(MCC_Indianapolis/Flickr)

INDIANAPOLIS — The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) will conduct its 100th Summer Meeting June 28-July 2 in its hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana.

It will be the first Summer Meeting in Indianapolis and the first in Indiana since the 1966 conference in French Lick. The meeting will be held at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis.

The CHSAA administrative staff and Board of Directors will be in attendance, and some will be serving as presenters or moderators.

Several of the key events during the NFHS Summer Meeting will be streamed live on the NFHS Network (NFHSNetwork.com). All Summer Meeting events can be accessed on the NFHS Network at no cost.

In addition to normal workshops and sessions, this year’s Summer Meeting will feature the Centennial Celebration of the NFHS, which has been providing leadership for high school athletics and performing arts since its founding in 1920.

The NFHS is composed of state high school associations in the 50 states plus the District of Columbia. About 1,000 individuals are expected to attend the Summer Meeting, including staff members and board members from the 51-member state associations.

The #NFHS100 Centennial Celebration, the 37th 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.

The Hall of Fame Press Conference will be held at 12 p.m. EDT on Saturday, June 29, followed by the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at 6 p.m. EDT on Sunday, June 30.

The Hall of Fame Press Conference can be accessed on the NFHS Network at nfhsnetwork.com/events/nfhs/evt1959e5e6a4 and the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony can be accessed at nfhsnetwork.com/events/nfhs/evt94264529c9 (See full listing of events that will be streamed live at the end of this release.)

Twelve individuals will be inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame on June 30, including Dusty Baker, Seimone Augustus, Derrick Brooks, Damon Bailey and Tracey Fuchs.

Baker was one of California’s top four-sport athletes at Del Campo High School in Sacramento prior to his outstanding 19-year baseball playing career and 22 years as a manager with four professional teams. Augustus led Capitol High School in Baton Rouge to a 138-7 record and two Louisiana girls basketball state titles in four years before her exemplary career at Louisiana State University and professional career with the Minnesota Lynx.

Brooks was selected National Defensive Player of the Year by USA Today as a high school senior at Pensacola (Florida) Washington before his stardom at Florida State University and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bailey, Indiana’s all-time leading boys basketball scorer, also led Bedford (Indiana) North Lawrence High School to a state basketball championship in 1990 while earning National Player of the Year and Indiana Mr. Basketball honors. Fuchs was one of field hockey’s top stars at all levels, setting national records at Centereach (New York) High School before leading the University of Connecticut to a national championship and playing in four World Championships.

Three outstanding coaches will be inducted in the 2019 class, including Joe Gilbert, who has won nearly 4,000 games in softball, baseball, girls basketball, boys basketball and football in 65 years at Barnsdall (Oklahoma) High School and is still active at the age of 86.

Other coaches who will be honored this year are D. W. Rutledge, who led Converse (Texas) Judson High School to four Texas University Interscholastic League (UIL) Conference 5A state football titles prior to becoming executive director of the Texas High School Coaches Association (THSCA), and Jerry Boatner, who retired last year after leading Collinsville (Mississippi) West Lauderdale High School to 14 state baseball titles and setting the state record with 1,202 victories.

The two administrators in the 2019 class are former executive directors of the NFHS – the late Charles W. Whitten of Illinois and Bob Gardner of Indiana. Whitten led the National Federation from 1927 to 1940 prior to the establishment of a full-time office, and Gardner retired last year after 18 years on the NFHS staff, including the final eight years as executive director.

The other two members of the 2019 class are the late Ralph Stout, who was involved with football and basketball officiating with the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) for 65 years; and Ginny Honomichl, a longtime coach, administrator and national coaching leader from Baldwin City (Kansas) High School who was the first female to serve as president of the Kansas Coaches Association and the NFHS Coaches Association.

Among the topics that will be discussed at the 52 workshops during the NFHS Summer Meeting are inclusion of students with a disability, competitive equity in classification alignments, minorities in leadership, mental health, retaining sports officials, hazing prevention and adjudication for music administration.

In addition, the Legal/Sports Medicine Workshop – one of the most popular workshops each year – will be held at 1 p.m. on June 30. This event provides an ideal opportunity to discuss current legal and medical issues.

The Summer Meeting will kick off on June 29 at 3 p.m. EDT with the Opening Ceremony and “We Are High School®” student program, featuring performances by two Indiana high schools – Noblesville High School and Whiteland Community High School. In addition, the NFHS will present the National High School Spirit of Sport Award and the National High School Heart of the Arts Award.

Amanda Merrell of Huntingtown (Maryland) High School will receive the National High School Spirit of Sport Award, and LaRaine Fess and the Beaufort High School Theatre Students of Beaufort (South Carolina) High School will receive the National High School Heart of the Arts Award.

The First General Session will follow the Opening Ceremony on June 29 at 4:15 p.m. EDT and features Siri Lindley, world champion triathlete, high-performance coach and author.

The Opening Ceremony can be accessed on the NFHS Network at nfhsnetwork.com/events/nfhs/evt8203278623 and the First General Session can be accessed at nfhsnetwork.com/events/nfhs/evtd201dcc24e.

The Second General Session on June 30 will feature NFHS President David Jackson, NFHS Executive Director Karissa Niehoff and other staff members, and the Closing General Session on July 2 will feature speaker Alex Sheen, founder of “Because I Said I Would,” a social movement and nonprofit organization dedicated to the betterment of humanity through promises made and kept.

The Second General Session can be accessed on the NFHS Network at nfhsnetwork.com/events/nfhs/evt808dffc2bc.

The Summer Meeting Luncheon will be held at 12 p.m. EDT on July 1 and will feature the presentation of NFHS Citations to 12 individuals. State association honorees include Dick Durost of Maine, Jill Masterman of Maryland, Joyce Franklin of Mississippi, Chris Kaufman of Indiana, Sue Carlsrud of North Dakota, Joey Walters of Arkansas, Diane Marshall-Freeman of California and Mike Colbrese of Washington.

Other Citation recipients are Dana Pappas of New Mexico (NFHS Officials Association), Tex Williams of West Virginia (NFHS Coaches Association), Gerald Kreitzer of Iowa (NFHS Music Association) and Gail Naylor of Kansas (NFHS Speech/Debate/Theatre Association).

The Summer Meeting Luncheon can be accessed on the NFHS Network at nfhsnetwork.com/events/nfhs/evtddc83dd1c1.

The main feature of this year’s Summer Meeting is the Centennial Celebration at 6 p.m. EDT on July 2. This celebration of the 100 years of the NFHS will be held in the Sagamore Ballroom at the Indiana Convention Center.

The #NFHS100 Centennial Celebration will recognize six former executive directors of the NFHS and will celebrate the organization’s years in Chicago, Elgin, Kansas City and Indianapolis.

Former executive directors who will be recognized are the late Charles W. Whitten (1927-40), the late H. V. Porter (1940-58), the late Cliff Fagan (1958-77), Brice Durbin (1977-93), Bob Kanaby (1993-2010) and Bob Gardner (2010-18). Current NFHS Executive Director Karissa Niehoff will close the evening’s festivities.

The Centennial Celebration can be accessed on the NFHS Network at nfhsnetwork.com/events/nfhs/evta3d60395df.

[divider]

The following events during the NFHS Summer Meeting will be streamed live on the NFHS Network (www.NFHSNetwork.com). All Summer Meeting events can be accessed on the NFHS Network at no cost.

Hall of Fame Press Conference (Saturday, June 29, 12 p.m. EDT)

Link: nfhsnetwork.com/events/nfhs/evt1959e5e6a4

Opening Ceremony (Saturday, June 29, 3 p.m. EDT)

Link: nfhsnetwork.com/events/nfhs/evt8203278623

First General Session (Saturday, June 29, 4:15 p.m. EDT)

Link: nfhsnetwork.com/events/nfhs/evtd201dcc24e

Second General Session (Sunday, June 30, 9 a.m. EDT)

Link: nfhsnetwork.com/events/nfhs/evt808dffc2bc

Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (Sunday, June 30, 6 p.m. EDT)

Link: nfhsnetwork.com/events/nfhs/evt94264529c9

Summer Meeting Luncheon (Monday, July 1, 12 p.m. EDT)

Link: nfhsnetwork.com/events/nfhs/evtddc83dd1c1

#NFHS 100 Centennial Celebration (Tuesday, July 2, 6 p.m. EDT)

Link: nfhsnetwork.com/events/nfhs/evta3d60395df.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Valor Christian junior Cole Sprout was named the 2019 boys track athlete of the year in Colorado by Gatorade on Monday.

It is the second consecutive year Sprout won the award, and this is the fourth Gatorade award of Sprout’s stellar career so far. He was also named the boys cross country runner of the year the past two seasons.

Sprout won the 1,600 and 3,200 meters at the Class 5A state meet this past season, helping the Eagles win the team title. He also ran the fastest two-mile time nationally (8:46.41) earlier in the season.

“Cole is a relentless competitor,” said Valor Christian  coach Brian Kula. “He’s a frontrunner who sets huge goals for himself, but he has amazing control of his emotions and manages high-level running and academics with humility.”

Sprout has a 3.98 GPA, and volunteers locally on behalf of a soup kitchen, as well as Operation Christmas Child, and he also has taken a service-mission trip to Ethiopia.

He is the 11th athlete from Valor Christian to win a Gatorade award in school history, and joins fellow Valor track athlete Anna Hall, who won the girls award.

(USA Basketball)

Grandview’s Lauren Betts helped the United States’ under-16 women’s national team capture the gold medal at the 2019 FIBA Americas U16 Championships on Saturday.

Betts, who will be a sophomore in the fall, had a game-high 14 rebounds and six points in a team-high 21 minutes as the Americans beat Canada 87-37. The U.S. team jumped out to a 24-2 lead after the first quarter, and finished the tournament a perfect 6-0 in Chile.

“We were really just trying to make sure that we rebounded well,” Betts told USAB.com after the game. “That is was one of Canada’s biggest strengths. We really pressured well. We all worked together. We really wanted it, so we just made sure that we worked hard together as a team.”

In starting all six games, Betts averaged 13.5 rebounds per game, which set a U.S. U16 team record, along with 12.2 points and 2.5 blocks per game. Her 13.5 rebounds per game were second among all players in the tournament, as were her 2.5 blocks per game, and she shot 58.6 percent from the field, which tied for second.

She also pulled down 5.33 offensive rebounds per game, most of any player in the tournament.

(USA Basketball)

Not surprisingly, Betts was named to the All-Tournament team.

“I’m just so thankful for it,” Betts said of being named to the team. “To be playing against all of these awesome girls, and to be able to stand out like that and become all-tournament, that is really amazing.”

As a 6-foot-7 freshman last season, Betts helped Grandview girls basketball reach the Class 5A title game. She was named honorable mention all-state after a season in that she averaged 12.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.9 blocks per game.

Betts also helped Grandview’s volleyball team reach the 5A state tournament, and recorded 112 blocks in 109 sets played.

(USA Basketball)

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

In 2018, Loveland softball pitcher Laurin Krings let her actions speak louder than her words. And she did it consistently.

Throughout the season, Krings had three games where she threw five or more innings and never surrendered a hit. She threw a two-inning no-hitter in a 23-0 win over Thornton on Aug. 18. She’ll be the first to say that she does it with the help of the defense behind her.

But the strikeout numbers cannot be ignored.

Krings led all classifications by striking out 392 hitters. She did that over the course of 192 innings. The Indians made a run in the Class 5A state tournament where they advanced to the semifinals before falling to Cherokee Trail.

Krings came away with Gatorade player of the year honors and has committed to play softball at Missouri.

But she still has a senior season to go. She shared some thoughts on what she accomplished last year and how she and her teammates plan on attacking the 2019 season.

[divider]

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Question: You started throwing no-hitters early in the year. Is hard to get into a groove like that so early?

Krings: At the beginning of the school year I had just come out of summer ball and then that definitely helped me. I play, I was on Nebraska team at the highest level I can play at. So that definitely carries over to the high school season.

Q: What’s going on in your head when you’re in that circle that you are such a dominant pitcher?

Krings: When I’m in the circle, I’m just thinking, let’s just go after them with that first pitch. If I don’t get that pitch, then I know the next pitch, I got it. You just feel relaxed when you’re in there.

Q: What’s your best memory from last season?

Krings: Probably just state and all the energy we had going into it. We played really well at regionals and then just the energy that my team brought to state. We got to the Final 4 and that was really cool.

Q: How do you build on that finish and make sure that you go further in the state tournament next year?

Krings: We have a lot of the same girls; we only graduated two. I think we’re just really excited to get back out there and we just have that same energy we did last year in the Final 4. We have some talented kids coming up to so that should be really fun for us.

Q: You threw a ton of innings last year, how do you shoulder the responsibility of being such a key part of this team each game?

Krings: We have a really good defense, so if they get a hit, I know my defense has my back. When I get in the zone, I’m just focusing on the game and honestly I’m just trying to do my job for my team.

Q: It’s hard not to notice when you’re striking out a lot of hitters or no one’s gotten a base hit so how do you keep yourself gathered in those situations?

Krings: I honestly don’t keep track of strikeouts and no-hitters. Someone usually comes up and says “good job, that was a no-hitter” or something like that. So I’m always just focusing on a single batter at time and it’s cool if I get a no-hitter.

Q: What are you looking forward to the most for next year?

Krings: I’m just excited to represent my high school and just compete for my high school and represent us.

Q: What’s the one thing you learned from state last year that you have to apply to the 2019 season?

Krings: We just need to focus and just work hard. That’s all we can ask for.

(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow.com)

A memorable spring for Anna Hall is now capped off with another award. The Valor Christian graduate was named the Gatorade girls track athlete of the year on Thursday.

Hall’s track and field career was filled with memorable wins and the state meet at 2019 proved to be the proper way for that high school career to end. By the end of the meet, she had grabbed gold medals in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles and also helped Valor to wins in the 4×200 and 4×800 relay races.

The Eagles also won the Class 5A team championship.

Hall will continue her track career in college this fall at the University of Georgia.

She graduated with a weighted 4.16 GPA and was a member of the National Honor Society. She spent spare time volunteering for youth track organizations as well as other community outreach programs.

Hall is now a two-time winner of the Gatorade player of the year award having also received the honor in 2018.

(Matt Daniels/mattdanphoto.com)

As long as Kennedey Johnson is setting up Payton Brgoch for a kill, good things are going to be happening for Lutheran volleyball.

That was certainly the case a year ago. As juniors, Johnson and Brgoch put up staggering numbers as the Lions made their way through the Class 3A bracket, ultimately coming away with the program’s third state championship.

“It was the best feeling ever,” Johnson said. “Especially after losing to (five-time defending champion Eaton) in the second round. We knew we’d have another opportunity to do it and we knew we were the only team that could do it.”

The first thing that helps on a road to a championship is a dominating hitter. Brgoch proved to be just that as she was one of just two 3A players to record over 400 kills in the 2018 season. The other was Eaton senior Mackenzie Harris.

Harris and Brgoch went head-to-head early in the state tournament it was Eaton who came away with the four-set win.

Harris edged Brgoch in kills 23-21, and although the eventual 3A player of the year had a more effective hitting percentage (.588 to .365), the Reds’ win over the top-seeded team in 3A was a big deal early in the tournament.

“Getting over the mental hurdles (was going to be big),” coach Alicia Oates said. “They were beatable, we just had to play our game.”

The new double-elimination format kept Lutheran alive, but the Lions couldn’t afford another slip-up.

“Our biggest thing was getting to the semis,” Brgoch said. “That was our goal so we just started focusing on the next team.”

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

The next three matches were all dominating wins for the Lions as they dropped just one set the rest of the way. They advanced to the semifinals where they once again clashed with Eaton. Harris again edged Brgoch in kills, but Johnson and Brgoch were effective enough (31 assists and 29 kills, respectively) to lead Lutheran to a five-set win.

It took just four sets for Lutheran to beat Colorado Springs Christian to win the state title.

“We all just came together,” Brgoch said. “We learned something from the loss (to Eaton) and I think we played more together at that point.”

The Lions lost four seniors from last year’s championship team, but still returns plenty of veteran experience. But perhaps the biggest factor coming back is the dominating duo of Johnson and Brgoch.

“It’s huge, just as far as confidence and leadership,” Oates said. “They are really good leaders in terms of service leadership. They’ll be the first ones in the gym setting up the nets and the other girls will see that. They lead by example.”

Both were first-team all-state selections and were the only juniors to be awarded that honor. They’re hoping that the momentum they establish last season will carry over to 2019.

What else would the expectations for a championship-winning duo heading into its senior year be?

“Having Payton and I accomplish that and knowing we’re the only ones returning is a great feeling,” Johnson said. “We’re going to be constantly working and we’re going to be pushing our teammates so that we’re able to try and repeat. We’re setting a tone that we’re going for it.”

(Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)

NEWS | @EstelleJohnson is Heading to France After Being Named to Cameroon’s World Cup Roster

| https://t.co/GqjJ6b1gid#SBFC pic.twitter.com/XTpf5cDgPM

— Sky Blue FC (@SkyBlueFC) May 24, 2019

Estelle Johnson was quite the girls soccer player when she suiting up at Rocky Mountain. She was a four-year letter varsity letter winner and a two-time all-state selection.

Her accolades got her to the next level as she played Division I soccer at the University of Kansas.

But now she’s on the big stage.

Johnson has been a solid presence on the back line for Cameroon in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. From the fields of Fort Collins to the stadiums in Paris, France, Johnson’s life has been lived on the soccer field.

A chance to play in the World Cup had “pretty much been my dream since I started playing soccer, so it’s pretty surreal at this moment,” she told the Coloradoan on May 30.

A defender her entire career at Kansas, she scored just four goals but logged well over 7,400 minutes in her college career.

Her professional soccer career began in 2010 with the Philadelphia Independence of the now-defunct Women’s Professional Soccer league.

She played in Sydney, Australia for a year before joining the National Women’s Soccer League in 2013. She played for the Washington Spirit from 2015 to 2018 where she earned the team’s Defender of the Year Honors in 2018.

She was traded to to Blue Sky FC on Jan. 10.

For the time being, however, she’ll be spending her days in France as a member of Cameroon’s national team.

Through two matches thus far, she has logged 180 minutes and registered one block.

Cameroon is set to conclude pool play against New Zealand on Thursday. The match begins at 10 a.m. Mountain Time.

(Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)

Garrett Looney’s life has revolved around football. That was true when he was helping Columbine win perhaps the most historical state championship of all time.

It was also true last year when he was thrust into a position he didn’t think he’d have to take on as the interim head coach at Eaglecrest.

Entering 2019, he has a fresh start with a fresh team in Mountain Vista and is looking forward to building on the experience he gained through a life that is intertwined with the game.

“I’m excited for the challenge,” Looney said. “We’re trying to get these kids back to where they should be and that’s getting them to compete in every game that they play. They’ve been down a few years here so I’m excited and I think the community and the school is excited for a change.”

Looney’s journey in Colorado high school football can actually be traced back to 1999. At times, a Friday night game can mean everything to a player in the their mid-teens. But the 1999 season at Columbine meant something entirely different to a group of kids. Along with their classmates, athlete or not, Columbine was on the forefront of national headlines due to the tragic shooting on April 20.

Something like that certainly puts football and athletics into perspective and it’s something that Looney has tried to help kids understand in his time as a coach.

“I believe that relationships are the most important thing in this business,” he said. “If you take care of kids as humans, not just as football players, I think a lot of success can come from that.”

Overcoming adversity is something that he’s accustomed to and something that he’s happy to help kids with. That was the case last year as first-year coach Dustin Delaney unexpectedly resigned early in the season.

Looney is the man who took the helm on an interim basis. The kids didn’t ask for that situation and he was up for helping them battle through it.

That mindset to battle was on fully display on Sept. 28 when the Raptors overcame a three-score deficit in the second half to beat Grandview in stunning fashion. Looney helped Eaglecrest get to the playoffs, but when the season concluded the full-time job went to Grand Junction Central’s Shawn Marsh.

“I give all the credit to those kids,” Looney said. “You really have two choices when your head coach bounces on you. You can either check out and be done for the year or rebound and come together as a group and try to win as many games as you can.”

Looney then went for the opening at Mountain Vista which he got in late-January. It was the start of a memorable spring as just a couple months later, Looney and his teammates from the 1999 Columbine state championship team were inducted into the CHSAA Hall of Fame.

“It was long overdue in my opinion, but I’m happy that we got the recognition we did,” he said. “It was a great trip down memory lane in going to that ceremony and seeing some of those coaches I hadn’t seen since my senior year of high school. It was a great night a great honor. Coach (Andy) Lowry, I can’t say enough nice things about him. What a great human being.”

Now, the spring is over. Summer has arrived and Looney is excited to get to work with the Golden Eagles.

After going 8-3 in 2015, Mountain Vista was a .500 team for the next two seasons, but slipped to 1-9 last year. A competitor all his life, Looney is determined to get his team back to the for it had in 2015. A winning record and at least one playoff win needs to be the rule in his mind, not the exception.

“We’re trying to get the kids to buy back in to the idea that losing records aren’t acceptable,” he said. “You’re going to compete in every game, no matter who the opponent is. That starts with the competition we’ve been putting out there this spring through this summer. We have great numbers and great excitement for this upcoming season.”

(Steve Oathout)

What a year Fairview quarterback Aidan Atkinson had. The senior to be be had no problem slinging the ball all over the yard, and doing it successfully to boot.

The numbers that he put up in 2018 were more akin to numbers one would see in a video game statline than a high school football boxscore on MaxPreps.

After setting 11-man records in passing yards (687) and touchdowns (nine) in a single game, he went on to establish the single-season touchdown pass record as the year came to a close.

A clear Division I prospect, Atkinson will head to Northwestern in a year, but is looking forward to his senior season with the Knights.

After putting up staggering numbers last season and winning the Gatorade player of the year award, Atkinson took time to chat about what this upcoming season holds for him and his teammates at Fairview.

[divider]

(Jeff Tucker/jefferywtucker.zenfolio.com)

Question: After the year you had last year, do you feel like there are more expectations on you for your senior season?

Atkinson: Given the abilities of the receivers that I had, I think a lot was expected just because those guys had been playing for a couple of years and with having to have either reload and having to keep some new guys and new things.

I don’t think the expectations are to throw for more touchdowns or throw for more yards. I think it’s just in terms of the expectations perspective it’s just produce more in terms of winning more games and getting further in the playoffs. Especially now that I’m a senior and I have a bigger leadership role in the team. I don’t think that the expectations are to throw fo 55 touchdowns again this year.

I think it’s more so taking a team deeper into the playoffs and being one of those teams that you can look back with Coach (Tom McCartney) and be like, okay, that was one of his better teams.

Q: So, how do you reconcile that? If you’re not going to throw for 55 touchdowns, how is that going to result in the team winning more games?

Atkinson: It’s even spread offensively. And then also probably, you know, playing deeper into the class means you’re going to play better teams and spreading the ball around a little bit more in terms of the running backs, and trying to be more, more 60/40 in terms of passing run instead of 90/10.

I don’t think it’s expected that I’ll throw for that many touchdowns, but I do think it’s still possible to win games. We were putting up like 60 and sometimes there were 50 and 60 points (per game) and a lot of the games we won by a lot.

But we could have won those games by putting up 30 points and then being done. I don’t think it’s going to be as crazy as it was last year, but that still doesn’t mean that we’re not going to be winning as many football games. Does that make sense?

Q: Was there ever a point where even you were amazed with what was going on with the production from the offense?

Atkinson: No, no, not at all. I mean, we do so much stuff in the offseason. It was kind of expected knowing we had three receivers that have already played those traditions for the year prior.

And then we had a whole offseason together doing 7-on-7 in the winter and then 7-on-7 in the spring and then the whole summer. Honestly it was something that we kind of all expected because of the work that we put in.

Q: How does the offseason work from last year compare to this season so far?

Atkinson: It’s probably a different role, teaching all the new guys everything that the old guys had, what I liked about what they did.

And then the new receivers and the new guys, they obviously bring a new dynamic and a new level of play that might be a little different and a little better than when the guys from last year.

Overall in this offseason and just having to teach and having to establish myself as a leader. Last year I didn’t really have to do that. We had a great senior class who knew what they wanted to do and we were already all there in front of the talent and skills.

This year we’re definitely gonna have to make strides in the offseason and that’s going to be indicative of the leadership role that the seniors and the captains have to step into, and that’s something that’s definitely changed from last year.

Q: What made Northwestern such an appealing school for you?

Atkinson: I think it just checked all the boxes in terms of you had consistent top-25 football team; last year they finished in the top 25 this year they’re preseason top-25. And then being so close to Chicago and having those opportunities that to further your education. There’s also the chance to play as opposed to some of the other gigantic schools that always recruit big.

That was appealing as well as the coaching staff. I don’t think you can find a better coaching staff anywhere. You know, I mean, Coach (Pat) Fitz(gerald) and (quarterbacks) coach (Mick) McCall have been there for 10, 15 years and they’ve done a great job.

Then obviously being the program they are, they’re pro-style. They require pro-style QB’s. All those things kind of mixed together. I don’t think there’s any other program in the country that can really realistically compete with everything that they have, except for maybe like a Stanford, but even then I still chose Northwestern.

Q: We had a guy in Ty Evans who committed early in his junior year, then some coaching changes happened and he ended up committing to three schools from the time his junior season started to the time he graduated.

Why is it so important to commit early and make sure everyone knows about it?

Atkinson: It’s a benefit because a quarterback is the leader on the team and Northwestern, they always have their quarterbacks commit first so that everybody knows this guy’s for real. And when you stick it out with the team for as long as I’ve stuck it out with Northwestern, when you step on campus, everybody knows what you’ve already committed to the team. Everybody knows how much you care about the team. And when you say something, it means something and your word won’t be taken for granted.

Being able to commit early and you know, being the first guy on the team and establish yourself in that leadership role, even from a kid in high school, will inevitably translate to when you’re there your first day on campus.

And so committing early and knowing what you want and then actually going through with that, a lot of kids are hesitant to pull the trigger on that. But as a quarterback it’s something that absolutely a necessity in terms of the position that we’re put on.

Q: What’s the one thing you know today that maybe you didn’t know last year or two years ago?

Atkinson: Just how good the Fairview offense can be and just the level that we can get to if we put in the work that’s required.

The numbers were a little insane and I did expect us to be that good. But when all the guys put in the time and the work in the offseason, seeing what they were able to do was really cool and not just for me giving them the ball but from them being able to do their own thing with the ball and not just catching and get tackled, but do something really special with it.

Knowing that when you put deposits in the bank in terms of your footwork drills in the morning, lift and spring ball practices that you’re going to be able to take withdraws out later in the season and that’s a real thing.

To put in all that time, that work does get you results. That would be the one thing that I didn’t truly know last year compared to this year.

Q: What needs to happen this year for you to consider your senior season successful?

Atkinson: First of all, establishing the brotherhood within the guys that can last a lifetime. I think if you can establish that and be super close with your brothers and the rest of the team, then that will translate into success.

Having that, but then also winning a state championship. We don’t put in all these hours and hours of work for no reason. And in anything that you do, you should try to be the best. And in our case, the bar is set by winning the state championship. And if you don’t win a state championship, you’re not the best and it’s kind of plain and simple with that. There’s no middle line with that.

So being able to win a championship and then establishing relationships and a brotherhood with the guys that will last the lifetime is something that a football can make happen if you allow it to.

So being able to do that is definitely something that will define success for me and success for the rest of the team for my senior year.

(Steve Oathout)

(Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

The Colorado High School Activities Association, its 365-member schools and their student athletes share the grief of Broncos Nation in the passing of Pat Bowlen, but also want to take a moment to celebrate his life.

His support for Colorado high school football is legendary; that was no more evident than when he helped clear the hurdles necessary for CHSAA and the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame to bring the 4A and 5A Football Championships to Mile High. Without his influence, it might never have happened.

Our condolences to the Bowlen family. Rest in Peace, Mr. B!