Prescott’s Smiley Goes To Dayton

DAYTON - Harvest is barely underway and it's still a month before the new school year starts, but in the Touchet Valley it's never too early to start talking about upcoming high school sports.

The 2011-2012 season will see some big changes for students, parents and coaches who meet in Dayton this Thursday and in Waitsburg on Aug. 15 to prepare for fall sports.

The biggest shift at the top comes from the resignation of Jack Smiley as Athletic Director for Prescott High School after two decades and his selection - pending approval of the Dayton School Board - as Athletics Director for the Bulldogs.

"I'm excited," said Smiley, 68, who believes he has many good years left in him to manage and coor- dinate athlet- ics prog r ams . " It will be a new and interesting opportunity - kind of like recharging my battery."

Another big change is a return to a central position of Combine Athletics Director for the Waitsburg Prescott sports programs. Since Mike White resigned in 2008 and Waitsburg High School principal

Stephanie Wooderchak stepped in to be Waitsburg's AD alongside Smiley in Prescott, there have been two combine ADs.

No Combine AD has been selected yet from four finalists, but a decision is expected at the next combine meeting on Aug. 8, according to Prescott School Superintendent Dr. Bill Jordan.

At the coaching level, WP has hired Lenny Adams as director of the new combine wrestling program starting this winter. Clayton Strong will replace Scott Hudson as coach of the Bulldogs' basketball team, while Angie Potts and Wendy Richards take over from Jessie and Katie Buehler, who were suspended last year, fought their dismissal but didn't return to the WP athletics staff. Volunteer assistant cheerleading coach A. J. Walker will fill in for Cassandra Dedloff, who has requested a one-year leave of absence from the position.

All other sports head coaches will stay in place. This fall that means Jeff Bartlow for WP football, Joanna Lanning for WP cross country, Vickie Hamann for WP cheerleading, Dean Bickelhaupt for Dayton football, Shannon Turner for Dayton volleyball and D.J. Frame for Dayton soccer.

The only staffing gap left is for the head of the WP soccer program, a position vacated by Rick Hamilton, who had hoped to combine coaching and teaching positions at Prescott for a fulltime job but the district was unable to accommodate him, Jordan said.

The districts have been in touch with assistant soccer coach Bart Baxter about the position, but no decision has been made, the superintendent said.

The only program in question this fall is Dayton's cross country, which does not have funding for coach Dan Nechodom's stipend. However, Nechodom has approached the district with a proposal that reduces that stipend significantly and may open the door for the program to be saved, school officials said.

Jordan said Prescott will miss Smiley, a 46-year veteran teacher, coach and AD.

"The experience walking out the door is tremendous," he said. "Jack has been a career- long supporter of Prescott sports. I wish him every success."

Dayton, meanwhile, is elated at Smiley's imminent arrival as the Bulldogs' AD.

"We're excited to have found someone with that level of experience," Dayton Superintendent Doug John- son said. "Jack will be an advocate for kids, parents and coaches."

Unlike Johnson, who served as superintendent and AD the past several years, Smiley will be able to give the Bulldogs' sports programs his undivided attention, while the superintendent himself will now have more time to devote to helping improve overall student learning in the district, Johnson said.

"My phone will ring 35 percent less," Johnson predicted half-jokingly.

Smiley will be introduced at the 6 pm meeting for student athletes and their parents Thursday at the high school auditorium. Attendees will have an opportunity to meet with coaches for football, volleyball, cross country, cheer and soccer.

WP athletes and their parents are meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 15, at their high school auditorium to go over games schedules, insurance coverage and concussion prevention.

Although he leaves the WP combine, Smiley stays in the valley. He graduated from Walla Walla High School and was a four letter winner in baseball at Eastern Washington University, from which he graduated with a Bachelor's in education (health, physical and recreation). He completed a Master's at Eastern Oregon University and became a certified athletic administrator.

Smiley was a secondary school teacher for almost 40 years, serving in Davenport, Pendleton, Hermiston, Walla Walla and Prescott, where he was AD for the past 20 years. He coached basketball for 26 years and was an assistant coach in football, basketball and baseball.

At Prescot t , Smi ley made great progress getting its sporting teams to be more competitive. The high school's football team made it to the state championship game in 2001 only to lose 36- 29 to a team from Inchileum (near Spokane).

But in the late 1990s, enrollment in the district dropped significantly and the sports programs no longer had enough athletes to compete in most sports. A combine with neighboring Waitsburg was the only way to continue to give students athletic opportunities, he said.

"I leave on good terms," he said. "But a fresh start is always good. I got a lot of good years left."

Smiley said Dayton has always had strong athletics program and a tradition of excellence, but has struggled in some sports.

"They need a shot in the arm and I think I can provide that," he said. "I'm looking forward to getting the season going. I'm up for the challenge."