New face guides Kodiaks through track season - Lethbridge Campus Media

New face guides Kodiaks through track season

Coach Simon Schaerz talks through the practice plans with his team. 

As the Lethbridge College Kodiaks indoor track team prepares to sprint into the season, they find themselves looking to a new face for guidance.

After a strong 32-year run from Bertil Johannson, one which set records as the most wins from a coach in Kodiaks history, the infamous coach decided to step off the podium.

If anyone is ready to fill the spot of track coach after the retirement of Johannson, it’s Simon Schaerz.

The new coach was a track athlete himself, running for the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns and the University of Calgary Dinos while attending the institutions.

Shaerz has been cheering both the indoor track team and the cross-country team since 2015, so the step wasn’t a big one to take.

“I’m a busy person, I teach here full-time and I’m currently also doing my PHD at the University of Lethbridge. A lot of it was knowing it’s a big-time commitment, I also have a young family at home. I sat down with my wife and we figured how to make it work.”

Shaerz added that he is also working on some initiatives that he started when he was the assistant coach. The team now trains at the university, utilizing the track on campus.

He added there will also be changes in the recruitment process of the team and they will be focusing more on the indoor track season, trying for nationals this season.

The runners on the team are fond of the new head coach, excited to see where the new leadership takes them.

“Simon is more analytical when it comes to our practices. Bertil went off by feel, he’s been doing it for 32 years so he just knew what workouts to do. Simon’s definitely more planned out,” runner Tanner Rent said.

Schaerz’s team is hitting the track in the ACAC Grand Prix event on Jan. 26 in Calgary.

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