'He Loved You Guys'
[Wasson remembers track coach and teacher]
--By Bill McKeown/The Gazette, 8/23/2001
[In brief] Sason Sharify died from a cliff-diving accident in July. He had coached 21 individual state track champions since 1991.
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Students, colleagues and friends of Sason Sharify took a somber lap around Wasson High's stadium Wednesday to honor the track coach and teacher killed this summer in a cliff-diving accident.
At the end of the lap around Berry Stadium, 33 balloons -- representing Sharify's age when he died in mid-July at Lake Powell -- were sent soaring into a cloud-laden sky.
Sharify, originally from Greeley, was vacationing with friends when he performed a back flip 30 feet up a cliff and landed on his stomach. The National Park Service recovered his body 273 feet deep in the lake.
Amanda Wessell, captain of the girl's cross-country team, recalled that Sharify was a friend to his math students and athletes -- but he also pushed them to excel. Sharify coached 21 individual state champions since 1991 as a coach at Wasson, Grand Junction and Greeley Central high schools.
"He knew we could do more than we thought we could," she said. "He will always be running with us, and we'll always be running with him."
David Mason, Wasson's student body president, said it wasn't unusual during track season for Sharify to call and ask him to attend a Saturday night bingo fund-raiser.
Mason said hanging out in a "smelly" bingo hall wasn't his idea of a fun Saturday night, but he did it because Sharify was a friend and a committed teacher who would spend his own Saturday night in a bingo hall for his athletes.
"He expected excellence, but he never asked anything he wouldn't do," Mason said.
Andy McCabe, who had been a friend of Sharify's since sixth grade, came to the memorial to tell the kids their teacher and coach thought the world of them.
"He talked about all his students," McCabe said, his voice cracking a bit. "He cared more for you guys."
McCabe said Sharify's friends scattered around the state will be watching how Wasson does this year in track.
He urged the athletes to push a little harder, dig a little deeper, for a coach who cared about them and who made a difference in their lives.
"He loved you guys," McCabe said.
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[Golf] SasonsFund Benefit Tournament a Success
--By Staff/Greeley Tribune, 7/6/2002
Nearly a year after Greeley coach and teacher Sason Sharify died in a diving accident at Lake Powell, his friends and family organized the first SasonsFund Benefit Golf Tournament.
Conducted June 15 at Pelican Lakes Golf Course in Windsor, the success was overwhelming, organizer Trevor Jiricek said. One hundred and fifty-six golfers on 39 teams helped raise nearly $15,000.
The money will go into the SasonsFund, managed by the Greeley Community Foundation and distributed to students of Wasson High School in Colorado Springs, where Sharify taught for several years, and at Greeley West High School.
"By raising money for Sason's scholarship fund, we can continue his legacy through the education of those kids that he enjoyed so much," Jiricek said.
Jiricek said that the tournament will definitely continue next year, but it has not been decided if it will be an annual event.
"We are grateful for the generous and individuals and businesses that made this tournament so successful," Jiricek said.
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