Year Inducted: 2018
Nominated By: Reed Grant
Sports Competed In: Cross Country, Track
Athlete, Coach or Contributor: Coach, Contributor
High School:
Attended Pueblo East High School from 1975-78.
Achievements:
High School:
● Lettered all four years in both cross country and track for the Eagles.
● Two-time state runnerup in cross country and two-time state qualifier in track.
College:
Macias went on to run at the University of Southern Colorado on a cross country/track scholarship.
Achievements:
College:
● Lettered four times in each sport, twice earning All-Conference honors in the 1500 Meter Run.
● Record holder in the school's 4X800 Meter Relay.
● Two-time NAIA National Qualifier in cross country.
Coaching Career:
● Coached boys and girls cross country and girls track at Pueblo Central H.S.
● Boys Cross Country Coach: City Champions 1991 & 1993; Team Qualifiers to 4A State Meet 1990, 1991, 1993, 1996; Team placed 10th at 4A State Meet 1990 & 1996.
● Girls Track Coach: Coached Dezi Gutierrez-4A State Runner-Up 300 Meter Hurdles (1991); In 2000, saw Ronaleen Hancock capture the 4A State Champion 400 Meter Dash; Veronica Lucero earn 4A State Runner-Up Discus as his team finished 10th Place in 4A Girls State Championships.
Contributions:
In November 2011 Rick spearheaded the USC/Denver Broncos Grassroots Community Grant to purchase new synthetic turf at Dutch Clark Stadium. With the help of Dan DeRose, Tony Taibi, and John Fujimoto, District 60 Athletics was awarded a matching grant of $400,000 and in 2012 new artificial turf was installed at Dutch Clark. The next phase of improvements to Dutch Clark Stadium came in August 2015 when a new $475,000 32'x67' video scoreboard was installed. The funding for the scoreboard came from leftover grant money plus corporate sponsorships secured by Rick, Ron Guarenti, CEO of Pueblo Electric and Bob Lawson, Director of Facilities. This scoreboard is the biggest high school scoreboard in Colorado and allows for live broadcasts, instant replays, and is run by state-of-the-art computers and cameras. District 60 then established the Media Production.
Program at South High School to run the scoreboard and other advanced productions throughout the district including the Comcast Public Channel. Improvements projects funded by corporate sponsorships in District 60 during Rick's tenure as Athletic Director include:
● Four new competition wrestling mats for each high school.
● Six new competition wrestling mats for each middle school.
● New football scoreboards at South HS and Centennial HS.
● Remodeled wrestling rooms at all four high schools.
● Two new gymnasium scoreboards at South HS and East HS
● New state-of-the-art swimming scoreboard at Centennial HS.
● New district wrestling score clocks.
In conjunction with St. Mary-Corwin/Centura Health and Dr. Rocky Khosla, Rick was involved in implementing a new concussion protocol program at South High School in 2010 and the other three high schools in 2011. A year later the state of Colorado mandated that all school districts and youth programs implement a concussion protocol. D60's program was already in place and only needed minor adjustments for compliance.
● Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) Handbook Committee 2018-Present.
● CHSAA Classification and League Organization Committee (CLOC) 2017-Present.
● Chairman (second term) CHSAA Cross Country Committee (2014-Present).
● Member of the CHSAA Board of Directors District 9 Representative (2013-17).
● Member of the CHSAA Budget and Finance Committee (2014-17).
● Colorado High School Coaches Association Recognition, Track and Field (2011).
Professional Affiliations:
2011-Present YMCA Board of Directors.
2013-2017 National Federation High Schools Member (NFHS).
2011-Present Colorado District Athletic Directors Member (COAD).
2003-Present SunWest Education Foundation Board of Directors.
2011-Present National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Member (NIAAA) 2008-Present Colorado Athletic Directors Association Member (CADA).
2001-Present Colorado Track and Field Officials Association (CTFOA, NFHS Certified) 1985-2000 Colorado High School Coaches Association Member (CHSCA).
Related Activities:
● District 60 Coordinator of Comprehensive Health and Physical Education.
● Member of District 60 Health and Wellness Committee.
● YMCA Summer Track Clinic Volunteer Coach 26 Years.
● Member CSU-P Pack Club.
● Past and Present Sponsor of District 60.
● Parks and Recreational Summer Musical.
● Active recreational runner.
Personal:
Macias is a long-time Pueblo resident (close to 60 years)... He is married to his wife, Lori.
Macias Photo courtesy of The Pueblo Chieftain
