July 31, 2009 - Geneva College
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July 31, 2009

Picture of July 31, 2009

Bret Otte with Brian Yowler

Beaver Falls, PA – After 11 years at Geneva College coaching both cross country and track & field, head coach Bret Otte resigned his position on Thursday to accept the head track & field coaching position at Calvin College. Geneva athletic director Dr. Kim Gall moved quickly in hiring Brian Yowler as the new men′s and women′s cross country coach. As for track & field, Geneva College will begin an immediate search to find Otte′s successor.

“It is certainly with mixed emotions that we see Coach Otte leave Geneva,” said Gall. “He has served Geneva College very well for the past 11 years as both a coach and instructor in our Physical Education Department. We are pleased that God has led him back to Calvin, where he is an alumnus, but we are sad to lose a colleague that has worked diligently for the College′s cause for so many years.”

Otte graduated from Calvin College where he received a degree in Physical Education. He will also be reunited with his parents who still live in Grand Rapids. During his tenure at Geneva, Otte has taken cross country runners to a national meet in each of his 11 years. In addition, only a handful of track & field individual records remain from before Otte took over in 1998.

Yowler has served as an assistant on Otte′s staff for the past three years. He has helped train some of Geneva′s finest distance runners over that period in both men′s and women′s cross country. Yowler has also helped train distance runners for the track & field teams, but will now focus primarily on cross country for the upcoming year. In addition to becoming the cross country head coach, Yowler will continue to work as a professor in Geneva′s biology department.

“We are very fortunate to have Brian already on staff,” said Gall. “He has a great passion for running and has developed great relationships with our cross country student-athletes in the past three years. We are confident that he will maintain the momentum that Coach Otte has established in our cross country program.”

Geneva College is a comprehensive Christian college of the arts, sciences and professional studies. Founded in the tradition of the Reformed Christian faith, Geneva prepares students to serve Christ in all areas of society: work, family and the church. Geneva College′s philosophy of education is based on the Foundational Concepts of Christian Higher Education. Geneva is a founding member of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU).

Jul 31, 2009