Joe Sacco, a longtime assistant in the Avalanche’s minor-league system, will be the head coach of the team’s new American Hockey League affiliate in Cleveland.
Sacco will be joined by assistant coach and former Avs defenseman Sylvain Lefebvre when the Lake Erie Monsters play their first season starting this fall. Sacco, 38, served as an assistant coach with the Avalanche’s previous AHL affiliates in Lowell, Mass., and Albany, N.Y. He played in 738 NHL games with Toronto, Anaheim, New York (Islanders), Washington and Philadelphia.
Durham, Holeman take RMAC titles
Adams State sophomore Wayne Durham won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference decathlon title in record-setting fashion at Rex Stadium in Alamosa and Western State senior Lisa Holeman rallied to win the heptathlon.
Durham’s 6,939 points were the fifth-best performance in NCAA Division II this season and broke the RMAC record (Western State’s Brad Koschel, 6,912 in 2005).
Holeman (4,966 points), the first-day leader in the heptathlon, slipped to second place Monday before winning the 800-meter run to overcome a 60-point deficit in beating Adams State freshman Amanda Gylling (4,872).
CU, DU, CSU awaiting regional golf action
The Colorado State and University of Denver men’s golf teams received invitations to the NCAA West Regional tournament and Colorado was selected to play in the Central Regional. The Rams and Pioneers will play at Arizona State’s Karsten Golf Course beginning May 17. Colorado will play at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., beginning May 17.
CU-Colorado Springs’ Tyler Bishop and Ross McDermott were two of the five golfers who shot an opening-round 70 to lead the NCAA Division II men’s Northwest/West Super Regional at Fox Hollow in Lakewood.
Pioneers not in NCAA lacrosse field
The DU women’s lacrosse team, ranked No. 15 before a 12-11 loss to Stanford in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship game Sunday, did not receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Pioneers (16-3) were 1-2 this season against teams in the 16-team NCAA Tournament field, with a 14-5 win over 10th-seeded Hofstra and losses to No. 2 Duke (19-6) and No. 7 Johns Hopkins (15-13). No team west of Chicago qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
