After 31 years as an RE-1 employee, Montezuma-Cortez High School athletic director Stacey Hall is retiring.
Hall’s retirement becomes official on July 1, 2016, but she will stay at M-CHS for one transition year and serve as an advisor as assistant principal Chris Kelley moves into the athletic director role.
When Hall first began working for the district in 1985, she made it her goal to stay for 25 years. Once she had accomplished that, she upped her target to 30 years.
When Hall finishes the 2016-17 school year, she will have completed 32 years with the district with time spent as registrar, assistant athletic director, athletic director and mentor.
“It’s time to move on,” she said. “I have family that is getting busy and I have six grandkids who are the most important thing in my life and I want to be involved with what they do.”
Looking back on some of her favorite memories during her time at M-CHS, Hall said that attending the Panthers’ different state tournament appearances was very special.
She specifically highlighted the 2001-2002 boys basketball team’s 46-39 win over Broomfield for the Class 4A state title with an amusing tale.
Hall was traveling with the girls tennis team to matches in Fruita and Grand Junction when the basketball team won the semifinal game to advance to the championship.
At the time, all of the championship games were played at the Pepsi Center in Denver, so there were multiple games scheduled before the Class 4A M-CHS team would make history – and the tennis team was begging to make the trip.
Hall said that in an attempt to make it for the title game, they moved the next day’s tennis match up an hour and then hit the road immediately after.
There were still two games slated ahead of the M-CHS championship game as Hall and the tennis team traveled toward Denver, and Hall described how they nervously listened to them on the radio.
“We kept thinking, ‘Oh, we’re not going to get there for tipoff; we’re not going to get there,’” she recalled. “Well, the girls game before ours went into overtime and we got to the Pepsi Center in time. And to be there and to be a part of that, was awesome.”
Hall didn’t just gravitate towards athletics when strolling down memory lane.
She said that while working as the registrar, one of the most rewarding experiences was helping a student get into the Air Force Academy, and she later added how proud she was to be involved in the opening of the new school.
As for her biggest accomplishment, Hall pointed to M-CHS’ current transition from Class 4A to Class 3A.
M-CHS’ enrollment numbers technically slot them in Class 4A by a thin margin.
But in November, after Hall had petitioned the Classification and League Organizing Committee, M-CHS became one of the first schools in state history to be reclassified, moving from Class 4A to 3A in all team sports except football (which will remain Class 2A) for the 2016-2018 cycle.
Hall will have one more year at M-CHS to make more lifelong memories, as she will stick around to help the athletic department transition.
With knowledge of Hall’s retirement plans, and with recommendations from the Athletic Advisory Committee, M-CHS administrators decided to restructure the department into what they believe is a more traditional structure.
Moving forward, Kelley will handle athletic director duties and a secretary position focusing on athletic budgets will be added.
For the 2016-17 year, Hall will serve as a mentor to Kelley as he begins to take over the athletic director responsibilities.
When discussing her new role, Hall spoke about Brad Jones and Justin O’Connor, who were two of her mentors.
“I learned an incredible amount from those guys,” she said. “I’ll never forget those two men as much as they’ve helped me, and they’ve always been big supporters. I hope that I can be as good of mentor to Chris as those two men were to me.”
Hall spoke of her career at M-CHS and her time as athletic director with great appreciation.
“I would just like to thank Dr. Wayman for providing me with the opportunity to be athletic director for the last three years,” she concluded.