National high school activity leaders awards have been announced and a pair of them go to prep overseers from South Dakota and Nebraska.

Ken Pickering from South Dakota and Debra Velder from Nebraska are among the honorees.

 

Twelve leaders in high school activity programs across the country have been selected to receive National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Citations.

An award designed to honor individuals who have made contributions to the NFHS, state high school associations, athletic director and coaching professions, the officiating avocation and fine arts/performing arts programs, the NFHS Citation is one of the most highly regarded achievements in high school athletics and performing arts.

The 2014 NFHS Citation recipients will receive their awards July 1 at the 95th annual NFHS Summer Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

Eight of the 12 award winners represent NFHS-member state high school associations. The other four Citation recipients represent NFHS professional organizations for officials, coaches, music leaders and speech/debate/theatre directors.

The eight state association recipients are Paul Hoey, associate executive director of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference; Brad Cashman, retired executive director of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association; Gary Phillips, assistant executive director of the Georgia High School Association; Sandy Searcy, assistant commissioner of the Indiana High School Athletic Association; Debra Velder, assistant director of the Nebraska School Activities Association; Wadie Moore, assistant executive director of the Arkansas Activities Association; Marie Ishida, retired executive director of the California Interscholastic Federation; and Gary Matthews, executive director of the Alaska School Activities Association.

Other Citation recipients are Jeff Hilyer, Official Citation recipient, football official, Opelika, Alabama; Tom Zimorski, Coach Citation recipient, retired deputy director of the Virginia High School League; Rosanne Malek, Music Citation recipient, fine arts coordinator for the Iowa Department of Education; and Ken Pickering, Speech/Debate/Theatre Citation recipient, retired assistant executive director of the South Dakota High School Activities Association.