Saint Louis University’s cross country and track and field teams are receiving help from several new faces. In addition to five new freshmen recruits, three new coaches have been added to the staff.
Ryan Bak, Jessica Scott and Valorie Thorson join an already impressive staff, led by head coach Jon Bell.
“In my short tenure at SLU, this is by far the most talented and diverse staff we have assembled,” Bell said. “Our student-athletes will be prepared, excellently coached and challenged like never before.”
The vacancy left by former women’s distance coach Gavin Kennedy, who departed last fall, is being filled by Bak. Scott has been added to be another middle-distance coach and Thorson will work with the sprinters when track and field starts later this year.
Bak first gained notoriety in cross country while attending Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. There, he was a 10-time All-American and three-time NCAA Division III national champion.
Bak has also found success on the professional running circuit. He runs as a member of the Oregon Track Club Elite, a running club located in Eugene, Ore. – considered the Mecca for distance runners. His proficiency in the sport earned Bak a place on the national team that competed in the 2008 World Cross Country Championships in Scotland.
“That was a special experience. Anytime you get to represent your country it is a real honor,” Bak said.
Bak said he hopes that his accomplishments and experiences will be an aid to the team.
“It’s really important to have something to work toward, not just at the local or conference level, but also at that next level,” he said.
“I know that sometimes as an athlete it can be hard to trust your coaches. But I feel like we’ve kind of gotten around that here, since our athletes know that I’ve been there not too long ago,” Bak said.
Assistant coach John Cunningham helped Bell find Scott. Cunningham actually coached Scott at Edwardsville High School. This year, they will work together as the team’s middle-distance coaches.
Scott attended and ran at UMKC, where she was a four-time Academic All-Conference selection and earned first-team All-Conference honors at the 2006 Mid-Continent Conference Cross Country Championships.
“John thought very highly of Jessica, which made the decision to bring her on an easy one,” Bell said.
Thorson ran track all four years she was at Columbia University and is excited to bring her experiences to SLU’s track and field team when the indoor season starts up in December.
The additions have changed Bell’s own role on the staff.
“It’s helped a lot. Being head coach, there is a lot of administrative stuff I have to worry about, but now with all of the extra help, I can divvy out the work,” Bell said. “This allows me to get to know the students better, and concentrate on their needs more.”
The student-athletes have enjoyed working with the new coaches as well.
“Ryan has been great. He is really good at adapting to each runner and give us individual help,” said Laura Peabody, a senior on the women’s cross country team.
The team appreciates the effort that the University is showing for athletics.
“They [the additions] really show what kind of program we have, and the direction we want to move in,” Peabody said.
