Kelsey Ackerman + Shelby Bradley | Sports Co-Editors
Ryan Schroeder has announced that he plans to step down as the Buena Vista University (BVU) cross country and track and field coach after the 2016 outdoor track season.
Schroeder came to BVU in 2014 after a decorated running career at Coe College, a graduate position at Aurora University, and one year coaching at Marian University.
The biggest factor in his decision to step down is that he and his wife are expecting their first child to be born in April. Schroeder spends all of his year in season, with cross country in the fall, and track and field in the winter and spring.
“I want to be not only a great husband, but a great dad. I want to be able to be around more often and not feel so consumed with my job,” Schroeder said.
Schroeder will have spent two short years at BVU, but several athletes have formed a bond with the head coach over these two years.
“Coach [Schroeder] is the type of person who loses his voice because of how much he encourages during our meets. I’ve never had a coach who could mentally and physically build a team that came from the bottom and now is towards the top,” senior sprinter Sydney Crnkovich said.
While Schroeder has enjoyed the years he has spent as a collegiate coach, he plans to continue to grow and develop his teaching career. Schroeder obtained his undergraduate in Physical Education, and his Master’s degree in Special Education.
“I don’t know at this point if I will continue coaching at all. If I did, it could only be for one season a year because I am leaving this job to free up my life a little more,” Schroeder said.
While two short years isn’t long enough to leave a legacy, Schroeder hopes that he has left an impact on the student-athletes he has gotten the chance to coach. The most important thing that Schroeder feels he has emphasized is discipline and mental toughness, which are two monumentally important aspects of these two sports.
“Although he can be overbearing at times, it shows how dedicated he is to all of us on the track team [cross country team]. He sees the potential that each one of us carries inside and is easily frustrated when we are not doing everything in our power to realize this ourselves,” junior sprinter Justin Sacker said.
Schroeder is excited to start the new chapter in his life as well as grow his family, but he will miss the student-athletes he has had the opportunity to coach in his time at BVU.
“Coaching is all about building relationships and trying to grow them not only into a better athlete, but a better person. I feel we have a lot of respect for each other, and I hope they realize they can always reach out to me if they ever need anything,” Schroeder said.
Runners such as Sacker have the potential of experiencing three different head coaches during their time spent in the track and field and cross country programs.
“Yes, I would much rather have had one coach for all four years of my college career. I believe that consistency in coaching methods drastically improves the performance of athletes and by constantly changing coaches, athletes are robbed of this stability and performance can suffer, but we have to move on,” Sacker said. “I hate to see coach Schroeder leave but I am going to love to watch him walk away.”
Although Schroeder has announced his resignation, there is still much to come for the track and field teams’ outdoor season. They will compete and finish up their indoor season this Friday and Saturday Feb. 26-27 participating in the IIAC Conference Championships held inside the Lamberti Recreation Center.
Photo by: Kyle Wiebers
