PREP REPORT: Hi-Plains honors special fan

By Scott Stocker, Rocky Mountain News (Contact), Gerry Valerio, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The Hi-Plains boys and girls basketball teams believed they had a friend watching over them at the Class A state tournament last weekend at the Air Force Academy.

It was a special time for Hi-Plains, as it was the first time both teams had qualified for state in the same season.

The Patriots boys beat Ca liche 63-60 to win the championship and complete a 26-0 season. The girls lost both games and finished 15-10.

Still, despite all the excitement, someone was missing from the celebration. Longtime supporter Kenneth McCaffrey, a wheat farmer in the town of Seibert, died Jan. 11 from a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, at the age of 75.

According to Larry Tagtmeyer, whose son Kraig is a sophomore on the boys team, McCaffrey and his wife, Ethel, hardly ever missed a basketball game, home or away.

Kenneth McCaffrey also kept every team program, cut out the articles from the papers and helped buy meals for the teams after games.

"We're a small school and the total community support for all our teams is fantastic," Tagt- meyer said. "But Kenneth and Ethel are special. They had to be sick or out of town to ever miss a game. He called all the kids 'his little buddies.' The kids wore their letter jackets to his funeral and all of them attended."

The McCaffreys also have two grandnieces who play on the girls team, Whitney and Callie McCaffrey.

Hi-Plains, which wore 'KM' stickers on their shoes at state to honor McCaffrey, played at Liberty (Joes) on the day of McCaffrey's funeral.

The Liberty faithful, who also knew McCaffrey, had a special tribute for the Patriots' longtime fan. Liberty boys coach David Guy and his team had a special seat, decorated with ribbons, at courtside.

"I was not sure I would attend the game at first, but did," Ethel said. "We were all so tired. But Ken would have been so proud of what had happened.

"I don't know if he would have known what to say. He loved the kids, and they all loved him. One of the boys told me at state he knew that Ken was watching and would have been proud."

While certainly a fan, McCaffrey, who was born in Otis and graduated from Vona High School, also was a mentor when it came to farming.

Students from the school learned about farming, how to work high-tech equipment and how to keep the books, among other things, from McCaffrey.

The McCaffreys always welcomed the students into their home, and when it came time to harvest, the students were ready to help. On the street, McCaffrey never passed a player without offering a greeting and often stopped his pickup in the middle of the road to do the same.

"It was fun to see Ken come in with the pickup full of kids," Ethel said. "I was told the boys all wanted to put one of their shoes in the trophy case. You can't put 12 shoes in a trophy case, but it's such a nice thought."

WHITE NEARS MARK: Look for Cherry Creek's Charles White to make a serious effort to break the state's all-classification record in the 1,600 meters this spring. For the second consecutive year, White, a senior, won the event at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships on Saturday in New York with a time of 4 minutes, 11.77 seconds. His time last year was 4:14.23.

The Colorado outdoor record in the distance is 4:10.98, set by Widefield's Rich Martinez in 1981.

Also, Falcon junior Wes Rickman finished fourth in the 3,200 Sunday at the Nike Indoor Nationals in Landover, Md., with a time of 9:00.38.

INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS: Chatfield junior Adeline Gray was selected to compete with the U.S. women's national wrestling team's Cadet Division earlier this month in Sweden. Eighteen countries competed in the Klippan Ladies Open, and Gray won the championship in the Under-17s at 65 kilograms (143 pounds).

Gray, who has a three-year varsity career record of 62-32 against boys in Colorado, lost her match in the U.S. dual against Sweden. She came back to win the weight-class title in the individual competition, beating opponents from Poland, Portugal, Russia and Sweden.

Gray also competed in the first U.S. Wrestling Girls Folkstyle National Championships last weekend in Oklahoma City. She won the title at 146 pounds.

Gray has committed to the U.S. Olympic Education Center's Development Team for next season, which is moving its headquarters to the Northern Michigan University campus.

STEINMARK AWARD: Nominations for the 37th boys and 35th girls Fred Steinmark High School Student/Athlete of the Year Award are due at the Rocky by May 1. Go to RockyPreps.com for details on how to nominate an athlete.

ETC.: Holy Family has hired Mike Gabriel Jr. as its football coach. He replaces Jim Bratten. . . . Highlands Ranch's Alyssa Fressle and Palmer's Reggie Jackson have been selected the state's girls and boys basketball players of the year by Gatorade. . . . Broomfield boys basketball coach Kevin Boley and Ponderosa girls basketball coach Mike Bader have resigned their positions.

How did we do?

* After the conclusion of a major sports season, it's a good time to look back at the Rocky's preseason rankings to see where the state champions began their march to a title. Here is the breakdown in basketball:

BOYS Preseason No. 1 Champion (preseason rank)

Class 5A Doherty Denver East (2)

Class 4A Ralston Valley Lincoln (5)

Class 3A Eaton Faith Christian (3)

Class 2A Burlington Sedgwick County (3)

Class A Hi-Plains Hi-Plains

GIRLS Preseason No. 1 Champion (preseason rank)

Class 5A Regis Jesuit Highlands Ranch (2)

Class 4A Broomfield Broomfield

Class 3A Basalt Holy Family (3)

Class 2A Simla Wray (2)

Class A Eads Eads

All-state basketball

* Head boys and girls basketball coaches wishing to participate in the Rocky's online all-state process should e-mail valeriog@RockyMountain News.com. You will receive a reply with a link to the online ballot. Ballots are due Saturday. The all-state teams will be published March 27.