KEARNEY – Kearney Catholic High school announced that Jonathan Nikkila and Marcus Witter have been selected as Co-Head Coaches for the Stars’ Cross-Country program replacing Don Liess, the Stars Coach for the last 28 years. During Coach Liess’s tenure the Stars earned two State Championships and four State Runner-Ups.
Nikkila is a former Cross-Country runner at Kearney Catholic and Hillsdale College. He has been an assistant coach for the Cross-Country and track programs at Kearney Catholic since 2009. He and his wife, Miriam, have 4 children.
Witter ran track and cross-country at Kearney High and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has previously helped coach at Kearney High and UNK and for the past two years has helped with the Stars junior high track and cross-country teams. He and his wife Emily have five children.
“We are excited to have Jonathan and Marcus leading the cross-country program and believe they have the ability, creativity and resources to develop our runners and will continue the positive culture surrounding the KCHS cross-country program” stated KCHS Athletic Director Rick Petri.