MEMORIAL TRIBUTES

Keeper of high school sports statistics dies

BACK TO MEMORIAL HOME

BACK TO SOLLENBERGER MEMORIAL

Richard Obert
Scottsdale Republic
Jun. 25, 2005 12:00 AM

NORTHEAST VALLEY - Arcadia High graduate Barry Sollenberger, who became a diligent keeper of Arizona high school sports statistics and history after his high school decathlon records went unrecorded, died Thursday of a heart attack at his Tempe home.

He was 60.

"That's a sad loss," Arcadia football coach Jim Bevell said. "He always did a great job with the magazine he put out."

Sollenberger, who worked in media relations for the Arizona Interscholastic Association, produced Phoenix Metro Football magazine since 1970.

The publication provided a detailed look at each Valley high school football team, along with Arizona State University.

Bourgade Catholic coach Pat Lavin said that Sollenberger started keeping prep records shortly after graduating from high school in the 1960s.

"He was ranked among the top 10 in the country (in the high school decathlon), and he didn't know about it until a couple of years afterward," Lavin said. "His marks put him in elite company. He said, 'This is wrong. I'm going to put records together and give young athletes the recognition they deserve.' "

Sollenberger, who competed in track and field at ASU, was a mainstay at the Scottsdale Quarterback Club, which sponsors the Scottsdale Sports Hall of Fame.