Pending school board approval on Aug. 24, Steve Davis will be the new athletic director at Cherry Valley-Springfield this upcoming school year.

Davis was appointed to the position by CV-S superintendent Nick Savin earlier this month. He will replace Theri Jo Climenhaga, who left the school to become athletic director and assistant K-12 principal at Richfield Springs Central School.

"I'm excited about the opportunity," said Davis, a high school technology education teacher at CV-S. "Eventually, I'd like to be a middle or high school principal here if that ever opens up, and this is a good start to my administrative career."

Davis coached varsity boys basketball and track the past couple of seasons, and said he will give up his varsity basketball position.

"I'll probably do modified basketball and keep doing the track as long as it doesn't interfere with my athletic director duties," Davis said.

Davis was born in Ft. Plain and lives in Jordanville.

Climenhaga took over the athletic director duties in 2002 from longtime CV-S athletic director Karen Whiteman, who held the post for 20 years. She is a 1988 graduate of Cherry Valley High School, and helped the girls soccer team to a state title in 1986.

"It was hard to leave my alma mater, but at the same time I'm ready and excited for a new challenge," Climenhaga said. "This job offers me the perfect mix and allows me to stay involved in athletics. I'm looking forward to the new sports like football and field hockey that Richfield offers."

In other sports related changes at CV-S, Davis said Mike Cook is the new varsity girls soccer coach, replacing Jennifer Moore. Terri Adams will again coach the varsity boys soccer team.

The boys team begins play Aug. 25 and 26 at the Edmeston Tournament, while the girls begin the 2006 season Aug. 30 and 31 at the G-MU Tournament.