CHSAA announces 2014 Hall of Fame class
AURORA — The Colorado High School Activities Association Hall of Fame has announced its 26th Hall of Fame class, featuring a four-time state wrestling champion, a star-studded boys’ basketball team, a girls’ athletics pioneer coach, a long-time officials’ assignor, a veteran media broadcaster and a medical professional who has assisted high school athletes for nearly 50 years.
The CHSAA Hall of Fame’s Class of 2014 includes four-time champion Jonathan Archuleta (Alamosa) and the legendary undefeated Manual High School Boys’ Team from 1966, along with Bernie Goss, a wrestling official and all-sports officials assignor from Grand Junction. Joining those three entries into the hall are girls’ athletics pioneer and Colorado Coaches of Girls Sports founder Helen McCall, former media maven Marcia Neville and Dr. Darwin Strickland, who for 50 years has been the physician for high school athletes in Adams County District 12.
“The latest class of the CHSAA Hall of Fame is one that reaches all aspects of high school sports, from the medical side to the media side to a founding figure in girls’ athletics, to the officials who maintain fair and equitable competition. Rounding out this class are some special athletes, the reasons the CHSAA was founded. Winning four state wrestling championships is special and speaks for itself, but so does a team going through an entire season undefeated. Like the 25 previous classes, this class is special to who and what Colorado prep activities are,” CHSAA Commissioner Paul Angelico said in making the announcement.
“As we look to our second quarter century of honoring those people who have make up high school athletics and activities, it is important to note the impact that each of these inductees, like those that came before them, had had in their respective areas of the state. The 26th class reflects the efforts, passion and love Colorado has for high school activities,” CHSAA Hall of Fame administrator Bert Borgmann said.
The Class of 2014 will be inducted during a ceremony on Wednesday, January 28, 2014, at the Red Lion Hotel Denver Southeast (I 225 and Parker). Individual tickets may be purchased for $50 each by contacting the CHSAA. The festivities get underway at 6:30 p.m. Seating is limited.
The selection of the one student participant to the CHSAA Hall of Fame puts the total number of participants in the hall at 57. There are now 60 coaches, 27 administrators, 16 officials and eight significant service contributors enshrined in the CHSAA Hall of Fame that began in 1989. There are also four teams in the hall. The Hall of Fame now features 172 inductees.
Biographies of the newest additions to the hall:
JON ARCHULETA (Alamosa High School): Colorado’s seventh four-time state wrestling champion, Archuleta graduated in 1995. He posted a record 125-4 during his high school career and was ranked number one in the nation at his weight during his senior year. He was a four-time district and regional champion for the mean moose.
He was named Colorado’s 4A Outstanding Wrestler as a senior and Male Prep Athlete of the Year in 1995. He was a four-time national qualifier while at Cal State-Bakersfield and advanced to the NCAA’s round of 12 as a junior. A former high school coach, Archuleta now owns a plumbing business in Bakersfield.
BERNIE GOSS (Western Slope): For the last 50 years, Bernie Goss has been involved with the State Wrestling Championships as either an official, rule interpreter or officials’ liaison. His list of accomplishments as a wrestling official is lengthy and includes the NFHS Distinguished Wrestling Officials Award, induction in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, plus many more. That only tells part of the story, as Goss has been instrumental in official assigning across the Western Slope for nearly 20 years. In 1994, Goss was selected as High School Counselor of the Year by the Council on College/High School Relations.
He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2005, was given the 2008 Lloyd Gaskill Award by the Colorado High School Coaches Association and the 2013 Colorado Athletics Directors Association Community Service Award.
MANUAL THUNDERBOLTS (1966) BOYS’ BASKETBALL: Since the State Basketball Championships began in 1922, there have been few undefeated teams, but the 1966 Manual Thunderbirds are one of those teams. In fact, they became the first “big” school undefeated champions when they capped a 20-0 season in 1966.Three players were named to the All-Tournament Team – Carl Ashley, Don Edwards and Horace Kearney. One DPL historian considers this team to be the “best ever” from Denver.
They were coached by one of DPS’ legendary coaches, Al Oviatt. The players on the team included Ashley, Lewis Brown, Edwards, Kearney, Issac Lee, Charles Maloy, Harold Minter, John Osborne, Orzo Riley and Tim Wedgeworth.
HELEN MCCALL (Westminster): One of the most effective pioneers in girls’ sports, the late Helen McCall was instrumental in the formation of the Colorado Coaches’ of Girls Sports. She developed the concept for CCGS while on sabbatical from Westminster and attending the University of Denver. She held many positions in CCGS over the years and served on numerous CHSAA committees in the 1970s. As a coach, her teams enjoyed success on the floor, finishing second in the state basketball tournament in 1976 and third in 1978.
McCall was awarded the coveted Dorothy Mauk Award by the Sportswomen of Colorado and was instrumental in creating the Rocky Mountain League for Women’s Athletics when she moved on to coach and teach at the University of Denver.
MARCIA NEVILLE (Denver): For 26 years, Marcia Neville was the face of high school sports in Colorado. There wasn’t an athlete, coach or school that didn’t know who Neville was and embraced her passion and enthusiasm for prep sports. She put coverage of high school sports on the same level as the colleges and professional sports teams. A friend to CHSAA, she was the host of many of the Association’s events, including serving as MC for nearly half of the CHSAA Hall of Fame induction banquets. Her list of Emmys is lengthy and she has been honored by the Association with its Distinguished Service Award.
Since leaving the career she called the “best job in the state” in 2009, she has worked in production television with High Noon Entertainment and in non-profit with Women’s Bean Project. Currently, she’s in her third year with the University of Colorado at Denver’s Anschutz Medical Campus, working as a media relations and community engagement specialist in the university’s Office of Communications.
DR. DARWIN STRICKLAND (Northglenn): Dr. Darwin Strickland’s impact on the students in Adams School District 12 is immense. For the past 48-plus years, Strickland has provided free sports physicals for district students, averaging nearly 500 each year. He consults individually with each student and his/her parents. He has been on the sidelines of as many games as he can during that time. He continues to serve the students of the Five Star District and can be found attending to student athletes at any playoff game a district school is involved with.
His list of honors is lengthy and all are related to his work with students. He remains active in his solo private practice, often ending his days seeing patients well after 10:00 p.m.
In addition to the induction of the Hall of Fame class, the Association will honor Dick Nelson (Denver Public Schools) and Ron Johns (Chatfield Swimming) with its Distinguished Service Award and Les Schwab Tires with its Colorado Tradition Award. The Colorado Tradition Award is special recognition that goes to an organization that has distinguished itself through its support and loyalty to CHSAA, its mission and students. The CHSAA Distinguished Service Award is presented to persons whose efforts are in support of, rather than the focus of, an activity.
The six new members join past inductees. Browse the entire Hall of Fame in our database.
Members of the CHSAA Hall of Fame Selection Committee include: Dick Katte (chair, Denver Christian); John Andrew (DPS); Ed Hartnett (Adams 12 SD); Dina Fuqua (Vanguard); Bob Marken (CHSCA), Mary Kay Mauro (NFHS Network/CET Productions), Leslie Moore (CHSAA HoF); Dale Oliver (Hi-Plains), Jodi Reinhard (Standley Lake); Denny Squibb (Fruita Monument); CHSAA staff liaison is Assistant Commissioner Bert Borgmann.
