What Ken Denning did for Fossil

Isabella Mahal • May 15, 2016

On April 20, 2016, Ken Denning resigned as Fossil Ridge High School’s athletic director and assistant principal. Since 2009, Denning was responsible for building sports schedules, running athletic events, and having the final say on hiring new coaches. He will remain in his position until June 9, the end of this school year.

Before coming to work at Fossil, Denning worked at Mountain View High School in Loveland. He was on the start-up committee when Fossil was founded, and served in the head football coach position for several years. Denning also worked as a dean of students from the time Fossil opened, then became an assistant principal. He has served as both athletic director and assistant principal since 2009.

Denning cited the 2013-2014 season in which the girls and boys basketball teams both went to the state championship as the highlight of his time as athletic director at Fossil. He talked about how both teams competed at Colorado University, and stated how proud he was of the number of Fossil students who came out to support their athletes.

During his time at Fossil, Denning headed the hiring of three major sports coaches. Dave Philop was hired as the softball coach in 2011. Since he took over for the varsity program, the Fossil softball team has gone to the 5A state softball finals every year. In 2014, the team set the school win record, going 22-2 in regular season and losing in the semi-final of the state championship. He substitutes teaches P.E. classes as well.

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Carolyn Fries coached girl’s swimming at Fossil from 2007-2013, but left at the end of that season to work on her master’s degree in counseling. She led the girl’s swim team to a state championship win in 2012. Denning hired Fries again for the 2015 season, and the girl’s team went into it as the defending 5A state champions, having won five conference titles in a row.

Chad Salz is the third of Denning’s major athletics hires at Fossil and he remains the head varsity coach for girl’s basketball. Coming out of a 9-3 season this year, the girls varsity is ranked first in their 5A, Front Range class. In addition, during the 2013-2014 basketball season, Salz’s team went 26-2 and set the single season record for points per game, with 59.6.

When hiring a new athletics coach, Denning makes a point to include parents on the committee, plus several staff members and other coaches. He acknowledges the difficult parts of his job as well. When asked whether it is hard to fire staff, he stated that, “it’s just a duty… to find that the best candidate you can.”

Perhaps the reason Denning has such a bright outlook is because he wholeheartedly believes in the athletics program at Fossil. He said, “We’re so fortunate, we have coaches that care about kids and care about their programs. The wins and losses come, but I’m most proud of the way our coaches care about their student athletes.”

Fossil can only hope that the next athletic director will be as positive and influential as Ken Denning in the athletics community.

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About the Contributor

Isabella Mahal, Head Copywriter

Despite all the warnings given to her, senior Isabella Mahal filled her schedule with AP classes and a single TA period. Many of these classes were only open to seniors and fascinate her, such as AP Literature and AP World History, so not having an off period doesn’t bother her. It isn’t just her school schedule that is full. Mahal fills her time with extracurricular activities like volunteering at the Humane Society, being the co-president of Fossil Ridge’s Spectrum, and being a member of the group Never Again NoCo that works to help end gun violence at schools.

If Mahal has some time to relax, she is spending it with her family and pets. Her younger brother, Sebastian, is a sophomore at Fossil, and they get McDonalds together in her free time. Her family dog, Gus, and her cat, Silverstein, help her wind down after a long day at school. Mahal loves hiking, biking, and hanging out in her hometown of Fort Collins. Although her music taste varies, she loves Counting Crows, The Front Bottoms, Duran Duran, and Modern Baseball.

Mahal never dreamt about spending all four years of high school in journalism, having joined the class to be with her best friend, Karen Manley. Due to their differing schedules, Mahal ended up alone in the class, which forced her to find her own place. She wrote academic and opinion pieces, adding movie and book reviews to her portfolio. After being the academic beat leader her sophomore and junior year, Mahal is now the head copy editor to round out her time in the class. Her dream school would be UC Berkeley, studying public or global health to one day possibly join the Peace Corps. Although Mahal isn’t pursuing journalism in the future, the class has become a window for her to find herself, and help others do the same. It’s taught her about the students in the school whose voices aren’t always heard.

Mahal’s advice for incoming Journalism I students is to not be afraid to walk into an event or sport and be unsure about it, and to meet and talk with new people. People in clubs or sports that are less recognized are always appreciative of the recognition of their hard work. Even if you’re unsure about what you’re going to, you will definitely leave knowing more than before, and it’ll make you a more caring person to understand how everyone’s different experiences shape who they are. She loves the forum that journalism lends for people to understand the world around them, and she is a self-proclaimed “first amendment enthusiast”.