Jeffco Athletics inducts HOF classes of 2020 and 2021
WHEAT RIDGE — Eight new members of Jeffco Public Schools’ Athletic Hall of Fame were inducted on Wednesday at The Vista at Applewood.
Due to COVID, the Class of 2020 and 2021 were both honored since a ceremony wasn’t held last year. The exclusive group of now 116 members began with the charter group back in 1986.
Here are this newest members of the Jeffco Athletics Hall of Fame.
Class of 2020
Dave Rulli
Rulli worked for Jeffco Public Schools for 33 years. His final 15 years he worked in the athletic department primary at Jeffco Stadium. He finished his career as the Manager of Stadium Operations overseeing the four central athletic stadiums. Rulli was instrumental in bring all-classifications of track and field of the now 3-day state meet held at Jeffco Stadium.
Scott Smith
Smith is a Golden High School graduate who went on to play basketball at Western State University in the mid-1970s. He returned to Jeffco where he was a boys basketball coach at Alameda International High School from 1979-2007. Smith was the head boys basketball coach for the Pirates from 1991-2006. He still remains the head boys and girls tennis coach for Alameda.
Lisa LaGuardia
LaGuardia was one of the top girls basketball players in Jeffco in the early 1980s. She was First-Team All-State Colorado for three seasons while playing at Wheat Ridge High School where she scored over 1,000 points for the Farmers. She went on to play college hoops at the University of Nebraska. She returned to Jeffco in the early 1990s where she taught and coached basketball at Alameda and Golden high schools. LaGuardia is currently a teacher at Campbellsport High School in Wisconsin.
Griff Wirth
Wirth is a Wheat Ridge High School graduate who was a football, basketball and baseball standout for the Farmers in the early 1980s. He was the Gold Helmet award winner as Colorado’s most outstanding student-football player his senior year. Wirth was a teacher and coach in Jeffco before turning to Wheat Ridge High School as its principal in 2007. The Farmers had great athletic success during Wirth’s 10-year run at Wheat Ridge. The Farmers won 10 state titles and 24 league titles. He was honored as the CHSAA School Administrator of the Year in 2016 before his retirement.
Class of 2021
Steve Greivel
Greivel was a fixture at Bear Creek High School for more than 50 years. He began his teaching and coaching at Bear Creek in 1967. He would retire from teaching in 1998, but would continue coaching until 2020. Greivel was the Jeffco boys track and field Coach of the Year in 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996 and 1999. While track was his main coaching focus, he also was an assistant coach for wrestling, cross country and football, along with the head golf coach for a time at Bear Creek.
Kami Keiter
Keiter was one of the best softball players ever to come out of Jeffco. The hard-throwing lefty pitched Arvada West High School to back-to-back Class 5A state titles in 1999 and 2000. She also played basketball and was on the track team during her time at Arvada West. Keiter went on to play softball at the University of Oklahoma from 2002 to 2005. She helped the Sooners to three consecutive trips to the College World Series and finished her career as one of the top pitchers in OU history.
Dave Sanders
Sanders taught and coached basketball and softball at Columbine High School for nearly 25 years. He died during the tragic shooting at Columbine on April 20, 1999 while saving students’ lives. The memory and spirit of Dave Sanders lives on more than 20 years after his death in the classrooms and athletic fields in Jeffco every day.
Blayne Van Dyke
Van Dyke has become a fixture during Friday Night Lights at Jeffco Stadium for more than 40 years. He has been a member of the chain crew primarily at Jeffco Stadium since the 1980s. Van Dyke was inducted into the Colorado Football Officials Association Hall of Fame in 2013 to recognize his longtime service to high school athletics.
