AURORA | From a Bison to a Buffalo, David Benedict has arrived at Smoky Hill High School as its new athletic director.
On July 1, Benedict, a staple since Vista PEAK Prep opened and its athletic director for the last three years as part of more than two decades in Aurora Public Schools, began a new role in a new district, but definitely not in an unfamiliar place.
Benedict did his student teaching at Smoky Hill in 2004 and has numerous familial connections to the school, which is what drew his interest when the position opened to replace John Thompson, who left the post he had since 2015.
“It’s definitely a full circle thing and this is the only place I would move to if it wasn’t Vista PEAK,” Benedict told the Sentinel. “This was a family-motivated move, because I spent a long time in the district (Aurora Public Schools) and I love Vista. It’s definitely bittersweet.”
Benedict’s connections with Smoky Hill are plentiful, as he not only taught there, but he spent time on the coaching staff when Thompson coached the school’s football team and also with Jim Opperman in the wrestling room. Benedict is married to the daughter of another one of Smoky Hill’s former football coaches — Dan Gallas — while he and his family live just a few blocks away. He has one son enrolled at the school with another who will be in the building this year as a freshman and both will compete in athletics.
Thompson, meanwhile, shifts from a school where he spent more than three decades between roles as a math teacher, football coach and athletic director (and also graduated from) and into an athletics support role with the Cherry Creek Schools for the 2025-26 school year, which will keep him in a position to help Benedict during the transition if needed.
“John’s leadership, work ethic and deep commitment to our students have shaped not only our athletic programs, but the broader culture of excellence we strive for every day,” Smoky Hill principal Andre Bala wrote to staff as he announced Thompson’s departure.
Benedict’s new job will be more expansive than his old one considering how many more sports Smoky Hill offers than Vista PEAK Prep, which opened its doors in 2011. Conversely, Smoky Hill — which enters its 51st year — has 27 sports (including co-ops), an increase over Vista PEAK Prep, which does not have in-house boys and girls swimming (due to lack of a pool), field hockey and boys lacrosse.
One thing Benedict does not have to do is hire a new head boys basketball coach. Ray Valdez — a former assistant at Denver South — has been hired to take over for Anthony Hardin, who had a successful run in the past decade until he and the school parted ways in April. The rest of Smoky Hill’s head coaching positions are filled for 2025-26.
Benedict also won’t have to achieve a balance between his coaching and athletic director duties. He did that for the past two years at Vista PEAK Prep, as he coached the boys wrestling program from the beginning and then added the athletic director role.
Prior to his departure, the school named the wrestling room — which was completed with a lot of Benedict’s labor — as “Benny’s Wrestling Room.” In his final season as head coach, Ian Bacon became the boys program’s first state champion, while his twin sister, Amelia, won the Vista PEAK Prep girls program’s first title.
Taking Benedict’s spot at Vista PEAK Prep is Jordan Ivey, who was an assistant principal at Fox Ridge Middle School in Cherry Creek Schools and previously held the athletic director job at Ponderosa High School.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
