The governing body of Alaska high school sports is adding a familiar face to its staff and welcoming back another employee after a long absence.
Sandi Wagner, who has worked as a coach, teacher and administrator in Southeast Alaska since 1984, mostly in Juneau, will join the Alaska School Activities Association as an associate director in August.
Around the same time, Isaiah Vreeman will return to his job as state championships director after a prolonged medical absence.
Vreeman is scheduled to return to Anchorage on Tuesday after spending more than four months in Seattle, where he was treated for a heart condition.
Wagner joins Rus Schreckenghost as an associate director on ASAA's nine-person staff and replaces Rick Volk, who was hired temporarily when Vreeman got sick. That position is now permanent, ASAA executive director Billy Strickland said.
"It was pretty readily apparent to me as well as (previous executive director Gary Matthews) that we needed one more associate director to help manage tournaments," Strickland said. "In October, November and February we're going from one tournament to another, and so in order to not have back-to-back-to-back-to-back seven-day weeks for Rus and Isaiah, we decided to add one more position."
ASAA oversees 36 state championships each school year, most of them in athletics.
Wagner came to Southeast Alaska in 1984 and spent most of her time there -- 1987 to 2012 -- teaching at Juneau Douglas High School, where she also coached a variety of sports. Most recently she served as athletic director for the Juneau-Douglas School District, overseeing both Juneau and Thunder Mountain high schools.
She's a familiar face at many state championship events, where she often serves as an official, and has been a member of ASAA's board of directors for six years.
"Sandi I consider a home-run hire," Strickland said.
Strickland said Vreeman will return to Anchorage this week and will rejoin the ASAA staff by the start of the next school year.
Vreeman, 35, missed much of the current school year with illness. First it was cancer -- a grapefruit-sized tumor on his pelvis that required surgery and an arduous recovery last fall that included regaining the use of his legs.
Just when Vreeman was getting back on his feet, his heart failed. He was rushed to Seattle, where he endured four hours of open-heart surgery and was placed on a transplant list. Until a donor is found, he relies on an LVAD implant, which is a mechanical device that keeps his heart pumping.
"He is getting stronger every day and can now stand straight up on both legs, which he hadn't done in over 6 months," Shelby Vreeman, Isaiah's wife, said in an email. "He is walking faster and stronger all of the time. He can even walk using just forearm crutches now."
Shelby has been able to stay in Seattle with Isaiah and their infant daughter Audrey, who was born Jan. 16, shortly before Isaiah was taken by medevac to Seattle. She said the flight home could be interesting.
"All of his LVAD equipment has to be brought as a carry-on," she said. "We found a bag to fit it all and it weighs about 35 (pounds) with everything in it. Hopefully getting through security will go as smoothly as possible.
"We are just so happy to finally be going home, all three of us together."