New season brings new coaching staff

As the new school year begins Chadron State welcomes many changes to campus including a couple coaches taking on new positions and one new head coach. Brad Gamble, former assistant coach, became the interim head track coach and the cross country coach, and Chris Wells moves in as the new interim volleyball coach. To fill Gamble’s former position, Brian Medigovich takes over as the interim assistant coach.

Gamble is a former track and field athlete from CSC. He is also a national champion in the heptathlon in 2011 for CSC. Gamble will be replacing Ryan Baily. He set a Division II Indoor Track and Field National Champion meet record. While on Baily’s staff, Gamble has coached 10 All-Americans, 33 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champions and help guide the Eagles to three runner-up finishes at the conference championships. He is the 25th track and field coach in Chadron State history.

Medigovich, who was a graduate assistant last season, will assist Gamble as both the assistant track and assistant cross country coach. This season will mark only Medigovich’s second season at CSC, but in his first year, cross country runners improved all the way around and set records at every race. He ran for Adams State in his college years. He earned 13 All-American honors, and, in 2010, was the Individual National Champion in the 5k indoors. He was a competitor on a national championship teams three times.

The cross country team will begin its season at South Dakota School of Mines on Sept. 5.

Wells, of Berkeley, California, will replace Janel Baily. He will be the 14th volleyball coach in CSC history. Wells is only the second man to lead the Eagles program since 1972. He has 28 years of playing and coaching experience, most recently coming from New Mexico Highlands as associate head coach. He helped lead the Cowgirls to a 12-17 record, which was their most wins in the last 10 years. As head coach at Willamette University in Oregon, he was named Northwest Conference Coach of the Year in 1992. In the three years guiding the Bearcats, Wells compiled a record of 98-46 and won two conference titles.

The volleyball team open their 2014 schedule at a tournament hosted by Montana State University-Billings. Their first home match is scheduled for Sept. 25 against Western New Mexico.