Prep notes: Neubauer moves up at DIAA

Tommie Neubauer, DIAA’s coordinator of officials and events since 2005, will become executive director of the governing body of Delaware high school athletics on July 11.

Veteran athletic administrator Tommie Neubauer has been selected as the new executive director of the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association, the governing body of high school athletics in Delaware.

Neubauer has served as DIAA’s coordinator of officials and events since October 2005. His new role begins July 11. He will replace Kevin Charles, who is retiring, and will become the seventh executive director of DIAA and its two predecessors since the governing body started in 1945.

“I’m thrilled,” Neubauer said Tuesday. “This is something that I’ve been working toward for 20 years, directly and indirectly.”

Neubauer replaced Charles in his current job 11 years ago, and has worked closely with Charles and administrative assistant Tina Bates — DIAA’s only three paid employees — ever since.

“With a staff of three, it was always a ‘we’ thing,” Neubauer said. “The executive director, naturally, is the leader and the public face of DIAA. But we made decisions between the three staff members, and we always reached out to the hundreds of people who make DIAA — our member schools, our volunteers, our committee people, our interpreters.”

Neubauer lauded Charles for expansions of state tournaments and education of athletic directors, the establishment of Unified sports programs and enhancements in athlete safety during his tenure.

“My bucket list is just to keep that going, and maybe extend it to coaches education,” Neubauer said. “That is something Kevin got started, but I would really like to take that one and run with it. Having a coaches education program and a coaches certification program that is affordable and there for all of our schools.”

Neubauer started his career in education as a teacher at Caravel in 1980. He moved to teaching at Middletown in 1986, and also served as the Cavaliers’ athletic director from 1998-2005. He also officiated youth and high school football and softball for more than 20 years.

Neubauer said he has learned a tremendous amount from working alongside Charles and DIAA’s 19-member Board of Directors.

“To listen to the smart people in the room, and to build consensus between the groups that come to the table,” he said. “Delaware is a very diverse state, is a very flexible state when it comes to the amount of choices that parents and student-athletes have. Bringing all of those factors together is something Kevin has been masterful at, and I’m learning that and hope to continue that.”

Neubauer’s move creates an opening in his old job. He said DIAA will work quickly to solicit applications and work through the hiring process.

Prep notes: Rago retires as St. E hoops coach

Tops in track

Middletown sprinter Daija Lampkin was named Girls Athlete of the Year and Mount Pleasant jumper Malachi Davis was named Boys Athlete of the Year at the annual All-State track banquet on Monday night at Padua.

Lampkin won the 100- (11.94), 200- (24.38) and 400-meter (55.45) Division I titles at the DIAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She missed the Meet of Champions to travel to Havana, Cuba, where she set the state’s fastest 100 time (11.52) while finishing second in the Caribbean Scholastic Invitational. The junior now holds the state’s fastest times in the 100 and 200, and is sixth-fastest all-time in the 400.

Davis, also a junior, won the long jump (23-2) and triple jump (48-10) titles in Division I, then swept again at the Meet of Champions.

Auks do it again

The Archmere rugby program capped its season with a second straight title at the High School Rugby Challenge, a national event held last weekend in Chester, Pa.

The Auks came back to defeat West Chester, Pa., 24-19 on Sunday to win the Boys High School Open 7s. Last year, Archmere took the title in the single-school division.

The Auks led 17-0 at halftime in the final, only to see West Chester rally for a 19-17 lead.

“Our guys had to turn it around and come back,” Auks coach Drew Cocco said. “It was an interesting experience for them, because I don’t think we’ve been behind on the scoreboard in a very, very long time in 7s. But they turned it around and got the job done.”

Nick Udovich, Alec Giakas, Tanner McIlrath and Connor Ruggieri scored tries in the championship game, and Noah Niumataiwalu kicked two conversions.

The Archmere program started with 14 players just four years ago. This year, the Auks reached their limit of 35 players.

“These seniors that graduated, they built this program from freshman year on up,” Cocco said. “These guys were our first group, so it’s pretty special.”

Archmere swept state titles in 7s and 15s, the Subaru 7s regional title and the HSRC nationals for the second straight year. Among the Auks’ seniors, Giakas (South Carolina), Niumataiwalu (St. Joseph’s), McIlrath (St. Joseph’s), Udovich (West Chester), Greg McCord (Princeton) and Colin Freeh (Navy) plan to continue playing rugby in college.

“Wherever they’re going, whether they’re getting scholarships or not, I’m just happy they’re playing,” Cocco said.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ.