Warnke Tipped to lead Cross Country Programs
WATERTOWN, Wis. -- The Maranatha Athletic Department has tipped John Warnke as head coach of the Men's and Women's Cross Country programs for the 2021 season. The transition was finalized earlier this summer.
The transition comes after Warnke helped shoulder the coaching load that produced two team-podium finishes and two overall NCCAA DII champions in the 2020 season. Thanks in part to Warnke's training regimen, every runner in Maranatha colors - Men and Women - set a collegiate PR last season, and the sweep of the NCCAA individual titles at Nationals was a first for Maranatha.
Warnke is meticulous, proactive, and scientific in his approach, as he steps into the head-coaching role with one thing on his mind: progress.
"We're going to face a lot of challenges and successes this season," Warnke said. "We're looking to not be lifted up in pride in the success and we don't want to rely on our own strength in the challenges - we want to rely on the Lord for everything. We're bringing back a lot of key contributors on both sides, and we're bringing in new runners as well so we're looking to compete for the North Region Championships and the national titles. We think we'll be among the best teams and we want to compete in a way that brings glory to God.
"We want both teams to develop unity amongst each other. We're looking to develop our new runners and make sure that everyone has the proper [physical] foundations, both in strength training and mobility aspects. We want to be the ones initiating challenges at the end of races and develop proper mindsets.
"We want to challenge each other to be more Christlike. Hebrew 10:24 calls us to provoke each other to love and good works, so we want to develop an atmosphere of companionship, camaraderie, and spiritual growth."
“We are thrilled to have John Warnke take over as the Head Coach for MBU Cross Country”, said MBU Athletic Director Rob Thompson. “John’s experience and training methods helped to propel MBU runners Jeremy Fopma and Abby Doak to NCCAA Championships in their respective runs, while the majority of runners on each team reached their PR during the 2020 campaign. We are excited to see what the 2021 squads will accomplish. Welcome aboard John!"
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View the season schedules for each team by clicking the links below.
