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JULY 3, 2014 VOLU M E 27 | I S S UE 33
HighlandsRanchHerald.net A publication of
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D O U G L A S C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
Repella to run with Beauprez Commissioner tabbed as Republican lieutenant governor candidate Staff report
Suzy Cotton-Tatnall, a longtime employee of the Highlands Ranch Community Association’s Aquatics Department, is a competitive swimming champion several times over. Photo by Savanna Walker
Aquatics coach catches second wave in pool Instructor sheds pounds, racks up medals at 54 By Savanna Walker
Special to Colorado Community Media A competitive swimmer from ages 5 to 18, Suzy Cotton-Tatnall took a 30-year break from the sport, which only ended when she “had a meltdown” in 2007. “My father died, my daughter went to college, and I became very unhealthy,” she said. “I dove back in the water and just started with practicing one day a week.” And while she regained her health, losing seven sizes and 35 pounds, Cotton-Tatnall soon set her sights on competing once again. A longtime employee and influence in the Aquatics Department at the Highlands Ranch Community Association, Cotton-Tatnall now can lay claim to being a competitive swimming champion several times over at the age of 54.
In the last four years she has set eight state records, secured five top-10 national times, and most recently was a 2013 relay All-American. In August, she plans to compete in the FINA World Masters Swimming Championships. FINA, the Federation Internationale de Natation, is the international governing body for swimming. Shortly after returning to the pool, she qualified for nationals — with hopes of winning just one medal. “I knew if I was healthy enough I could do it,” she said. “I wanted to show that you can do things as you get older.” And despite pulling a shoulder early on, she “just kept getting faster.” “I’m better in everything than I was in college — this is the best swimming I’ve ever done,” she said, smiling. Now Cotton-Tatnall hopes to succeed at the FINA Championships in Montreal. As a sprinter, Cotton-Tatnall will be swimming in a much larger pool than she is used to — 50 meters as opposed to 25 yards.
“It’s a challenge,” she says, but one she looks forward to. Cotton-Tatnall’s late father was a swim coach, as is her daughter, Britney, and her mother. “This runs in our blood — we’re amphibians,” she said with a laugh, adding: “I know my father would be ever so proud of what I’ve accomplished.” Not only is Cotton-Tatnall a decorated competitor, but she is a dedicated member of the HRCA aquatics program as well, involved in coaching, teaching and water safety. “This community is huge,” she says. “They’ve been my family, my backbone for 17 years.” Not only was she a coach, an experience she calls “very rewarding,” but she was dedicated to developing and overseeing precompetitive programs for children, as well as social swimming programs for adults. Her involvement at nearly every age level of the Swim continues on Page 5
Pedestrian bridge work underway on Quebec C-470 overpass project to extend into fall
Repella continues on Page 5
Republicans speak against Common Core Breakfast highlights concerns around changes in education By Jane Reuter
jreuter @coloradocommunitymedia.com
Staff report Construction on a new pedestrian crossing on the west side of Quebec Street over C-470 has begun and will continue through Nov. 24. The bridge will mirror one constructed a few years ago on the east side, allowing safe passage for walkers and cyclists on both sides of the busy overpass. “Now people won’t have to cross over to the east side if they want to cross 470,” project engineer Dennis Lobberding said. The $1.6 million Douglas County Government project is partially funded by a $500,000 grant from the Denver Regional Council of Governments. Lawrence Construction was awarded the contract for the six-month project. Intermittent lane closures will occur throughout construction on Quebec as well as the westbound on-ramp and eastbound off-ramp. The bridge near the borders of Lone Tree, Highlands Ranch and Centennial will benefit drivers as well as cyclists and
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez has tabbed Douglas County Commissioner Jill Repella as his running mate. Repella was elected to her first term as commissioner in November 2008 and reelected in 2012 to a second four-year term. She is a fifth-generation Colorado native and has been a resident of Highlands Ranch since 1994. “With the selection of Commissioner Jill Repella as Bob’s running mate, Colorado Republicans Repella are celebrating one of the strongest and most united tickets we have seen in years,” said the state’s GOP chairman Ryan Call in a statement released July 1. “Jill is an effective and pragmatic policymaker with deep roots in Colorado, and is a terrific mother of three. She knows firsthand the challenges facing Coloradans from all walks of life, and, as lieutenant governor, Jill will be a tireless advocate for policies that will help grow our economy, create opportunity, and improve the lives of each and every one of us.” Under Repella’s leadership on the threeperson board of commissioners, Douglas County has celebrated the second- and third-highest employment gains in the
Construction crews work June 30 on a pedestrian bridge that will span the west side of the Quebec/C-470 overpass, matching the one already in place on the east side. Photo by Jane Reuter pedestrians by easing demand for the “walk” crossing button. Future plans also call for creating a new crossing for the C-470 bicycle trail underneath Quebec, but that project has
been delayed while the C-470 Corridor Coalition studies future expansion plans for the highway. The east side Quebec Street/C-470 bridge was constructed in 2008.
Two opponents of the Common Core standards spoke during the June 27 meeting of the Highlands Club, a group of Highlands Ranch Republicans that meet monthly for breakfast. Pueblo resident Anita Stapleton and Douglas County School Board member Craig Richardson shared their mutual distaste for the standards, but clashed on issues specific to DCSD. The Common Core Standards are a set of U.S. Richardson educational criteria introduced in 2010 with the intent of improving the quality of American K-12 education. Colorado and most other states adopted the national curriculum, but individual districts in Colorado are allowed to set their own. DCSD is among those that did so, and school leaders say its guaranteed and viable curriculum surpasses the Common Core. Core continues on Page 10