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VALERIO AND STOCKER: Coach Hardcastle ready to stick landing

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

Published October 29, 2008 at 10:08 p.m.

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Rhonda Hardcastle is looking forward to a future that will include several days of hiking, biking and travel. But before the Columbine gymnastics coach can relax, she has one more state championship event to attend.

Hardcastle, who has been coaching gymnastics for 33 years, will coach Columbine's three all-around state qualifiers Friday and Saturday at the Class 5A state meet at Thornton High School (Preview, 4). Then it will be time for some well-deserved rest.

After all, when considering her tenure in the gymnastics coaching ranks, few have been at it as long as Hardcastle. She began coaching at Greeley Central, then went on to stints at Pomona, Evergreen and Chatfield before arriving at Columbine.

"I know I'm going to miss it after all these years," Hardcastle said. "But it's time to go in a different direction. I don't think I will be out of gymnastics entirely. If the school or the Colorado High School Activities Association needs some volunteer help, I'm willing.

"As for being a head coach, this will be my last appearance," Hardcastle said. "We have a young team, and our qualifiers are two juniors and a freshman. They will be the leaders again next season. It would have been nice to have had a full team make it, though."

Leading Columbine in the all-around competition will be Kelsey Petri, Lexi Cox and Kristin Tekip. Also involved for the Rebels will be Hardcastle's assistant, Cindy Brown, who will become the new head coach. Brown is a graduate of Green Mountain and also was a state qualifier during her prep career.

LEAVING A LEGACY: Legacy's Nick Kasa has been chosen to participate in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, which will be held in San Antonio on Jan. 3 and be televised nationally on NBC. Kasa, considered the state's top defensive lineman, is the only selection from Colorado and will be recognized at a news conference at the school Friday. The game will feature 90 of the nation's top players.

For more information, go to usarmyallamericanbowl.com.

WEB GEMS: It seems as if we receive an e-mail or news release every week about a new Web site or service devoted to high school sports. Whether they are worth the time is your call, but here were two that stood out from the pack to us .

* High school football players now can promote themselves to prospective colleges through the Offense-Defense Sports channel on YouTube at youtube.com/highschoolfootball.

Players can upload video highlights on the Offense-Defense channel and also create for free their own page where they can upload photos, statistics and profile information.

Those who submit videos also will be evaluated and could possibly be invited to play in the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl. The game, which features 88 of the top players nationally, will be played at Coastal Carolina University in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Jan. 2.

"This is a real opportunity for kids to be spotted, whether by us, college recruiters, scouts or even by friends and family members who can't attend their games," Offense-Defense Sports president Rick Whittier said in a release. "College recruiting is a serious business, and our new channel provides players with a vehicle to showcase their talents."

* We're not sure about the name, but jookt.com has garnered some interest since it was launched in mid-September.

The free interactive site also is dedicated to all things high school sports, and it allows users to generate the site's content by uploading video. Users also can embed videos in their Facebook or MySpace pages.

"What makes Jookt different is that the site isn't about scores - instead it's like SportsCenter meets YouTube," Jookt CEO Jeff Bennis said in a release. "Jookt is a place for people who love high school sports - from the games to the end-zone dances, from the rivalries to the underdogs. But most importantly, Jookt is about students, because it's driven by them."

In addition to user videos, Jookt has developed original programming with a show called The Stream that features a behind-the-scenes look at high school sports.

ALL-STATE: Head softball and boys soccer coaches who are interested in participating in the Rocky's online all-state process should e-mail their address to valeriog@RockyMountain News.com. Those responding will receive a return e-mail that includes a link to the ballot. The deadline for softball is Friday. The deadline for boys soccer is Nov. 14.

ETC.: The Colorado High School Coaches Association will conduct a program for swimming and diving coaches Nov. 8 at Gilpin County High School.

Information: John Burke, jburke24@cox.net, or Ron Johns, 303-971-4162, or johnsrswim@msn.com or ronald.e.johns@lmco.com. . . . We wanted to make sure this performance didn't get lost in the fine print of the box score - McClave's Darron Williams rushed for 466 yards (18 carries) and scored eight TDs in the Cardinals' 75-30 victory against Manzanola in a Class A 8-Man cross-divisional football playoff. All but 50 of those yards came in the first half. . . . Dove Creek's Colton Huskey also had a monster game, in the Bulldogs' 65-34 victory against LaVeta, rushing 27 times for 391 yards and scoring six touchdowns. . . . FSN Rocky Mountain will begin its high school football coverage next week. . . . Grand Junction first baseman Geoff Baldwin has committed to play baseball at Nebraska. He joins Chaparral's Pat Hirschberg and Rocky Mountain's Bryan Peters as Cornhuskers baseball recruits.

Comments

  • October 31, 2008

    1:54 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    primafacie writes:

    High school sports in Colorado is a strange animal to say the least. No basketball tournaments during Christmas break. Golf and softball in the fall. Uh, basketball shot clock, anyone? Next you'll tell us one can't advance the ball after recovering a fumble. (Oh, really? Yikes....)

    But one look at the 5A football playoffs bracket reveals an obvious issue: How does a 3-6 team even get considered for the post-season, let alone be sent to slaughter against the unbeaten defending champion? There are eight sub-.500 teams, including two at 3-6 (Boulder and Hinkley), and another handful at 5-4 in this year's field. The first round, save the meeting of two 6-3 teams (East Denver and Highlands Ranch), is nothing but mismatches and walkovers.

    The solution is simple. Cut the field in half, give everyone a 10th regular-season game, even if it's non-league, and send the cupcakes on to basketball and wrestling practice. A 32-team field in a state where only half of those could manage a winning season is, frankly, a waste.

    If you don't have a winning record, or can't even finish in the top two or three of your league, you have no business in the playoffs.
    Hate to get socio-political on this, but the lesson is that just showing up results in some reward. Playoff berths should be earned strictly on merit, just like the real world is supposed to be ... or used to be.