6/13/2007

By LARRY MORITZ

Salina Journal

Salina South has found an athletic director but lost a football coach in the process.

The Salina board of education approved the hiring of Ken Stonebraker on Tuesday as South High's athletic director for the 2007-08 school year.

His new duties as a South administrator will require Stonebraker to give up his responsibilities as the school's head football coach.

Messages left for Stonebraker on both his home and cell phones were not returned Tuesday night.

In 15 seasons with the South football program, the last 13 as head coach, Stonebraker established himself as the most successful football coach in the school's history and built one of the most respected programs in Class 5A.

When Stonebraker was named South's coach prior to the 1994 season, he took over a program that had made only one postseason appearance in 24 years and finished above .500 in 10 of those 24 seasons.

In Stonebraker's 13 seasons as South's coach, the Cougars never finished below .500 and qualified for the Class 5A state playoffs 10 times.

His overall record of 99-40 at South includes a 14-8 mark in postseason. His victory total ranks him second all-time among Salina high school football coaches. His final victory last season enabled him to move past former Sacred Heart coach Jon Bingesser (98-41) on that list.

Before Stonebraker was named head coach, South had a total of 85 victories in 24 seasons.

South reached the state semifinals twice in Stonebraker's first four seasons. The Cougars advanced to the 5A state title game for the first time in the school's history in 2000, where they defeated Pittsburg in the championship game, 16-13.

Stonebraker led his team back to the state finals in 2003, where the Cougars lost a heartbreaker to Blue Valley-Stilwell, 22-21. A year later, South pulled off perhaps the biggest upset in the program's history, rallying from a 14-0 fourth-quarter deficit to defeat consensus No. 1 ranked Olathe North in the 5A title game, 21-14 in overtime, and earn the team's second title in five years.

In addition to his football duties, Stonebraker has also served as the school's head track and field coach for the past five seasons. A replacement will also be named for that position.

District administrators will begin the search for Stonebraker's replacement as soon as possible.

"We know the need to move quickly on this, so the players will know who the coach will be as soon as possible," said district spokeswoman Carol Pitts.

Stonebraker was a Salina Journal All-Area Top 11 selection in 1982 following his senior season at Ellsworth, where the 6-foot-2, 170-pound quarterback/defensive back rushed for 429 yards, passed for 412 yards and intercepted five passes.

He played on the 1983 national championship team at Coffeyville Community College, and played two seasons at Wichita State -- the program's last two seasons -- in 1985 and 1986.

Prior to his arrival at South, Stonebraker spent four seasons as head coach at Argonia, where he went 16-20 and led the eight-man team to its first playoff appearance in nine years.

He accepted a teaching position at South prior to the 1992-93 school year, and spent two years as an assistant coach with the Cougar football team. He was named head coach at South on his 29th birthday in May of 1994.

Stonebraker was selected to replace Gregg Gordon, who resigned in late May after 23 years as South High athletic director. Gordon has been named assistant principal/athletic director at Buhler High School.

The school district also approved Tuesday the hiring of Greg Maring as Salina Central's athletic director. Maring has been head baseball coach at Central for the last three years and is a former assistant football and basketball coach with the Mustangs.

Maring will replace Jim Campion, who announced in early May his decision to resign after six years as Central athletic director.

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