{"id":268,"date":"2015-02-18T19:31:49","date_gmt":"2015-02-18T19:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marcolian.com\/?p=268"},"modified":"2015-02-18T19:31:49","modified_gmt":"2015-02-18T19:31:49","slug":"track-and-field-to-remain-without-head-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marcolian.com\/?p=268","title":{"rendered":"Track and field to remain without head coach"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Senior<\/a>
Senior Tyler Baltzell waits on the starting block. Photo by Elissa Collopy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Elissa Collopy<\/strong>
\neac001@marietta.edu<\/em><\/p>\n

Marietta College\u2019s Track and Field team has experienced dramatic change from their previous season to now.<\/p>\n

Before the season began in August, two coaches left to start new jobs with other schools. Coach Wunderlich, who was in charge of javelin, jumps, pole vault and multi athletes, is at Dartmouth where he was an undergraduate. Coach Evans, who was in charge of sprints, is at Yale.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe opportunity to come back to my alma mater and give back to the program that shaped my athletic career was too attractive to turn down,\u201d Wunderlich said.<\/p>\n

Evans also commented on his new position.<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessionally, the opportunity to work at Yale, one of the most prestigious universities in the world, was too much to pass up,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cThat was really the ultimate factor in my decision to leave Marietta\u2014it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior Jen DeSantis, a member of the track team, said she has nothing against any of the coaches that left.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongratulations to them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Senior Simon Sanders said he doesn\u2019t blame them for leaving.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have done the same thing; it was a great opportunity,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not mad at all and I wish them the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

A search for a new head coach began last August, but did not end with one in place.<\/p>\n

According to MC Director of Athletics Larry Hiser, there was a pool of 64 applicants. The search committee selected ten prospects for phone interviews and narrowed the search from there. When the time came to invite several to campus, a handful withdrew.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it was because they were involved in a search with us and their home institution found out about it and they were counter-offered immediately,\u201d Hiser said.<\/p>\n

He also said money was an issue. A couple prospects asked how much salary would be, and when given the range, they withdrew.<\/p>\n

\u201cA couple cases said they were making that much or more now and didn\u2019t really want to take a pay cut,\u201d Hiser said.<\/p>\n

In December, three of those applicants were brought to campus, two of which were offered the job, but declined after accepting positions elsewhere or staying at their current institutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had an accepted offer, a cleared background check, and we had a letter of appointment,\u201d Hiser said. \u201cAfter the letter of appointment you hardly ever lose anybody\u2014this is the first time I have lost a candidate after signing a letter of appointment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hiser said this was a very late withdrawal.<\/p>\n

The second prospect was counter-offered at his home institution after MC\u2019s initial offer and the third prospect did not seem to be a fit for the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the first two coaches fell through, it was really hard for us as a team,\u201d DeSantis said. \u201cWe were tired, and it was time for us to have a coach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hiser announced in December two interim head coaches for the upcoming track season\u2014Andy Knapp and Zach Logan. Knapp and Logan oversee both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s programs this season while searching for a permanent head coach. According to DeSantis, the team was relieved when the administration \u201cfinally\u201d hired them.<\/p>\n

Hiser said Knapp and Logan were named interim coaches to provide the team with stability and leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was to make sure [the team] had a person to go to, clear instruction on their event and to just have stability in the leadership program,\u201d Hiser said.<\/p>\n

However, the morale of the team has decreased with the uncertainty of the season looming ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt abandoned, but I just have to deal with it,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cI mean, this is what I love to do; that\u2019s why I\u2019m still here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not all team members are as optimistic, however \u2013 many have decided to leave.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn August, we had a total number of about 50 members of the track team,\u201d DeSantis said. \u201cWe are now down to a total of 23 members combined, men and women.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sanders said this hit the team hard when his companions quit.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Spirit] still hasn\u2019t recovered yet, and honestly it probably won\u2019t until this time next year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In light of this drastic decrease, Sanders said Logan has already helped to recruit runners.<\/p>\n

With all of these changes occurring in preseason and during season, the team is trying to look at the bright side.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just in a transition; we have to rebuild morale and numbers,\u201d Sanders said.<\/p>\n

DeSantis said her dedication has been tested multiple times.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, this is giving me the chance to learn\u2026what it truly means to have coaches that support you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Hiser noted the students\u2019 vexation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should be frustrated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As the season continues, students are hopeful for the future of the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy hope for graduation is that my teammates receive a coach that can help truly rebuild this program,\u201d DeSantis said. \u201cWe work hard every day to be the best that we can be, and right now in this situation, that\u2019s all that we can really do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The search has been officially suspended, as it is no longer posted anywhere; however, the unofficial search continues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are optimistic about a candidate right now that hopefully could be done as soon as next week or the week after\u2014it\u2019s just not public,\u201d Hiser said.<\/p>\n

If this prospect accepts the position, they will start on July 1 at the end of the fiscal year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a good time to leave your program and come to another, so we\u2019re going to have to finish this year, even the outdoor season, with the current staffing that\u2019s set up as is,\u201d Hiser said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Elissa Collopy eac001@marietta.edu Marietta College\u2019s Track and Field team has experienced dramatic change from their previous season to now. Before the season began in August, two coaches left to start new jobs with other schools. Coach Wunderlich, who was in charge of javelin, jumps, pole vault and multi athletes, is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,3,5],"tags":[176,177,175],"class_list":["post-268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus","category-news","category-sports","tag-coach","tag-hiser","tag-track",""],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marcolian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marcolian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marcolian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marcolian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marcolian.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=268"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.marcolian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":270,"href":"https:\/\/www.marcolian.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268\/revisions\/270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marcolian.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marcolian.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marcolian.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}