Pinnacle High School Track & Field

Jason Jones

Head Coach

jjones@pvschools.net

With his sights set on continuing his successful coaching career at Pinnacle HS, Coach Jones has created a network of skilled events coaches to help track and field athletes achieve their highest standards. The priorities of the Pioneer Track and Field team is to compete as a system within individual events. Excellence and commitment to each competitor's event is the foundation for success with this team. Pinnacle is dedicated to teaching team unity, responsibility, perseverance, and commitment to their track and field athletes.

Matt Shannon

Assistant Coach/Distance Head Coach

rshannon@pvlearners.net

Coach Shannon just completed his first season as a Pioneer in 2022 after coaching the prior fifteen years at his alma mater of Shadow Mountain High School where he coached twelve athletes to 37 all-state honors in both track and field and cross country. Among those were five state champions in track and field; Meagan Van Pelt in the 3200m (2018), Robby Foster in the 800m (2018), Nate Pestka in the 1600m (2022) and 3200m (2022), and a Boys 4x800m Team in 2022 with a time of 7:54. In addition he has sent numerous athletes to run at all levels of collegiate competition. Though his proudest accomplishment was having a team GPA of 3.8 over the course of his tenure at Shadow Mountain. Pinnacle Cross Country's current average team GPA sits at 4.00, a true testament to putting the student before the athlete.

​

Devon Ford

Assistant Coach/ Sprints & Hurdles Head Coach

​

Devon Scott Ford is a highly accomplished athlete and coach from San Bernardino, California. A graduate of Morehouse College, Devon was a member of the school's Track and Field team, where he received several All Conference awards in 2019, including 1st Team All Conference in Men's Track & Field and 2x All Conference 2nd Team. This exceptional performance earned him a 2021 senior athletic award for athletic and academic achievement.

During his athletic career, Devon ran sprints and hurdles, achieving modest personal records of 14.44 in the 110-meter hurdles and 53.48 in the 400-meter hurdles, respectively. He has translated this experience and expertise into a blossoming coaching career, with his first season bringing top 3 placements in the women's 100 meter and 4x100 meter relay, as well as a state champion in the women's 200 meters.

​

Scott Stoll

Assistant Coach- High Jump Head Coach & Mid Distance

​

• 2015-present: Head Coach Boys and Girls Cross Country, Alleman High School (Rock Island, IL)
• 2012-2021: Head Coach Girls Track, Alleman HS (Rock Island, IL)
• 2022-Present: Assistant Coach, Pinnacle HS
• Currently working on Masters in Mental Health Counseling, Bradley University, graduated University of Iowa in 1986 (BA in English, Spanish Minor)
• Married 28 years, 2 children
• Lived in Spain for 12 years

​

Kate Engard

Volunteer Coach- Sprints & Speed and Conditioning

Coach Kate Engard, MSc., CSCS has over 10 years experience as a performance consultant, educator, and CSCS certified strength and speed coach. She has been the head strength coach for football, women’s basketball and has coached the sprint events at the JuCo level. Professionally, she has worked for the AZ Hotshots in the Alliance of American Football and has owned her own gym, specializing in performance development of football, basketball and fight sport athletes. Coach Engard now focuses on education and consulting and is excited to get back to the sport that launched her career: Track & Field!

Nick Dale

Volunteer Coach- Distance

Nick comes to Pinnacle High School in his inaugural year (2023) to lend his distance running skills to the Pioneer Track team. Nick is a seasoned and well-accomplished runner from Arizona State University (ASU). Nick is attuned to the necessary training and conditioning culture required for the next-generation athletes to compete to their very highest levels.

Nick graduated from ASU in chemical engineering and volunteers his time at PHS. Nick's contribution and time will help take the Pioneers to the next step with their quest to be contenders at State!

​

Assistant Coaches

continued…

Eric Goldstone

Assistant Coach- Pole Vault

Dave Aleman

Volunteer Coach- Pole Vault

John Godina

Assistant Coach- Throws

Jim Schouten

Volunteer Coach- Mid Distance

​

Expectations

• STUDENT-athlete
• Being a student always comes first
• Being part of a team and contributing to that system is PRIORITY
• Self-based benefits are secondary to the overall benefit of the team
• Other Commitments
• We’re flexible, but we expect the other commitments are too
• Focus on what you can control
• Take responsibility seriously
• Manage your commitments
• Practices & meets
• Signing up for events
• Listening to your body
• Be coachable

Practice and Meet Expectations for Athletes

• Practices are Monday through Friday at 2:30 pm at the Pinnacle Track (unless otherwise noted in training document)
• 2:30 pm means AT THE TRACK at 2:30 pm, not parking your car
• Saturdays locations and times will vary
• Some sessions will be On Your Own, but still expected to be completed (looking at leadership)
• Promise to have practice completed by approx 4:30pm (event specific)
• We Have Access to Locker Rooms/Showers

Practice and Meet Expectations for Athletes (cont.)

​

• Athletes are expected to be at EVERY PRACTICE.
• We understand vacations and other such things do come up. We ask that you do your very best to make T & F a priority in your life and schedule around T & F.
• Homework, extracurriculars and jobs are not excuses to miss practice.
• Unexcused Absences will be at coaches discretion
• Athletes are expected to take the school-provided transportation to and from all meets.
• We expect that athletes represent Pinnacle with respect towards other schools and their competitors.

Practice and Meet Expectations for Athletes (cont.)

​

• Respect our school and our neighborhood!
• PVUSD has an academic requirement to participate in sports
• Students must have at least a D (60 percent in most classes at PHS) in all of their classes.
• If you fall below this threshold there is a system of consequences, chief of which is suspension from competition for 3 weeks.
• You are a STUDENT-ATHLETE, not an athlete-student.
• No Hazing
• You are subject to random drug testing, you agreed to this in RMA (Aktivate)

Practice and Meet Expectations for Parents

Parents/Guardians are not permitted into the “camp” area during meets.

One would not come into the locker room or dugout for other sports. We ask that you respect our sport and coaches in the same way. You are more than welcome to speak with your student-athlete AFTER they have cooled down from practice and are away from camp.

Practice and Meet Expectations for Parents (cont.)

• Please allow us to coach your child.
• We appreciate some input on your athlete and fully admit no one knows your athlete better than you do, but we have the final say on matters involving this team. We have the best interest of the team and your athlete, and we will do what is best for the team.
• Please leave any advice pertaining to their competition to the coaches.
• We appreciate everything you do, but leave the coaching to us. Support your child with words of encouragement, and other non-strategy/training-related aspects of the sport, when there are two messages being relayed to your child, our coaching can get lost.

Practice and Meet Expectations for Parents (cont.)

• Lastly, it is the responsibility of the athlete to arrange rides, attend practice, communicate with coaches and behave properly at practice and meets.
• Please do not make excuses for them, and help us develop your student-athlete into a strong and mature adult.

Issues and Interventions

• If an athlete has an issue with an events coach, their first action is to address the issue with that events coach
• If the issue is too sensitive to address with the events coach, they can meet with Coach Jones and discuss the issue with him.
• If the issue is not resolved in an equitable and fair manner to BOTH parties, the athlete may request a meet with the athletic director (AD). The athlete MUST be in attendance with the parent at the meeting with the coach or AD.

​

Shoes and Uniforms

• Athletes need (at least) one pair of training shoes (and a pair of spikes (event specific) would be nice as well).

​

• In order for our athletes to receive their uniform, their fees must be taken care of with the bookstore and everything DONE on register my athlete.

Sleep

• The science on sleep and its effects on performance cannot be ignored
• Pretty simple stuff, most recovery occurs during sleep
• Teenagers need the more sleep than any other age group (other than newborns and toddlers)
• 8-10 hours a night
• Teenagers, on average, get the least amount of sleep
• Rest + Stress = Growth
• 2014 Study Concluded that adolescent athletes (grades 7-12) who got less than 8 hours of sleep were 1.7x more likely to sustain an injury than those who got 8 hours or more.
• Reflexive Performance Reset (RPR or “activation”- pre-stretch routine for athletes that are putting high demand on their body https://www.reflexiveperformance.com/

​

Spikes & Trainers

Visit the Mayo blvd location from Friday Feb 17th to Sunday Feb 19th to receive 10% off your purchase (20% with membership). Show flyer or mention PHS Track and Field to use the in store barcode.

Housekeeping and Important Links

• $200 to Bookstore (athletics fee)
• Register My Athlete (Pay Fees and submit necessary paperwork for participation)
• Milesplit (See past race results, upcoming races, etc.)
• Athletic.net (more info about meets, stats, etc.)
• Team Pictures 3/6 from 2:45 pm- finish (all athletes are expected to be in attendance on time IN UNIFORM)

Schedule- Pinnacle T&F Website

Remind for PARENTS (ONLY)

Event Volunteering and Sponsors

Each family is required to volunteer one time during the season.

Visit our Signup Genius sheet to select your volunteer spot now! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0948a4aa29abffce9-track/7442102#/ - link arriving via Remind.

Sponsorship are necessary to provide athletes a positive experience. - PDF arriving via Remind.

​