During the GPSA’s August monthly meeting, the association picked it’s “The Three Greatest Moment’s” for their banquet on Wed., Nov. 13. The three listed below are by different Group Era’s (I: 1913-1987; II: 1988-2005; III: 2006-Present).

The Great moments in GPSA history are broken down into three era's spanning 110 years.

ERA I: (1913-1982)
1972: SCSC Men’s Basketball hosts NCAA West Region. They won their Region with an 86-83 win over Seattle Pacific to earn a trip to the Elite Eight. Over 4,100 fans packed Massari Arena both nights to take in the Indian’s wins.

ERA II: (1983-2005)
2000: Bobbi Hall of Pueblo Centennial wins 4A State Shot Put Championship and 4A State Discus Championship.

ERA III: (2006-Present)
2022-23: Pueblo East Wrestling wins back-to-back 4A State Wrestling Championships (coached by Pat Laughlin).

Sollie RasoAt their GPSA August 19 monthly meeting, it was determined that Pueblo West High School (PWHS) was the winner of the Sollie Raso Championship Award for the 2023-24 school year, according to Miles Gorham, GPSA Vice-President.

The award will be presented to one of the eight area high schools whose athletic teams excelled the best in the three sports season (Fall-Winter-Spring).

The GPSA established the "Sollie Raso All Sports Championship Award" in honor of Sollie. Sollie was a teacher, coach, administrator, and county commissioner. Raso served on many boards for the city of Pueblo as well as for the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA).

When the GPSA was first established he was the first president of the association.

In the award’s eighth year, it marked the sixth time PWHS won the award outright (they also ended in a tie with Pueblo Central during the 2022-23 school year). The other lone winner was Pueblo South (2021-2022).

Pueblo, CO -- Paul Plinske, Vice President for Athletics and Strategic Partnerships, at Colorado State University-Pueblo, has announced the school's selections for the Jessie Banks and James "Spank" Blasing awards which will be presented at the Greater Pueblo Sports Association (GPSA) Banquet on November 14.

Kylie Severin (women's golf) became the 36th members selected for the Jessie Banks Award. The award is named after Jessie Banks, a pioneer in women's sports. Banks launched the women's basketball program and served for many years as its coach. She also played an important role in the expansion of the women's sports programs at CSU-Pueblo. The award recognizes the school's top female scholar-athlete.

Severin, from Aurora, CO, has finished as CSU Pueblo’s top finisher in 22 events in her four seasons at CSU Pueblo. She has helped the Pack in five team wins and has recorded a career low round score of 68 twice in her career. Her first round of 68 score came at the RMAC Championships in 2023 and again in 2024 at the NCAA West Regionals.

Kylie has been the medalist/co-medalist four times in her career and includes ten Top 5 finishes and 16 finishes in the Top 10. She has helped guide the ThunderWolves to back-to-back RMAC Championships (2023, 2024) and is a two-time First Team All-RMAC selection and has earned an RMAC Academic Honor Roll honors twice (2021-22, 2022-23).

She is a 3x RMAC Women’s Golfer of the Week all of which came during the 2023-24 season. (Sep. 14, Mar. 28, Apr. 12)

Two Thunderwolves soccer players - Shjon Andrews and Kenshin Uneo -- are the recipient of the James Blasing award. This award, which now has 41 recipients, is named for James "Spank" Blasing, a longtime coach and sports administrator at CSU-Pueblo. Blasing launched the men's track and cross country programs during his tenure at the school. The award recognizes the school's top male scholar-athlete.

Andrews, who hails from Longmont, CO, appeared in 57 matches and made 49 starts in his four seasons at CSU-P. Shjon has recorded over 4,300 minutes on the pitch and has scored 6 goals and 8 assists and totaled 20 points. He has recorded 3 game-winning goals and is a 2x RMAC Defensive Player of the Year and earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-American status in 2023.

Andrews has earned RMAC Academic Honor Roll accolades three times and was named D2CCA First Team All-American two times and listed on the United Soccer Coaches All-South Central Region twice. He was named RMAC Defensive Player of the Week, four times.

Uneo, a native of Hyogo, Japan, has spent three seasons at CSU Pueblo, Kenshin Uneo has played in 73 games and has made 58 starts at midfield for the ThunderWolves. Kenshin was named the NCAA Elite 90 Award recipient in 2023 which recognizes the student-athlete with the highest GPA competing at the NCAA Championships. He received the RMAC Summit Award last season which goes to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average who is a sophomore or above academically, is in his second year of competition at their current institution, is an active member on the roster, has competed in 20 percent of available competitions and is traveling to, and competing, at the championship site.

Uneo has recorded over 5,100 minutes at the midfield position and has totaled seven assists for the Pack. Kenshin is a 2x RMAC First Team All-Academic and was named All-RMAC First Team along with United Soccer Coaches All-Region, United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-American (2022), College Sports Communicators Academic All-American and D2CCA All-Region.

This duo has helped guide the CSU Pueblo Men’s Soccer team to back-to-back appearances in the NCAA DII National Championship Match (2022 and 2023). Back-to-back South Central Regional Champions and in 2023, the ThunderWolves won their first RMAC Conference Tournament title, beating Fort Lewis 2-0 in Durango.

Pat LaughlinPat Laughlin, a 2019 Greater Pueblo Sports Association (GPSA) Inductee, and retired head wrestling coach at Pueblo East High School was recently nominated as one of the eight finalists for the 2024 National High School Coaches Association (NHSACA) "Coach-of-the Year" in the sport of wrestling.

Coach Laughlin was nominated for this national honor by the Colorado State High School Coaches Association (CSHSCA). This selection is based on longevity, service to high school athletics, honors, championship years and winning percentage. The nominees and finalists are evaluated by experts in the field of coaching using a sports-specific rubrics to assign points in each category.

The last nominated finalist from Pueblo for this prestigious award was Jerry Sisneros, the current GPSA president. Sisneros was a finalist for the award in 2006 as a wrestling coach at Pueblo South.

Eight finalists from across the United States will be honored during the NHSACA national convention which will take place at the Bismarck Hotel and Convention Center in Bismarck, ND on Wed., June 26, 2024.

The NHSACA is the oldest coaching association in the nation formed by coaches, for coaches, and has been recognizing national coaches of the year since 1978.