vince Orlando said in a statement. “He is an outstanding tactician who will put our players in the best position to be successful.”
Delaney helped transformed the program at Shawnee Mission East into a perennial contender. He led SM East to its first-ever title game appearance in 2013, his first year as coach, and the team went unbeaten at 14-0 during its 2014 championship season.
Prior to coaching at Shawnee Mission East, Delaney was the head coach at Emporia (Kan.) from 2010-12, and his teams were 23-10. Before that, he was the offensive coordinator at Hutchinson (Kan.) from 2006-09, helping the school go 50-2 and win four state championships.
Delaney’s record as a head coach over eight seasons stands at 78-18.
“My family and I are extremely honored and excited to join the Eaglecrest community,” Delaney said in a statement. “I look forward to building on the foundation that has already been set in the Raptor football program.
“I want to thank principal Gwen Hansen-Vigil, athletic director Vince Orlando, and the entire interview committee for their time and diligence during this process,” he added. “All parties representing Eaglecrest High School thoroughly impressed me and made it an easy decision to join the Raptor family.
“I look forward to leading the football program and becoming part of the awesome Eaglecrest community.”
Delaney will also teach in Eaglecrest’s PE department. He takes over for Mike Schmitt, who resigned in December to move to Pennsylvania. Schmitt was Eaglecrest’s coach from 2010-17, going 49-40, and building one of 5A’s most consistent programs in recent years.
Though the Raptors do graduate a number of starters this spring, there are some key contributors who will return. Included are sophomore lineman Reece Atteberry and junior lineman Barrett Miller, who were both named first-team all-state.
A loss for Arkansas turned into a big gain for the University of Colorado. After rescinding his verbal commitment to the Razorbacks, Palmer Ridge quarterback Ty Evans committed to play football for the Buffs.
“My entire family is excited about this,” Evans said when confirming his commitment.
Evans has been a hot commodity in the recruiting world as he has fielded offers from South Carolina, Kansas State, Colorado State, NC State and Northwestern.
