Shelly Pennefather was a top-five basketball recruit coming out of high school, including three years at Bishop Machebeuf, where her teams went 70-0. She grew up with a strong religious background and that played major role in her college selection as she chose Villanova University.
Pennefather holds the all-time scoring record for men and women at Villanova.
Pennefather moved to Japan after college to play professional basketball. She made a deal with God that if she could pull her team out of last place and into the playoffs, she would vow to owe her time and postseason bonus to Mother Teresa’s convent in Pennsylvania.
The preseason football rankings are just around the corner. With these rankings now impacting seeding, here’s a list of voters who have signed up to vote, as well as information about the rankings.
INDIANAPOLIS — Starting next year in high school boys lacrosse, play may be restarted with a defensive player within 5 yards of the player in possession of the ball. In such cases, defensive players must adhere to certain conditions or they may be subject to a delay-of-game technical foul.
The amended restart protocol was one of 10 rules changes recommended by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Boys Lacrosse Rules Committee at its July 15-17 meeting in Indianapolis. All rules changes were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.
“The committee worked diligently in reviewing all proposals,” said Dr. James Weaver, NFHS director of performing arts and sports and liaison to the NFHS Boys Lacrosse Rules Committee. “Year after year, the game of high school boys lacrosse continues to improve and make positive strides.”
In a change to Rule 4-22-1, officials will no longer wait for defensive players to position themselves more than 5 yards from the player in possession of the ball when restarting play. While both offensive and defensive players are still required to move more than 5 yards away, two exceptions apply to defensive players only. Defensive players within 5 yards of the player in possession of the ball can avoid a delay-of-game technical foul by allowing the player a direct path to the goal and not defending that player until the player is 5 yards away from the defending player.
“This change allows for rapid restarts to increase pace of play while making the game more engaging,” Weaver said. “Additionally, the change balances technique between offense and defense.”
Under mandatory equipment listed in Rule 1-9-1, shoulder pads and chest protectors used by players must be designed for lacrosse. Additionally, goalkeepers must wear a chest protector designed for lacrosse that meets the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) ND200 standard at the time of manufacture beginning January 1, 2021, while shoulder pads for field players must incorporate the NOCSAE ND200 lacrosse standard for chest protection beginning January 1, 2022.
NOCSAE ND200 protection will be available on the market for field players and goalkeepers this fall.
“Health and safety of players is of the utmost importance,” Weaver said. “The NOCSAE ND200 standard for lacrosse will provide valuable protection for all players in the game.”
In a change to Rule 5-5, the penalty for an illegal crosse is no longer a tiered penalty and is now a two-minute, nonreleasable penalty – regardless of the infraction.
Throwing a crosse, referenced in Rules 5-10 and 6-5-2, is now an infraction in all cases. Throwing the crosse at a ball, player or other game personnel is considered unsportsmanlike conduct, which is met with a one- to three-minute non-releasable penalty and in all other cases falls under illegal procedure.
Under the Chief Bench Official’s (CBO) responsibilities in Rule 2-7-2, the CBO is no longer responsible for penalizing a team with too few players on the field. However, delayed substitutions — when a player gains an advantage by delaying entry onto the field — still fall under the CBO’s duties.
The committee eliminated three definitions under “Play of the Ball Definitions” in Rule 4-5 – ball in flight, team possession and completed pass, which were deemed to no longer be needed.
Changes to Rules 6-1-1 and 6-2-1 focus on streamlining changes made to the slow-whistle technique in Rule 7-8-2 over the past two seasons.
Finally, Rule 4-24 clarifies that a time-out for a player with symptoms consistent with a concussion is an official’s time-out, not a team time-out.
A complete listing of the boys lacrosse rules changes will be available on the NFHS website at www.nfhs.org. Click on “Activities & Sports” at the top of the home page and select “Lacrosse-Boys.”
According to the 2017-18 NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, there are 113,313 boys participating in lacrosse at 2,957 high schools across the country.
Five minutes into a conversation with Alamosa athletic director Erik Melgoza and it’s clear developing student-athletes is why he wakes up every morning.
He has served many roles through his career in education. He reached the top of the mountain as the girls basketball coach at Lamar as he guided the team to a Class 3A state title in 2017. At the conclusion of the 2017-18 year, he took on a different challenge by moving into his current role at Alamosa.
Though he no longer works directly with student-athletes, he is never shy about promoting the accomplishments of the kids competing under the banner. And it doesn’t stop with the kids at Alamosa. If a student-athlete has done something incredible, he doesn’t hesitate to applaud and congratulate them, regardless of the name on their jersey.
As the 2019-20 school year is set to begin in the coming weeks, Melgoza took the time to chat about the differences between coaching and administration and how he continues to play a role the athletic development of high school kids.
[divider]
Question: What’s the biggest difference between working with a kid directly as a coach and from a bigger role as an athletic director?
Melgoza: You know, the biggest difference is that I’m able to talk to more kids. I get to see kids across different spectrum as far as different sports. I get to interact with the gymnastics kids or the soccer kids or the football kids, cross country kids instead of just cross country kids (as a coach). I think the interaction with all groups is really cool.
Q: What did you learn from your first year in that role that you hope to apply moving forward?
Melgoza: The biggest thing in my first year that I learned personally is I need to convey things to my AD a lot more (as a coach). I want to be that AD; I have my coaches call me coach because I don’t want to forget where I came from. I really want to be a servant leader in that capacity.
I think I could have facilitated that a little more with my former AD’s as far as working with them more, asking more questions, kind of just being around them and understanding their point of view. I think you’d go into a job and you always say, “You know, if I was the AD I would do it this way.” But when you get in the job, you realize there’s reasons why you can’t do it that way. I think just the communication with my AD’s would have been a lot better.
(Photo courtesy of Erik Melgoza)
Q: What’s the advantage of being an athletic director in a small community town like Alamosa?
Melgoza: I don’t know if there’s an advantage. We’re big enough, right at 600 kids, but we’re not really small. We offer 17 sports plus the activities plus the AP so there are a lot of responsibilities with it. I think a little smaller school district like a Lamar with 400 kids, it doesn’t seem like a lot of difference in the number of kids, but 200 kids makes a huge difference and adding all those other sports. Even though we are relatively small, I don’t know that there’s really an advantage cause I still don’t know everybody.
Q: Does it feel like you’re more tied into a community though, even with 200 extra kids being where you are in the state?
Melgoza: Absolutely. I think if you start going up to say 800 or 1,000 kids, you don’t have the community feel. I’ve been in a larger school district as far as watching their sports programs and stuff and it’s just not that family atmosphere is not the brother you know. You know your linebacker’s little brothers in seventh grade. You know your freshman coming in has siblings in third and fourth grade. You understand those community ties. You know grandma and grandpa and that’s not always the case in a larger school.
So this is probably about as biggest school as you can go to and still get that hometown family feeling.
Q: As a coach and a teacher, you just primarily have to worry about kids and their grades and their performance on the court and their development. I think with the administration, there’s a lot more that goes into it. But how much of those core beliefs you try and hold on to in your role as an athletic director?
Melgoza: Every one of them. My first and foremost core belief as a coach was to be a servant leader. That’s one thing I want to teach my kids. As an athletic director, I want to model that for my coaches and I want to teach them to be servant leaders. I think sometimes they get put out there on an island and they don’t feel supported. Parents are coming back from their job every day and there troubles at home and that we expect them to win on Friday and Saturday. So I think they need a lot of support. They’re kind of feeling like they’re on an island out there. First and foremost, servant leadership is as my core value that I want to teach my coaches.
Q: How much do you feel still feeling ingrained in the direct athletic atmosphere as opposed to maybe that perceived step back with administration?
Melgoza: I don’t want to tell my coaches how a coach necessarily, but man, I miss coaching. I miss that day to day planning. I miss the strategy. I miss the interaction with the kids and the one on one of that cross country runner and we’re going to talk about a race plan. I don’t get to do that anymore.
Instead it’s bus scheduling, facilities, meal money. It’s making sure your coaches are on arbiter and all of those other things. And I still try to find time just to ask a kid, “Hey, how’d your race go?”
Just talking to a kid at lunch and seeing their eyes light up when, when somebody asks how they did on Friday and Saturday. That still gives me that same buzz as a coach that I always had.
Q: Do you feel like they get that level of excitement with you because you’ve been in the shoes of a coach now you’re still trying to make sure you’re tied in with them that way?
Melgoza: I think so. Kids ask me about winning a state championship and I always try and go back and tell them that that part is fun, but it’s always the process that was more fun.
Maybe (the most fun) wasn’t the team that won it all, maybe it was the team that was third. In cross country we were close several times and it was just the process of the summer workouts, going on camping trips, training in the mountains. I really want the kids to put more of a vested interest in the process as opposed to saying they want a championship. Only one team gets to feel that but everybody gets to feel the process.
Q: Knowing how much you love athletics at the high school level how great is it to see a kid anywhere in the state, regardless of the uniform they’re wearing, do something special?
Melgoza: That’s a great feeling. As a coach you kind of focus on your sport, your team. Now as an AD you get to network out there and you know other athletic directors so you kind of follow what they do, you try to emulate the good things and you start following their kids.
Cali Clark and Cherry Creek basketball won their first state championship ever and they’ve won all those state championships and every other sport. Alamosa wrestling won their 12th state title this year. I got to see the individuals that went into that and now my first real summer of seeing what goes into that. You look at these baseball teams; you’re looking at a Fowler High School who was second. Maybe they didn’t win it, but I know coach (Mark) Lowther down there and he is always trying to win and master his craft. You see him at every coaching clinic there is.
You get to network and you see what these guys are really about, not just on the coaching realm but how they implement it with their kids.
Q: What should we look forward to with Alamosa athletics this year?
Melgoza: We have great kids here. We put some great coaches in place and they will get the support from the athletic director. The administration here is outstanding all the way up to our superintendent and our board of education. This town is a winner. The college has numerous, All-Americans, numerous championships and they want to win here. And not only in athletics, they want to win in academics too.
When you have that total piece, it is a recipe for a winning atmosphere.
AURORA — The Denver Broncos, in partnership with the Colorado High School Activities Association, are hosting its second annual High School Media day on Friday, August 9, in the Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse at the UCHealth Training Center in Englewood.
The event is adding two special sessions — a prep sports media round table (9:30 a.m.) and an hour-long press conference for all non-football fall sports (11-noon). Following these two additions, the football event will mirror what was presented last year, featuring 20 of the best high school football teams in the state across all classifications, and will provide sports media members with a one-stop shop to visit with the top programs.
“We are excited that we will be able to add the non-football sports component to this Media Day and thank the Denver Broncos for extending their hospitality to athletes in all our fall sports. This is a great opportunity for the media to hear from representatives from all fall sports,” CHSAA Commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green said.
The media round table features a chance for the media to learn about important CHSAA initiatives such as the new Mental Health Initiative that is garnering attention across the nation.
All participants in attendance wearing game jerseys/uniforms and will be available for interviews including both time on the podium and one-on-one opportunities.
All media personnel interested in participating in the activities that day should RSVP with the CHSAA office (Laikyn Cooper lcooper@chsaa.org and Bert Borgmann bborgmann@chsaa.org) prior to August 8 to reserve a spot.
CHSAA commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green and all CHSAA assistant commissioners who administrate the fall sports will be available for interviews, as well. Adam Bright (Football), Jenn Roberts-Uhlig (Cross country, Spirit), Bethany Brookens (Volleyball, Boys Tennis), Bert Borgmann (Softball, Gymnastics), Tom Robinson (Boys Golf), Justin Saylor (Boys Soccer, Field Hockey) are the sport administrators.
Teams will rotate through other breakouts during the event: Media Relations 101 session with the Broncos Public Relations staff, including education on how social media can positively and negatively impact their reputation and high school experience; a photography session with professional photographers who will take head shots and group shots of all players and coaches; as well as a facility tour.
A list of the fall sport participants and coaches who will be attending the Media Day, will be forwarded next week.
AURORA — The Colorado High School Activities Association and its 365-member schools open the 99th school year with fall practice starting August 5, with boys’ golf. All other fall sports get underway on August 12.
The Association has just concluded four days of meetings, with the CHSAA staff participating in the Colorado High School Coaches Association Summer Clinic last weekend, and then hosting its member schools’ administrators for the New Administrator and All-School Summit. There also was a session for League Presidents as the schools ready for the opening of the 2019-20 school year.
Boys’ golf teams may begin scrimmages and competition August 8, with boys’ tennis and girls’ softball first competitions August 15. All other sports can scrimmage August 17 and then began formal competition August 22, except football whose scrimmages start August 22 and first games on August 29.
Check out the CHSAA calendar for scrimmage dates (and football graduated practice dates) at CHSAANow.com. Game schedules for the season are located on CHSAA corporate partner MaxPreps’ Colorado webpage.
In May, 1921, a group of superintendents and principals met in Boulder and organized the Colorado High School Athletic Conference. The purpose of this organization was to better regulate and develop the interscholastic school athletic program.
There were nine leagues by the time the first constitution was published, including the Northern, North Central, Western Slope, Suburban, Southeastern, Arkansas Valley, South Central and San Juan Basin leagues.
The first champions crowned that school year were Colorado Springs in football, Greeley in basketball, and Fort Collins in track and field.
In 1924, the Colorado High School Athletic Conference joined the National Federation of State High School Associations and has remained an active member of that organization ever since.
Loveland’s R.W. Truscott was the Association’s first president and Eaton’s J.C. Casey its first secretary (commissioner). Truscott replaced Casey as secretary in December, 1926 and held that post until July, 1948 when Glenn T. Wilson became commissioner. Ray C. Ball took over the commissioner’s post in 1966 and remained in the office until August, 1986 when Ray Plutko assumed the duties. Bob Ottewill became the Association’s sixth commissioner in July, 1990, followed by Bill Reader who served as Commissioner from 2002 until 2010, and Paul Angelico served in the position from 2010-2017, when current Commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green took over the reins to the Association.
The CHSAA has had 61 presidents dating back to 1921. Its current president, Buena Vista High School Athletic Director Troy Baker, is in the first year of a two-year term as president.
The Association is led by a national-recognized staff that includes Commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green is in her 3rd year at the helm, but 23rd overall with the Association. She previously headed the Nebraska Association for four years and served on the Louisiana staff prior to taking her position with CHSAA.
Associate Commissioner Tom Robinson is in his 19th year on the CHSAA staff, while Assistant Commissioners Bert Borgmann, is in his 32nd year, Bethany Brookens is in her 11th year. Assistant Commissioner Jenn Roberts-Uhlig is in her sixth year with CHSAA. New to the staff for the 2019-20 school year are Adam Bright (former AD at Durango High School) and Justin Saylor (former Events Manager for Denver Public Schools). Ryan Casey is in his seventh year with CHSAA as Director of Digital Media and Kenzie Hewson is in her sixth year as the Association’s Director of Business Operations.
Cathy Lenz is executive administrative assistant to Commissioner Blanford-Green, while Monica Tillman (Robinson), Laikyn Cooper (Borgmann), Sandra Williamson (Brookens), Lane Ververs (Roberts-Uhlig), Samantha rogers (Bright) and Whitney Cave (Saylor) are the executive administrative assistants to the other administrators. Anjelica Maestas serves the CHSAA Digital Platform assistant.
[divider]
CHSAA Board of Directors (Leagues Represented) [term expires]:
CHSAA President/Colorado Association of School Executives: (Serving first year of two-year term): Troy Baker, Athletic Director (Buena Vista High School) [2021]
District 1 (San Juan Basin, Western Slope, Southwestern): Luke DeWolfe, Athletic Director (Steamboat Springs High School) [2022]
District 2 (Centennial, Northern, Frontier, Tri-Valley): Chase McBride, District Athletic Director (St. Vrain Valley Schools) [2020]
District 3 (High Plains, Lower Platte, Mile High, North Central, Patriot, Union Pacific, YWKC): Steve Longwell, Athletic Director (Eaton High School) [2023]
District 4 (Jefferson County, East Metro, Colorado 7): Nate Smith, Athletic Director (Englewood High School) [2021]
District 5 (Denver, Metropolitan, Confluence): Caleb Coats, Athletic Director (STRIVE PREP High School) [2022]
District 6 (Continental, Front Range, 5280): Michael Hawkes, Athletic Director (Shining Mountain Waldorf) [2021]
District 7 (CS Metro 4A, CS Metro 5A, Pikes Peak, Tri-Peaks, West Central): Bret McClendon, Principal (Elizabeth High School) [2023]
District 8 (Black Forest, Fisher’s Peak, Intermountain, Southern Peaks): Don Steiner, Athletic Director (Evangelical Christian High School) [2022]
District 9 (Arkansas Valley, Santa Fe, South Central, Southeastern): Richard Hargrove, Superintendent (Springfield Schools) [2021]
At-Large Representative: Gabe Trujillo, District Athletic Director (Westminster Schools) [2023]
At-Large Representative: Terita Walker, Athletic Director (Denver East High School) (2021)
Colorado Association of School Boards: Tracey Johnson, CASB (Academy School District 20) [2020]
Colorado Association of School Executives: Jeff Durbin, Superintendent (Stratton Schools) [2021]
Colorado Association of School Executives: Ryan West, Principal (Englewood High School) [2023]
Colorado Department of Education: Wendy Dunaway, Colorado Department of Education [2023]
Colorado State Assembly: Jim Wilson, Salida (State Representative, Salida) [2020]
