Boy’s and girl’s cross-country has been an often-overshadowed sport, but with change in management to the team, some light may shine upon it. With the appointment of Mr. Pistner as head coach and Mr. Yingling as assistant coach, the team is making great strides in changing to make the athletes the best they can be.  

When prompted with “What are the end goals for the cross-country team?” Mr. Pistner responded, “I have 3 main things worked out for the team that I think most coaches look for on a regular basis. Number one, I want my athletes to improve and grow in the sport. Individual success leads to team success. Secondly, I want the team to have fun, it’s a great sport to partake in and there is a cool social aspect that comes with the sport. Lastly as a coach, I want to pick up a few wins, a winning team will come naturally with our first two goals and can definitely add to them as well.” 

Mr. Pistner said he plans to increase the intensity of the training for the team, as well as focus more on well-rounded workouts. In addition, he says he plans to alter the hill, speed, distance, and recovery days in the healthiest way possible to prevent injury to the athletes.  

Despite being the new head coach of the team, Mr. Pistner never ran a day until he was 22 years old. Mr. Pistner says his desire to help the past coaches is what led to everything he knows. He adds that the avid runners within the school keep the ideas fresh and help him out with coaching.  

“Taking over has been really fun for me so far. I am a total nerd when it comes to running and I study how to make my athletes better all the time. I enjoy getting out with the kids and running because it feeds my own competitive nature as well,” said Mr. Pistner. “This is a great group to take over and I am excited to see how it goes through the season.”  

Mr. Pistner said he plans to make the sport more appealing by helping athletes through the “scary” part of distance running. “I hope that with time put into the sport that our athletes start to look for people they want to be on the team but also I hope that with my experience working with the track team and Mr. Yingling’s and Mr. Winters’ experience, as well, plays a part,” explains Mr. Pistner.  

The athletes wanted to add what they had to say about the new coaches. “I like his coaching style, it brings a fresh, new style to the team,” commented Emily Shipley. Jeremiah Vezza also adds in by saying, “I think he’s going to push our team harder than it has been in the past, and he has a better training plan.” 

Herschel Johnson explains, “Coach Pistner is like the dad, while Coach Yingling is the caring mom.” He adds on that the new head coach brings a pretty impressive beard to the sport. Finally, Vezza finishes with, “I think having someone like Coach Yingling on the team is great because he brings a little muscle to the party.”