• New Head Coaches 2023-2024

     

    Head Badminton Coach – Sandra Zemaitis

    Perry High School is pleased to announce Sandra Zemaitis as the head badminton coach for the 2023-24 season.  Coach Zemaitis coached badminton at Highland High School for 8 years and was also Head Girls Track Coach there for 5 years.  She played varsity badminton for the Moon Valley Rockets in high school, as well as soccer and tennis. 

    Coach Zemaitis is currently the German teacher at Perry as well a club sponsor of the German club and National German Honor Society.  She earned her degree in education at Northern Arizona University, her master’s in secondary education at ASU, and studied abroad for a year in Würzburg, Germany.

    Coach Zemaitis is a true Phoenician but has lived in many places including California, Louisiana, Germany, and Singapore.  She has been married for 11 years and has two children, 10 and 6.  In her free time Coach Zemaitis loves to be outdoors either hiking, paddleboarding, or traveling.  She can be reached at zemaitis.sandra@cusd80.com. 

     

    Head Cross Country Coach – Jules Pavlenko

    Perry High School is pleased to announce that Mrs. Jules Pavlenko has been named the new head girls cross country coach starting in the 2023-2024 season.

    Coach Pavlenko joined the Perry High School Cross Country program in 2017 where she worked as the cross country assistant coach for 6 years. During that time, with the amazing leadership of Coach Byran Idleman and Coach Jeff Gurecki, the cross country boys and girls programs were highly successful. On the girls cross country side, which was her focus, the team was able to earn top five state championship finishes over multiple years, with an all-time best PHS finish of 3rd place in 2020. During her time in the program, individuals have also earned many accolades and have been recognized for All-State, All-Section, and All-City awards. The girls program has been extremely competitive over the last 6 years aiming to build high character student-athletes. Coach Pavlenko looks forward to continuing with the program’s great success and has high hopes for the future.

     

    Coach Pavlenko grew up in Portland, OR where she played volleyball and ran track. Volleyball was her focus throughout high school, so distance running took a time out. She played college volleyball at Montana State University-Billings and moved to Arizona after college graduation. She has been at Perry ever since that move. Coach Pavlenko’s passion for running returned when her volleyball career ended. She enjoys running and training with the athletes at PHS and in her own competition. She was a 2020 Boston Marathon Qualifier, which is something that she hopes to do again. Coach Pavlenko is also an assistant track & field coach (distance) where she helped coach the team to win Perry’s first girls state championship in 2022. While competing as an adult runner has been fun, her true joy is to work with student-athletes and help guide them into strong, compassionate, and hard-working young adults. 

     

    Coach Pavlenko is a special education teacher at Perry HS. She recently married Alex Pavlenko, PHS head wrestling coach.  She can be reached at Pavlenko.Julianna@cusd80.com.

     

    Head Flag Football Coach – Veronica Celaya

    Perry High School is pleased to announce Veronica Celaya as our head flag football coach for the 2023-24 season.  She is enthusiastic about the opportunity to start a new program here at Perry. This will be her first year coaching Girls Flag Football, however, she has coached girls basketball at Mountain View, and was the head girls basketball coach Arizona College Prep from 2017-2021.

    Coach Celaya grew up participating in athletics.  As a student at Perry, she played basketball and badminton.  She continued her basketball career at the junior college level and then at Western New Mexico University where she earned a double major in math and education. She received her master’s degree in mathematics from Northern Arizona University in 2019.  She is currently a Math teacher at Perry.

    Coach Celaya has a passion for the challenges that sport brings, the adversity that one can learn to overcome, the competitiveness, the team comradery, and the growth from the start to finish of a year. As a coach, she hopes to bring that to her athletes. She wants her athletes to enjoy playing the game and learn from everything that comes with it. She can’t wait to get the season rolling. 

    When not school, she enjoys being with family and friends and traveling when she can.  Coach Celaya can be reached at Celaya.Veronica@cusd80.com.


    Head Swim Coach – Karen Hadland

    Perry High School is pleased to announce that Ms. Karen Hadland will be named as the new head swim coach, pending board approval.

    Coach Hadland has been a head coach for various high school swim teams for the past 20 years. She started as a diver for her first two years of high school and switched to swim her last two years of high school (under the guidance of Coach Bob Bowman for a year). Coach Hadland has never been far away from the water for over 35 years she has coached swim club, taught swim lessons, been a lifeguard, managed Town of Gilbert pools, swam in masters, and is a lifeguard trainer. She has been a head swim coach for both boys and girls teams in Wisconsin, Nevada, and the last 16 years in Arizona for the Gilbert school district. Coach Hadland has brought athletes to swim at state 18 of her 20 years coaching and has many number 1 state swimmers. In 2016, she was named AIA Boys Head Coach of the Year.

    Watching athletes grow in the sport of swimming and hit their goals is one of her favorite things. When Coach Hadland is not coaching or teaching she spends time with her husband and three kids. She also loves to mountain bike, fly her plane, backpack, hike, run, wakesurf, boat, and go for any outdoor adventures. She is excited to start her new adventures with the Perry Pumas swim and dive team! She can be reached at Hadland.Karen@cusd80.com.  

     

     

    Head Boys Track and Field Coach – Isaiah Ford

    Perry High School is also thrilled to announce Isaiah Ford as the new Boys Track and Field Head Coach for the upcoming 2024 track season.  He was previously and assistant coach and associate head coach. Coach Ford was raised in the south valley of Phoenix, AZ. He attended Desert Vista High School and excelled in football, along with track and field. Track and field quickly became his first love after competing at the AIA State Championship meet, only as a freshman. His premier events were the 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash and 4x100m relay. Throughout his four years, he had an impeccable athletic career with numerous state placers, including a State Championship in 2015 and State Runner-up in 2016 with the men's team.  Ford's athletic career did not end there. He was able to take his talents to the collegiate level, where he competed for 2 years at Central Arizona College. After 2 years, he transferred to NCAA Division 1 Alabama State University. He completed his athletic career with winning back to back indoor SWAC championships and one outdoor conference championship.  In addition, Ford worked diligently with Perry Track and Field in the spring of 2022 as an assistant sprint coach for the men and women's team. Prior to Perry, he was a volunteer coach with Arizona Elite Track Club for two years. Coach Ford has high expectations and will continue to fundamentally develop our student-athletes' performance.

    On a personal level, Coach Ford always strives to build a strong relationship with whomever he coaches.  When he was an athlete, he had a strong bond with his coaches and wanted to reciprocate that same experience. He also brings on the persona of "once an athlete, always an athlete". Therefore, he has no problem lacing up his shoes and working out with our student-athletes to assist them in achieving their potential. Coach Ford is an off-campus coach. His daily job is a performance coach position for an elite performance training company called Exos. He interned with this company back in 2019 working with their off-season NFL training group.  He can be reached at isaiah.ford416@gmail.com.

     

    Head Beach Volleyball Coach – Stephen Montoya

    Perry High School is pleased to announce Stephen Montoya as the head beach volleyball coach for the 2023-24 season, pending board approval.  Coach Montoya has spent the last three seasons as the Perry beach volleyball assistant coach under Coach Fred Mann.

    Along with a great passion for the game, Montoya relies on fundamentals when training his players to help them enhance their overall volleyball skills in both beach and indoor. Coach Montoya’s goal is to help his players have a lifelong love and passion to play beach volleyball. He started playing volleyball as an adult and continues to play both recreationally and competitively in local beach tournaments.  The last three seasons Coach Montoya has helped the beach team to the state playoffs in all three years. 

    Montoya is a Utah native but has lived in Gilbert for 15 years. He is a pediatric dentist which has given him the tools and skills to help guide and mentor children and adolescents within the community. 

    He and his wife, Diane, are the parents of three children who have all attended Perry high school. His middle daughter played beach and indoor volleyball at Perry and his son currently plays for the men’s volleyball team. 

    Outside of coaching and playing volleyball, Coach Montoya spends his time playing golf, traveling and watching sports with his family and friends. Montoya said, “I hope to instill a love of this sport so that all of these young women will continue playing into their adult lives.” Coach Montoya can be reached at montoya.stephen@cusd80.com.