Class of 2024

Grandview High School is thrilled to announce our second hall of fame class. These new hall of fame inductees were nominated by the community and picked by a panel of current and former administrators and teachers, Cherry Creek Schools officials and a local media member. We are excited and honored to welcome these four inductees into our hall of fame.

Class of 2024

Inductee Biography - courtesy of Courtney Oakes (Aurora Sentinel)
Greg Bird - Class of 2011 A long line of talent has passed through the Grandview baseball program in a quarter century, but those that witnessed Bird know that he was by the pinnacle among position players, as he took a path that saw him dominate Colorado prep baseball and get drafted to play in Major League Baseball. Bird began his prep career as a catcher (teaming with 2023 Grandview Hall of Fame inductee Kevin Gausman in a high-powered battery) and eventually moved to first base, which was the position in which he was drafted by the New York Yankees after he passed on the Division I college scholarship he earned with the University of Arkansas. Bird absolutely owns Grandview’s offensive record book as he is the only player in the program ever to hit 10 or more home runs (doing it in three straight seasons with 14 as a sophomore, 13 as a junior and 12 as a senior for a total of 39), owns the two highest season batting averages (.660 as a junior and .591 as a senior), career batting average (.580), runs scored, RBI (111, which includes three of the four top season totals as well) and bases on balls (crested by 31 as a senior, when coaches chose to intentionally walk him in nearly any key situation). Injuries derailed Bird’s professional career, which consisted of 186 games in MLB (all with the Yankees).
Brie Oakley - Class of 2017 For a two-year span, Oakley’s star shone brighter than any athlete in Grandview history and for a time in the entire country in cross country. Oakley began her prep career as a soccer player and was on the roster of the Wolves’ Class 5A state championship-winning team in 2014, but a friend encouraged her to go out for cross country at the start of her junior year and she quickly became a star. While juggling both sports, she won her first-ever cross country race, went on to win the Centennial League championship and regional state qualifying meet and finished second in the Class 5A state meet behind Fort Collins star Lauren Gregory, who was the defending state champion. She continued the momentum in the spring in track & field, in which she became a two-event 5A state champion. As a senior, Oakley hit another gear in cross country and was absolutely untouched locally or in the entire country, as she was hailed as Gatorade’s National Player of the Year in cross country, something no athlete in any Aurora high school had achieved since the award began in 1985. It came as the culmination of a season in which she won the 5A state title as well as the Nike Cross National meet and earned a Division I scholarship to the University of California-Berkeley. As a capper to her prep career, Oakley helped the Grandview track team to the 5A state championship in 2017 in a meet in which she won the 3,200 meters for a second year in a row and was the 1,600-meter runner-up.
Lauren Van Orden - Class of 2008 Van Orden was a foundational player in a dominant era of the girls volleyball program under coach Patty Childress, a 2023 Grandview HOF inductee, as she won four varsity letters and was a member of three Class 5A state championship-winning teams. The 5-foot-11 Van Orden won Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year honors in 2008, during which she was also a prep All-American for a team that finished 31-0 and won the fourth of the five all-time state championships owned by the program. Van Orden absolutely dominated in a 32-30, 20-25, 25-16, 25-21 win over rival Eaglecrest that secured the state title as she had 27 kills and 20 assists as she did all things in a season in which she played both at setter and on the right side. As a senior, Van Orden was the team leader in kills (259) and its most efficient hitter (with a 53 percent kill percentage) as she capped a career that saw her contribute in multiple ways to a program that knew hardly anything but winning. Van Orden went on for a successful college career at the Division I level that began at San Diego State and ended at UCLA, where she was the starting setter when the Bruins won the NCAA championship. Van Orden made 61 starts as the team’s setter and captain during a two-year stint with UCLA, which went 52-15 with her on the roster. She played professionally overseas for a time before she joined the coaching ranks, where she was an assistant at Loyola Univ. Chicago and University of Illinois Chicago.
Katie Reed - Class of 2005 At Grandview, Reid lettered in Academics, Choir and Theater and also served as the President of the school’s Thespian Troupe. She was an AP Scholar Recipient and participated in All-State Choir and was recognized for Outstanding Performances at the Colorado State Thespians. After she graduated from Grandview, Reid pursued a BFA in musical theater from the University of Oklahoma. From there, she moved immediately to New York City and, for the next few years, traveled around the country in the National Touring companies of Annie (Ronnie Boylan), ‘S Wonderful (Jane) and as Nellie Forbush in Lincoln Center’s South Pacific. After eight years in NYC, she moved to Chicago where she began teaching at the nationally recognized and awarded program, BRAVO Performing Arts, and then eventually returned to Colorado. Reid’s passion for education has continued to grow in Colorado as the Resident Acting Director for Performing Arts Academy (PAA) in Highlands Ranch where she directs shows for K-12th graders, teaches dozens of classes and lessons, and works with their Outreach program, which provides arts access to students in Title 1 schools. She most recently made her professional directorial debut with School of Rock at Parker Arts and can be seen onstage this winter as Betty Haynes in White Christmas at the Lakewood Cultural Center.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE INDUCTEE BIOS AND ARTICLE BY THE AURORA SENTINEL