Impact
Records
Kenn Skelly
La Salle Academy
Impact Statement
This year under Coach Skelly LaSalle Academy runners captured their first Rhode Island Cross Country Championship since 1983.
Biography
2014 was a super year for Coach Kenn Skelly and his La Salle Academy runners. First, La Salle captured its first Rhode Island Cross Country championship since 1983. La Salle placed five runners in the top nine at the state meet and seven runners finished in the top eleven. Then, for the first time ever, La Salle qualified for the Nike Cross Country Nationals, finishing 18th at the event. Coach Skelly is the first winner of the NHSCA National Boys’ Cross Country Coach of the Year Award from Rhode Island.
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Personal Honors
Great Oak High School
“From the first day we have them we have them focused on becoming state champions.” -Doug Soles
“From the first day we have them we have them focused on becoming state champions.” -Doug Soles
Doug Soles
Great Oak High School
Impact Statement
“From the first day we have them we have them focused on becoming state champions.” -Doug Soles
Biography
Coach Soles led the boys and girls programs to the 2015 CIF Division I state title — it was the second straight year that both programs finished on-top in California, as well as setting a course record. Soles has led the Great Oaks boys’ cross country team to the CIF state meet all eleven years that he’s been the program’s head coach.
This past season, Soles’ boys’ team won the national championship by placing first at the Nike Cross Nationals (“NXN”) in Oregon. This was a feat as they are the first California team to win this prestigious event since 2012. The girls’ program finished third at the NXN’s, after placing second in 2014.
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Loudoun Valley High School
“That’s how I’m viewing the rest of my running career: just chipping away and trying to get better every day.” -Drew Hunter
“That’s how I’m viewing the rest of my running career: just chipping away and trying to get better every day.” -Drew Hunter
Drew Hunter
Loudoun Valley High School
Impact Statement
“That’s how I’m viewing the rest of my running career: just chipping away and trying to get better every day.” -Drew Hunter
Biography
This past season, Drew Hunter capped a perfect cross country season by winning the Foot Locker National Championships. The University of Oregon-bound Hunter won the national championship by setting a new course record in 14:55.70. He was named All-Met Athlete of the Year by the Washington Post and was also named as the Gatorade Runner of the Year.
During the indoor track season, Hunter set and then reset the United States Record for the fastest indoor mile. He’s only the second high schooler to break the four-minute mile indoors.
While Hunter did commit to Oregon, he took a different path. He turned professional and signed with Adidas. In 2017, he competed at the USATF and finished in 11th place. The following year, he finished 6th at the same event.
Recently, in 2019, Hunter won the 2 Mile race at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships with a time of 8:25.29.
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American Fork High School
Mostert has coached 38 Cross Country All-State runners and 17 individual state champions in the sport.
Mostert has coached 38 Cross Country All-State runners and 17 individual state champions in the sport.
Timo Mostert
American Fork High School
Impact Statement
Mostert has coached 38 Cross Country All-State runners and 17 individual state champions in the sport.
Biography
Timo Mostert began coaching the American Fork boys’ cross country team in 1998. His team has competed in every state championship since he took over the program, winning seven team championships. In 2016, Mostert led American Fork to its seventh team championship in the last eight years. In December, Mostert and his boys finished second at the Nike Cross Nationals. It was the second time in five years that American Fork finished runner-up at the national championships. Casey Clinger was the Individual Nike Cross Nationals’ National Champion for the second-year in a row, plus he won the NHSCA Boys’ Cross County Athlete of the Year. He’s the first boy to win back-to-back Nike Cross County national titles in the 13-year history of the meet. Mostert has coached 38 cross country all-state runners and 17 individual state champions in the sport. Mostert is the first coach to win the NHSCA’s National Boys’ Cross Country Coach of the Year from Utah.
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Personal Honors
American Fork High School
Casey Clinger became the first boy to win back-to-back individual titles at the Nike Cross Country Nationals.
Casey Clinger became the first boy to win back-to-back individual titles at the Nike Cross Country Nationals.
Casey Clinger
American Fork High School
Impact Statement
Casey Clinger became the first boy to win back-to-back individual titles at the Nike Cross Country Nationals.
Biography
Casey Clinger, who will run at Brigham Young University, became the first boy to win back-to-back individual titles at the Nike Cross Country Nationals in December.
Clinger closed-out his high school career by winning the 5A state title, his sixth in the sport. Clinger won the 2016 5A title with a course record of 14-minutes, 42.9 seconds. Clinger also won back-to-back Gatorade Utah Boys’ Cross Country Awards, plus he was named the Gatorade’s National Boys’ Cross Country Runner of the Year Award.
Clinger is an excellent student with a 4.0 GPA and an Eagle Scout. Clinger is the first runner from Utah to win the NHSCA Boys’ Senior Cross Country Athlete of the Year Award.
In his first season at BYU, he had 4 top 10 finishes and finished 24th at the NCAA Championships on the 10K race. Clinger’s running was put on hold as he went on a 2 year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hokkaido, Japan.
Returning to action for the Cougars, Clinger is contining to make strides in his sophomore season. February 1, 2021, Clinger finished fourth at the Silver State Collegiate Cross Country Challenge. The following weekend, he won the Weber State Invitational with a time of 23:50.9 in the 8K race.
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Calvin Christian High School
TenKate leads the boys’s and girls’ cross country teams at Calvin Christian. He leads both on the track and off the track, as a competitor himself.
TenKate leads the boys’s and girls’ cross country teams at Calvin Christian. He leads both on the track and off the track, as a competitor himself.
Laurens TenKate
Calvin Christian High School
Impact Statement
TenKate leads the boys’s and girls’ cross country teams at Calvin Christian. He leads both on the track and off the track, as a competitor himself.
Biography
Coaching at a school with a total enrollment of 375 students, TenKate, who coaches the boys and girls cross country teams and the boys track and field team, led Calvin Christian to back-to-back Lower Peninsula boys state championships.
His 2009 boys team finished second in state. In winning their second straight Division 3 title, the Squires also cemented their place as the top team in Michigan. That came after Calvin Christian won the prestigious Spartan Invitational, held at Michigan State University. It was their fifth title in six regular-season invitationals, and they have won 19 of 22 invitationals the past three years. Calvin Christian was named the NHSCA Boys Small School National Team Champions by xcnation.com, which ranked the Squires fifth overall nationally.
A graduate of Calvin College with degrees in business administration and accounting, TenKate has qualified for the Boston Marathon five times. He served as the controller of the Greater Grand Rapids Home Builders Association and is the owner of Laurens TenKate Builders LLC, a custom homebuilding and remodeling company based in Wyoming, Mich. He coached the girls cross country team to an eighth-place state finish last fall and the boys track and field team to a fifth-place state finish last spring.
TenKate continues to lead Calvin Christian after being honored. In 2018, his girls’ team finished second in the state. Most recently, in the fall of 2019, his boys’ finished with a second place finish in the Division 3 Michigan State Championships.
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Records
Albuquerque Academy
“Get as many people as you can out for your sport. Make them feel valued. Treat them with respect. Work them hard and you’ll have great success.” -Adam Kedge
“Get as many people as you can out for your sport. Make them feel valued. Treat them with respect. Work them hard and you’ll have great success.” -Adam Kedge
Adam Kedge
Albuquerque Academy
Impact Statement
“Get as many people as you can out for your sport. Make them feel valued. Treat them with respect. Work them hard and you’ll have great success.” -Adam Kedge
Biography
Kedge has coached the boys cross country and track and field teams at Albuquerque Academy for the past 19 seasons, and has been the head coach of both sports since 1998. His teams have won 11 4A state championships in cross country.
The Chargers won titles his first five seasons, 1998-2002, and also own a pair of three-year streaks, in 2004-2006 and the past three seasons, 2008-2010. He has led the boys track and field team to nine state crowns – in 1999 and eight of the past 10 years, most recently in 2009 and 2010. Ten of his athletes hold 4A state track and field records, one an all-state record. Under Kedge, the Chargers have been ranked No. 1 nationally twice by The Harrier High School Cross Country Report.
The Chargers own 14 district titles, 13 City of Albuquerque championships, 84 meet victories and four undefeated seasons in the past 11 years. Kedge has coached seven cross-country runners to state medalist honors, with two becoming Foot Locker National All-Americans and one a USA Junior World Team member.
Kedge was named Regional Coach of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations in 2001 and 2003. A 10-time state Coach of the Year in cross country and track and field, the Albuquerque Sports Hall of Fame honored Kedge as its Coach of the Year in 2006. He is the former president of the New Mexico Track and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Kedge is still leading the way for Albuquerque. His boys’ teams won two additional cross country titles in 2015 and 2016. The girls’ cross country teams won state titles in 2015, 2016, and 2017. His girls’ track and field teams have won the last two state championships and the boys’ have won the past five years excluding 2020 which was canceled.
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Professional Achievements
Jesuit High School
“You’re working with more average talents every day. That’s really what it’s all about, it really is a privilege to be out there working with young people.” -Walt Lange
“You’re working with more average talents every day. That’s really what it’s all about, it really is a privilege to be out there working with young people.” -Walt Lange
Walt Lange
Jesuit High School
Impact Statement
“You’re working with more average talents every day. That’s really what it’s all about, it really is a privilege to be out there working with young people.” -Walt Lange
Biography
Lange is completing his 41st year as a boys’ and girls’ cross country coach and boys’ track and field coach, the last 37 at Jesuit, and those teams have combined for 37 league titles. He has led Jesuit’s boys’ cross country team to 25 Sac-Joaquin Section (SJS) titles, including a section-record 15 straight, and nine California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) state titles, more than any other SJS school.
Lange also has guided the girls’ cross country teams to four SJS titles, and in 15 years as head coach, his boys’ track and field teams also took four SJS titles (he has spent the past 23 seasons as an assistant coach).
Lange was named Boys’ Cross Country Coach of the Year by the California Coaches Association in 1981, and he was one of 13 coaches statewide to be honored with the highest honor the CIF bestows upon its coaches, the Model Coach Award, for the 2007-08 school year. Later this year Lange will be inducted into the SJS Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class.
Since being honored in 2010, Lange continues to lead Jesuit’s Cross Country teams. Lange was awarded the Legacy Coaches Award by the USATF Pacific Association in 2013. In 2015 Lange was inducted into the Sacramento Running Association Hall of Fame.
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Lawrence Central High School
Holman has produced success in both the high school stage and college over the course of his storied career.
Holman has produced success in both the high school stage and college over the course of his storied career.
Mike Holman
Lawrence Central High School
Impact Statement
Holman has produced success in both the high school stage and college over the course of his storied career.
Biography
Holman has coached boys’ and girls’ cross country for 28 seasons and boys’ track and field for 30 seasons and is completing his 20th season at Lawrence Central. He is the only coach in Indiana history to have coached an individual state cross country champion at two different schools – Matt Grady at Muncie Northside High in 1982 and Nick Middleton at Lawrence Central in 1991.
Two of his teams have been state runners-up – Muncie Northside in 1979 and Lawrence Central in 2006. His girls’ team finished third in state and his boys’ team finished sixth this year. His boys’ track and field teams won state titles in 1998 and 2005, and the 1998 title was the school’s first in any sport in its 70-year history. His 2007 team finished third in state and last year’s team seventh. The Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches (IATCCC) has named him its Coach of the Year three times, and he was inducted into the IATCCC Hall of Fame in 2006.
After being honored, Holman continued to lead Lawrence Central for another six years. Holman coached two state championship teams and four teams finishing as state runners-up. Overall, his teams won 20 conference championships in track and three in cross country.
Holman moved on to coach for the 2011-2012 season at the University of Indianapolis. At the conclusion of the stint Holman was hired as the Head Coach of the Men’s and Women’s Cross Country team, as well as the Men’s and Women’s Track & Field teams at Marian University in Indianapolis in July of 2012.
In his seven seasons, Holman’s teams have broken school records and continued his success at a new level. In 2016 Holman was named the NAIA Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year. His men’s cross country and track programs were named the second-best program in the country by the USTFCCCA.
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Shawnee Mission Northwest High School
“The most important thing about this job is making each runner feel important.” -Van Rose
“The most important thing about this job is making each runner feel important.” -Van Rose
Van Rose
Shawnee Mission Northwest High School
Impact Statement
“The most important thing about this job is making each runner feel important.” -Van Rose
Biography
Rose has been Northwest’s only cross country coach since the school opened its doors in 1969. His boys’ teams have won 14 consecutive Class 6A state titles, the nation’s second-longest active streak and second longest all-time, and 19 state titles overall, ninth all-time.
He guided the Cougars to their first state title in 1977 and his boys’ teams have finished in the state’s top four 28 times. His girls’ teams have been almost as successful, winning 12 state titles and recording 24 top-four finishes in the girls’ state meet’s 31-year history. Northwest has swept the boys’ and girls’ state titles in nine seasons, most recently in 2005. He has coached seven runners to a total of 11 individual state championships.
The Kansas Cross Country and Track and Field Coaches Association has named Rose its Cross Country Coach of the Year four times, for the boys’ team in 1990, 2000 and 2006 and the girls’ team in 1991.
Since being honored in 2008, Rose continued to lead Shawnee Mission Northwest to another four consecutive state championships which ran from 1998 until 2012. In 2017 Rose was the inaugural member of SMNW Hall of Fame.
Rose hung up his coaching shoes in May of 2018 after 50 years. Though retired, Rose is still pounding the pavement every day.
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Gillet High School
” I think that’s the measure of a man. How much have you helped other people and so on.” -Bill Greiten
” I think that’s the measure of a man. How much have you helped other people and so on.” -Bill Greiten
Bill Greiten
Gillet High School
Impact Statement
” I think that’s the measure of a man. How much have you helped other people and so on.” -Bill Greiten
Biography
Greiten has had over 40 years of success coaching cross country and track at three Wisconsin schools. He coached the boys’ cross country and track teams for 32 seasons at two Racine schools – St. Catherine’s High (1964-69) and Case High (1970-96). His Case teams advanced to the state tournament 18 times, winning titles in 1973, 1975 and 1989 and posting 14 top-five finishes.
A co-founder of the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association, he was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1993, and into the Wisconsin Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2007. In 1997 Greiten started the cross country program at Gillett, and still coaches the boys’ and girls’ high school and middle school programs. Five of his boys’ teams have qualified for the state meet, finishing fifth in 2003 and 2004. His girls’ team finished third in 2004, the school’s first girls team to qualify for state in any sport.
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Hopi High School
Baker lead Hopi High School to a national record with 27 continuous State Championships.
Baker lead Hopi High School to a national record with 27 continuous State Championships.
Rick Baker
Hopi High School
Impact Statement
Baker lead Hopi High School to a national record with 27 continuous State Championships.
Biography
Coaching in a culture which embraces the physical and spiritual benefits of running, Baker’s teams have been virtually perfect during his tenure. Since a state runner-up finish in 1989, Baker’s Hopi teams have won the past 16 state championships.
After winning 11 straight Class A-2A state titles from 1990-2000, Hopi moved up to Class 3A in 2001 and continued to dominate, winning five more state crowns. For over a decade Baker also has coached the junior men’s teams that compete in national cross-country events for Wings of America, an American Indian youth development program established in 1988 to reach the most “at risk” population in the United States- American Indian youth.
Since being honored in 2006, Coach Baker continues to lead Hopi High School and their state wide dominance. Hopi has won twenty-seven continuous championships, which is a national record, from 1990-2017.
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Professional Achievements
Pekin High School
“It’s Not a Sprint, It’s a Marathon” -Davis Eidahl
“It’s Not a Sprint, It’s a Marathon” -Davis Eidahl
Davis Eidahl
Pekin High School
Impact Statement
“It’s Not a Sprint, It’s a Marathon” -Davis Eidahl
Biography
A four-year letterwinner in three sports – cross country, basketball and track and field – in college, Eidahl has coached cross country and track for 41 years, all but one at Pekin High. His teams have won five state championships – three in cross country and two in track – and he has been named state and regional Coach of the Year a combined 16 times in the two sports. He was inducted into the Iowa Association of Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2001.
Also a champion race walker, he was an Olympic Trials qualifier in 1972 and has won over 300 races in his career. He is a finalist for the National High School Athletic Coaches Association’s National Boys Cross Country Coach of the Year.
Since being honored by the NHSCA not much has changed for Eidahl. He is still actively teaching and coaching at Pekin as of 2020 after 55 years. His boys’ team has won 39 conference titles in track and field and 33 in cross country. In addition, his girls’ team have won 35 conference titles.
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Personal Honors
The Woodlands
“Winning is a by product of commitment, hard work and sacrifice.” -Dan Green
“Winning is a by product of commitment, hard work and sacrifice.” -Dan Green
Dan Green
The Woodlands
Impact Statement
“Winning is a by product of commitment, hard work and sacrifice.” -Dan Green
Biography
Dan Green, coach of The Woodlands, Texas, boys’ cross country team has received the NHSCA highest coaching honor after his harriers added an 11th state title to his 34-year coaching resume.
The Woodlands both began and finished the season as the top ranked boys’ cross country program in the nation, the second time a Green-coached squad has done so.
After receiving this honor, Green continued to lead The Woodlands High School to success until he passed the “torch” to his son in 2008, but not before the Highlanders ran to their third straight team championship. This one give Coach Green fifteen overall State Championships.
Over the course of his career, Green has coached many individual runners to State Championships, National Championships and Olympic Trials.
Green is still active and is the Head Coach of Team Green Running located in The Woodlands, Texas.
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York High School
“That’s the important thing in coaching—it isn’t the system you’ve got, it’s your relationship with your athletes.”
-Joe Newton
“That’s the important thing in coaching—it isn’t the system you’ve got, it’s your relationship with your athletes.”
-Joe Newton
Joe Newton
York High School
Impact Statement
“That’s the important thing in coaching—it isn’t the system you’ve got, it’s your relationship with your athletes.”
-Joe Newton
Biography
“Joe Newton has served as a model of commitment and excellence to coaches and athletes for nearly a half century,” said NHSCA executive director Bob Ferraro. “The NHSCA is proud to recognize Joe Newton as the first ever two-time winner of a National High School Coaches Association Boys’ Cross Country Coach of the Year award.”
Newton is widely recognized as the most accomplished prep cross country coach, and one of the most successful high school coaches of any sport in U.S. history. He began his career 60 years ago at York High in 1956, and his teams have won 28 Cross Country state championships and one Track & Field State Championship. York also finished second on 10 other occasions. Newton’s teams regularly hold more than 100 athletes on roster, as cross country has become a tradition at York. Coach Newton had 44 podium finishes in 57 years.
With dozens of coach of the year awards to his credit since 1954. Newton now becomes the first coach to ever receive the NHSCA Coach of the Year honor for a second time. He was recognized in 2000 and 2003.
In addition, Newton was the first high school coach to be selected as a coach for the US Men’s Track & Field Olympic Team in 1988. He served as the assistant manager for the marathon runners in Souel, South Korea.
Newton, known affectionately as the The Long Green Line, coached until 2016 and was a vital part of York and cross country history. As a runner himself, Newton was a decorated sprinter. He attended Northwestern University and graduated with his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in 1951 and 1952 respectively.
Newton passed away at the age of 88 on December 9, 2017.
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Professional Achievements
Bayonne High School
Treonze coached Bayonne’s cross country teams for more then three decades.
Treonze coached Bayonne’s cross country teams for more then three decades.
Rich Treonze
Bayonne High School
Impact Statement
Treonze coached Bayonne’s cross country teams for more then three decades.
Biography
Rich Treonze has coached boys and girls cross country, indoor and outdoor track at Bayonne High for nearly three decades. All six teams have won more than their share of Hudson County individual and team titles, and several of his runners and track athletes went on to win titles in the prestigious Penn Relays.
In 2002, this year, his peers in the Hudson County Track Coaches Association inducted Treonze into the Hudson County Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Treonze continued to coach until his retirement.
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Professional Achievements
Stevens Point High School
Behnke has lead SPASH to qualify for the State Tournament 41 of 43 years under his helm.
Behnke has lead SPASH to qualify for the State Tournament 41 of 43 years under his helm.
Donn Behnke
Stevens Point High School
Impact Statement
Behnke has lead SPASH to qualify for the State Tournament 41 of 43 years under his helm.
Biography
Since Wisconsin’s state cross country tournament was expanded to multiple classes in 1949, no coach has won more state team titles than Behnke, who has led Stevens Point High to seven Class A/Division I titles. Behnke’s teams were state champions in 1980, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1994, 1997, and 1998, while finishing second in 1982, 1984, and 1990. He guided the 2001 year’s team to a sixth-place state finish.
Behnke’s success didn’t end there. He has continued to lead the SPASH (Stevens Point Area Senior High School) team to 41 state appearances during his 43 years. SPASH won the State Tournament in 2003, 2008 and 2013; while finishing second in 2006, 2007, 2014 and 2017.
In 2019, SPASH also finished second in the state for the 9th time under Behnke’s leadership. Stevens Point also made school history when they qualified for the National tournament, which only features 22 high school teams from around the nation.
Behnke is also a published author. He wrote a book called The Animal Keepers that tells the true story of the Stevens Point High School cross country team and their unforgettable journey through the 1985 season.
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