Coach Trent Emenecker guided the Catalina Foothills softball team to the state playoffs this season in his only year at the helm. He also took the boys basketball team to the playoffs six times.

james s. wood / arizona daily star 2007

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Seven coaches led Catalina Foothills High School to eight team state championships during the 2006-07 school year.

But perhaps none of those championship coaches had as much of an impact on Foothills' heralded athletic department as Trent Emenecker did.

Emenecker guided the softball and boys basketball teams to the state playoffs, and he even held the baseball coaching position for a short time in November before stepping down to focus on basketball.

His wide-ranging contributions will be sorely missed.

Emenecker, a Foothills mainstay, is leaving the school after eight years to become the assistant athletic director and head men's basketball coach at North Central University, an NCAA Division III institution in Minneapolis.

The move will allow Emenecker, who grew up in Rockford, Ill., to return to his Midwestern roots.

"I hate to go because everyone at Foothills has been great to me, but this is a great opportunity I can't pass up," Emenecker said. NCU "is a regional school, and the assistant AD duties will keep me close to home, so this is the best move for me and my family."

Emenecker, who coached one year at Palo Verde Christian High School before moving over to Foothills, guided the basketball team to the state tournament six times. The 2007 season was his only one with the softball program, and the Falcons won the 4A Kino Region tournament title.

"The big thing we'll miss about Trent is that he is such a quality person," Foothills athletic director Terry Lantz said. "He was always willing to step up and make his many talents available wherever they were needed."

Tim Nichols, the only softball coach in Cienega's brief history, stepped down recently and was named the school's boys golf coach.

Nichols coached the Bobcats softball team to its first state playoff win this season and a third state appearance in four years.

Sophomore Kevin Parkhurst and junior Chris McKulsky, two of the top 4A-I boys golfers in Southern Arizona, are expected to return in the fall and give Nichols plenty to work with. He previously coached Cienega's girls golf team.

The opening for Salpointe Catholic's baseball coaching position closes today, after which the school will select a pool of finalists.

Salpointe athletic director Phil Gruensfelder said Monday that a committee will conduct interviews on Saturday and name a new coach early next week.

Steve Perri resigned earlier this month after seven seasons as the school's coach.

Jason Hisey, a current Pima College assistant and former Catalina Foothills coach, confirmed Monday that he has applied at Salpointe.

"I think it is one of the best jobs, if not the best job, in Tucson," said Hisey, who led Foothills to the 4A state championship game three times from 1995 to 2005. "Salpointe has a great tradition of success and an athletic-rich environment. To be part of it would certainly be something special."