INDIANAPOLIS, IN (November 30, 2004) - Twelve individuals who have made outstanding contributions to interscholastic athletics have been named recipients of the 2004 Distinguished Service Awards given by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA).    These individuals will be honored December 13 in New Orleans, Louisiana, during the luncheon at the 35th annual National Conference of High School Directors of Athletics conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).    The Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to individuals from within the NIAAA membership, as well as those outside the field of athletic administration, in recognition of their length of service, special accomplishments and contributions to interscholastic athletics at the local, state and national levels. Nominations are submitted by state athletic director associations, screened by the NIAAA Awards Committee, and selected by the NIAAA Board of Directors.     This year's award winners include 11 from within the NIAAA membership, and one outside the field of athletic administration who has contributed to interscholastic athletics in other ways.    Those who are receiving the award with a strong wrestling background include Jim Meyerhoff, CAA, assistant executive director, Washington Interscholastic Activities Association; John Carlson, CAA, director of athletics, Chandler (Arizona) Unified School District; and Charles Ferrara Jr., CAA, district athletic director, Long Branch (New Jersey) Public Schools.    Jim Meyerhoff    For 34 years, Jim Meyerhoff, CAA, has served educational athletics as a teacher, coach, athletic director and state association administrator. He currently is an assistant executive director of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA).    Active in the NIAAA, Meyerhoff has attended five NFHS national conferences, including twice as the delegate from the Washington Secondary Schools Athletic Administrators Association (WSSAAA). He is also a national instructor for LTC 510 and served as LTC co-chairman for Washington in 2002 and 2003.    At the WIAA, Meyerhoff oversees the sports of wrestling and soccer, and is in charge of student eligibility, coaches education, school classifications and cooperative programs. He also serves as the WIAA liaison to the Washington State Coaches Association and the WSSAAA.    Before joining the WIAA in 2000, Meyerhoff spent 13 years as an athletic administrator, most recently for the White River School District in Buckley, Washington. In a 21-year stint at Franklin Pierce High School in Tacoma, Meyerhoff was head wrestling coach (12 years), head softball coach (14 years), assistant football coach (six years), head cross country coach (one year) and athletic director (four years). He began his career as a physical education teacher and coach in 1970 at Puyallup (Washington) Ballou Junior High School. As a high school and college wrestling coach for 18 years, Meyerhoff led his teams to 151 victories.    In 2003, Meyerhoff was inducted into the Washington Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, and in 2001, was inducted into the WSSAAA Athletic Directors Hall of Fame. He has also won numerous coach-of-the-year and athletic-director-of-the-year awards, including the WSSAAA State Athletic Director of the Year in 1998.    John Carlson    With certifications in secondary education, academic administration and athletic administration, John Carlson has distinguished himself as an award-winning educator, coach and athletic director.    The director of athletics of the Chandler (Arizona) Unified School District since 1988, Carlson is a lifetime member of the NIAAA and is past president of the Arizona Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (AIAAA). A 10-year member of the AIAAA Board of Directors, Carlson has attended 18 state conferences, and has served on both its executive board and its conference planning committee.    Before becoming an outstanding administrator, Carlson excelled as a wrestling coach at Chandler for 17 years. His teams won two state championships and three region titles, and finished as the state runner-up one other time. He also coached track and field at Chandler, and his girls team was state runner-up in 1989.    Carlson, who earned his bachelor's degree from Arizona State University and his master's from Northern Arizona University, has received numerous awards, including the State of Arizona Young Educator of the Year and the Chandler Young Educator of the Year awards both in 1979, and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1998. Carlson was inducted to the Arizona Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1990, and into the Arizona Coaches Association High School Coaches Hall of Fame in 1995.    Prior to working with the Chandler schools, Carlson was an active swimming, wrestling and track coach for Chandler Parks and Recreation, the Ahwatukee (Arizona) Community Center, the Gila River (Arizona) Indian Reservation and the Century Country Club in Phoenix, Arizona.    Charles Ferrara Jr.    An athletic administrator for 19 years, Charles Ferrara Jr., CAA, has made his mark in the state of New Jersey, where he is currently the district athletic director of the Long Branch Public Schools. Previously, Ferrara was assistant athletic director at Cranford High School for seven years and director of athletics at Fort Lee High School for two years.    Ferrara has been a member of the NIAAA for 14 years and has attended the past four NFHS national conferences, including 2001, when he co-presented a workshop on computerized scheduling programs.    Ferrara also is a member of the Directors of Athletics Association of New Jersey (DAANJ), and has made several presentations at the annual DAANJ Convention. He also has made several sportsmanship presentations for the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).    Earlier this year, Ferrara was awarded the DAANJ Sectional Award of Merit, and in 2003, he was named athletic director of the year by Jersey Sports News. The NJSIAA awarded Long Branch High School its Sportsmanship Award in 1996 and 1998, and Ferrara won the organization's Wrestling Award of Honor in 1994.    From 1992 to 1998, Ferrara served as the NJSIAA boys soccer tournament seeding chairman, and from 1998 to 2003, he was the NJSIAA District XXIII wrestling tournament manager.    At the local level, Ferrara currently is president of the Shore Conference of High Schools, of which Long Branch is a member. He also serves as the organization's Web master and created the conference's computerized football scheduling program.    A former wrestling coach, Ferrara was named coach of the year in 1986 by the Newark Star-Ledger, and in 1993, he was inducted into the Region III Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame.    Others within the NIAAA membership who will be honored include Jim Baker, CAA, athletic administrator, Richfield (Minnesota) Public Schools; Dr. Carol Chory, CMAA, student activities coordinator, Kempsville High School, Virginia Beach (Virginia) City Public Schools; Jerry Comalander, CAA, director of athletics, North East Independent School District, San Antonio, Texas; Don Crandall, CAA, athletic and activities director, Township High School District 211, Palatine, Illinois; Dr. David Hoch, CMAA, athletic director, Loch Raven High School, Baltimore, Maryland; Kevin Horrigan, CMAA, athletic director, Greenfield (Indiana) Central High School; Jay Rader, CAA, athletic director, Palm Beach Gardens (Florida) High School; and Barbara Startup, CAA, director of athletics, Glastonbury (Connecticut) High School. The individual outside the NIAAA membership receiving the Distinguished Service Award is the late Dick Schindler, former assistant director of the NFHS and the North Dakota High School Activities Association.     Following are biographical sketches of the other award winners:     Jim Baker    Richfield (Minnesota) Public Schools athletic administrator Jim Baker has been teaching, coaching and working with high school athletes fo