Search Narrowed to Four for Head Men's Track & Field Coach

For Immediate Release: Friday, October 3, 2008

La Crosse, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse has named its four finalists to be interviewed for the head men’s track & field coach position. The position also includes serving as an assistant men’s and women’s cross country coach and working in athletics administration. The finalists are Josh Buchholtz; Pamela Gray; Eric Schueffner and Phil Whitesitt.

Buchholtz has served as men’s track & field head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Stout since 2002. He added the women’s track & field head coaching position in 2007. The Blue Devils have had 31 NCAA Division III qualifiers on the men’s team under Buchholtz and 24 on the women’s squad. Buchholtz, who currently serves as a physical education instructor at UW-Stout, was the Blue Devils’ men’s cross country head coach from 2002-07.

A 2000 graduate from UW-La Crosse, Buchholtz was the Eagles’ women’s track & field assistant coach from 2000-02. He has worked as a member of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) State Track & Field Meet Administration staff and served as a meet director of four high school meets annually, including the 52-team Northern Badger Track and Field Classic. Buchholtz was Co-Meet Director of the 2003 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Cross Country Championships and 2004 WIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships. An open forum for Buchholtz will be held Thursday, October 9 at 10 a.m. in 119 Mitchell Hall.

Gray has served as the men’s and women’s cross country head coach since 2004 at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin (Odessa, Texas). The Falcons had two members of the women’s cross country squad and one on the men’s team earn all-conference honors in 2007. Both squads finished third at the conference championships in 2004-05. She has been the school’s Senior Women’s Administrator since 2006 has also serves as Forms of Movement Coordinator and as a Lecturer in Kinesiology at
UT-Permian Basin.

Gray was the head assistant coach for the men’s and women’s track & field and cross country programs at McPherson College (Kan.) from 2003-04 and served as the men’s and women’s cross country head coach at Peru State College (Neb.) from 2001-03. Other collegiate assistant coaching positions include at Lindenwood University, Mo. (2000-01), Mankato State University, Minn. (1996-2000) and Hastings College, Neb. (1989-96). She earned her bachelor’s (1983) and master’s (1989) degrees from UW-La Crosse. Gray was an assistant coach for the Eagles’ women’s cross country and track teams. Gray has coached over 175 All-America athletes in her career and directed and managed over 150 cross country and track & field meets, including conference and regional championships. She was the NAIA National Marathon Referee from 2005-07. An open forum for Gray will be held Tuesday, October 7 at 10 a.m. in 119 Mitchell Hall.

Schueffner is currently serving as an assistant men’s and women’s track & field coach at Seattle University (Wash.), a position he has held since 2006. He assists in all coaching, recruiting, and administrative duties for the Redhawks, currently transitioning from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I. Schueffner has assisted with cross country home events and pre-season activities at Seattle. He was an assistant women’s track & field coach at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2004-06 and worked as a graphic designer in the Office of University Communications at UW-Madison from 1999-06.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from UW-Whitewater in 1996 and his master’s degree from Seattle University in 2008. A four-year letter winner at UW-Whitewater, Schueffner was the Warhawks’ track & field team captain in 1996 and earned all-conference honors in 1994 and 1996. He was an assistant boys’ and girls’ track & field coach at Madison (Wis.) La Follette High School from 2000-04, serving as the assistant head coach from 2003-04. An open forum for Schueffner will be held Wednesday, October 8 at 10 a.m. in 26 Mitchell Hall.

Whitesitt is currently UW-La Crosse’s acting head men’s track & field coach after serving as the Eagles’ associate head coach during the 2007-08 season. He coached one individual NCAA Division III indoor champion in the shot put last season and one outdoor All-American in the discus throw. The Eagles captured the 2008 NCAA III Indoor Championship and also swept the 2008 indoor and outdoor WIAC titles.

Whitesitt earned his bachelor’s (2005) and master’s (2008) degrees from UW-La Crosse, where he was a four-year letter winner for the track squad. He earned All-America honors three times in the weight throw and once in the hammer throw and was a member of eight (four indoor; four outdoor) national championship teams with the Eagles. Whitesitt has worked as a direct support professional at A.B.L.E., Inc. in La Crescent, Minnesota since 2001. He worked in the UW-La Crosse Strength Center from 2006-08 and was the track & field throws coach at La Crescent (Minn.) High School from 2005-07. An open forum for Whitesitt will be held Friday, October 10 at 10 a.m. in 119 Mitchell Hall.