Fans of AC/GC Chargers Cross Country have a new face that they’ve been learning.

New Head Coach Rick Blake has taken over after previous Coach Colin Shawgo stepped down for new opportunities. He is a teacher at AC/GC Junior High, so he has some knowledge of the kids that are in the program. Blake tells Raccoon Valley Radio why he decided to take the opportunity to coach.

“You know, I have a passion for coaching running, and actually distance running was my start into coaching all the way back when I was in college. This was in 2012. I started coaching distance runners at Saydel and kind of fell in love. And when I was applying for teaching jobs and got a position at AC/GC, they had the distance coaching kind of locked up with Coach Shawgo, who’s a great coach. And he moved on and the position was open, so I decided to pursue the opportunity.”

Blake says that both the boys and girls teams have been doing a great job in their summer run club with the different drills that they’ve been running. He adds that he’s lucky to have the assistant coaches from last season and the amazing leadership of the upperclassmen and returners from last season as well.