Denver Post staff writers Neil H. Devlin and Jon E. Yunt take a look ahead at high school sports:
CHSAA
Class order
The Colorado High School Activities Association Hall of Fame has reached a milestone.
“This class is really a very strong 20th anniversary class,” CHSAA assistant commissioner Bert Borgmann said. “It’s a group of people who really underscore the values and the integrity of high school athletics and activities.”
Of this year’s inductees, Don Gatewood, synonymous with city track, won seven championships coaching at Montbello and also coached at Manual. As a schoolboy, he also was a multisport star at Manual and a track champion.
Lakewood’s Tom Hancock won three state football titles and seven Jefferson County League titles.
Matt Hemingway of Buena Vista still holds the state’s all-time marks of top high jump (7 feet, 4 inches) and state-meet mark (7-2 1/4). He was the Olympic silver medalist in Athens in 2004.
Don McCall had more than 40 years on the football sidelines, 34 at Douglas County before stints at Mullen and Cherry Creek. The longtime administrator also was a track and basketball official and continues to volunteer his time to various prep organizations.
Jim Poole is a longtime Eastern Plains administrator.
Joan Powell coached Coronado volleyball for 30 years, won three titles and officiated the college level for 33 years, including nine NCAA title games.
Ken Soper remains as one of the great prep coaches in state history with nearly 90 seasons combined heading Dolores County (now Dove Creek) football and baseball. He won state baseball championships in 1975 and 1977.
The CHSAA also will recognize the 1924 Windsor boys basketball team. The Wizards, who adopted the mascot from a sportswriter who noted their outstanding play — it was penned that Windsor “played like wizards on the court” — won consecutive Colorado titles, then a national championship that was contested in Chicago.
The induction ceremony will be held Jan. 21 at the Red Lion Hotel Denver Southeast, Interstate 225 and Parker Road in Aurora. Tickets are $40. Information at the CHSAA office, 303-344-5050.
FOOTBALL
First state titlist nigh
We are just a week away from crowning the first of seven football champions. Class A 6-man will start the festivities Saturday, Nov. 15, followed by 1A and 8-man on No. 22 and the grand finale (Classes 3A and 2A at Legacy Stadium and 4A and 5A at Invesco Field at Mile High) on Nov. 29.
VOLLEYBALL
The Kodiak kids
Surviving last Friday’s regional round was all the Colorado Springs School Kodiaks could handle, especially the final five-game win-or- go-home clincher against two-time defending champion Hoehne. The Kodiaks will be one of the favorites in the Class 2A field.
