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2008 Men's Cross Country Coaches
 
RichWeinhandl
Head Coach
847.628.1595
 
Taking the challenge of restarting the Judson University cross country programs is Rich Weinhandl as he enters his first year at Judson.  Weinhandl was hired on December 7, 2007, as the new head coach for cross country as Judson resurrected the program after 12 years.
 
"Rich brings a wealth of experience to Judson after coaching for so many years at the high school level," says Judson University Director of Athletics Nancy Smith. "I feel very confident that we have the right person to get our cross country program up and going again. He has a lot of passion and energy and will do a great job."
 

Weinhandl is no stranger of building programs as he rebuilt the Marengo High School cross country team from three players 18 years ago to a respected program now. In 18 years at Marengo HS, he has produced five runners that have been state qualifiers. In the 1993 season, he had two runners advance to state in Debbie Nelson and Danielle Nelson. His most recent qualifier for state was Sarah Sprague in 2006. He also coached Marengo's only two-time All-State athlete in Chad Zeman.

His teams have also competed strongly every season. His girl's teams have been Sectional qualifiers nine times in his 18 years. The girl's team went four years in a row from 1992 through 1995 and thenfour straight times in 2001 through 2004. They also qualified in 2007. The boys team went four straight times from 2001 through 2004. In recent years, he has led his teams to championships at the Genoa and Grant Invitationals, too.

His teams have also done well academically as several of them have received team academic achievement awards from the Illinois High School Association.

In the coaching and officiating ranks, he has been a certified track official for 33 years. In 1995, he was named the Northwest Herald Cross Country Coach of the Year.

Weinhandl also has done a lot of community service with his teams over the past 18 years. This past summer, he took his cross country team to South Dakota to the Crow Creek Indian Reservation to learn more about the Indian culture and to do community service.

He currently is an assistant administrator for the McHenry County Sheriff's Office in Woodstock, Illinois, and will retire from there August 2008. He helps to write grants for the sheriff's department and is currently the executive director of the Friends of McHenry County Sheriff's Office Foundation in which he founded. He has also served as a probation officer for 13 years.

On the college scene, Weinhandl is a 1974 graduate of Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois, where he received his bachelor's degree in sociology. In 1981, he completed a master's in management from Webster College.
 
While at Greenville, he ran cross country and was named to the Outstanding College Athletes of America team given the H.J. Long Award, and was the president of the G-Club and his senior class.  He was a four-year letterman in both cross country and track and held three school records.  He helped his team to a cross country conference championship in 1970 and his teams qualified for the NAIA National Meet in 1971, 72, and73.  From 1970-73, his teams set a schoo  record for 28 consecutive home dual meet win streak.  In 2004, he receceived the prestigous honor of being named to the Greenville Athletic Hall of Fame for all of his accomplishments. 
 
Through the years, he has received several awards that include the Outstanding Young Men of America Award, Outstanding Educators of America, Special Olympics Flame of Hope Award, National Organization on Disabilities Program of Excellence award, the Turning Point Peace and Justice Award, and the Illinois Probation and Court Services Line Staff Award.
 
He currently resides in Marengo with his wife of 34 years, Rebecca.  They have two children in Joshua (married) and Megan (sophomore at Greenville).

 
LaurieMcFadden
Assistant Coach

Laurie McFadden brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Judson in her first year as the assistant coach to Rich Weinhandl. With NCAA Division I experience, she will be a great addition to the program.

Last season, she was a volunteer assistant coach for the Northern Illinois University women's cross country team. She helped several of the runners improve their times throughout the season as NIU competed at several meets and the MAC and NCAA Division I Regional meets.

McFadden is no stranger to cross country as she has ran in the Boston Marathon and the Ironman Triathlon. She was a Boston Marathon finisher in 2006 and then finished three Ironman Triathlon competitions in 2003, 2004, and 2006.

In other athletics, she coached the Marian Central Catholic softball team for three seasons. All of her teams bettered their wins from the previous years when she was not the coach.

She currently is a graduate of Western Illinois University with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiolgy. She is currently working on her master's degree in Sports Management from Northern Illinois University.


 
JoshCalhoun
Manager
Josh enters his senior season as the manager for the Judson cross country team. He is in his fifth year at Judson and is majoring in English and Art Education.
 
He is a 2003 graduate of Milton High School in Milton, Wisconsin, where he won two letters in soccer. Before coming to Judson, he spent one semester at Greenville College.
 
He is a member of the band "The Least of These" and has had the chance to tour around the Midwest with the band.
 
He enjoys music and eating pasta. He is a fan of the Green Bay Packers and likes to vacation on the west coast. He is the son of George and Lannette Calhoun.