MEDFORD CROSS COUNTRY - Full-circle journey brings Rhyner back to Medford CC

MEDFORD CROSS COUNTRY

A cross country standout for the Medford Raiders back in his day has returned to the program to try to help its current athletes reach their potential.

Jake Rhyner, a 2002 Medford graduate, was named the program’s new head coach in May, replacing Sherry Meyer who held the head job for two seasons before stepping down in January.

Rhyner takes over a program that has experienced much success in recent years, particularly the girls, who have sent teams to state every year but one since their state championship year of 2018.

“I’m excited for the opportunity, to come full circle, move back home and to coach,” Rhyner said last week. “Running into old faces, it’s just a lot of old memories. It’s good.”

Rhyner returned home last fall and is a chiropractor with the Borealis Wellness Clinic in Medford. After graduating from Medford Area Senior High, where he was a three-time All-Lumberjack Conference cross country runner and a track standout, he attended UW-La Crosse, where we was part of an NCAA Division III national championship track and field team, a runnerup cross country team and was an individual NCAA D-III qualifier in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 1,500-meter runs. Rhyner noted 2022 Medford graduate Joey Sullivan just surpassed the best steeplechase time in his time as an Eagle, which was 9:11, on his way to his All-American fifth-place finish last month.

Rhyner then spent time in the Air Force, worked in corporate wellness and then was recruited by the USA Triathlon Collegiate program in 2013.

“I did triathlon professionally from 2013 through 2019 when I did my last one,” Rhyner said. “I took it further than I thought I would to be honest. When I first got into it, there was a program that USA Triathlon had started. I was part of the first class. They wanted collegiate athletes that had multisport backgrounds. There were time standards. If you could hit that you could get into this program. They took you out to the Olympic Training Center, they got you coaches, they got you staff support, stuff like that. I got in with that and that’s how it all started.”

At the time, Rhyner got pretty good at it. He said his swimming was the drawback that prevented him from reaching elite or Olympic levels. He trained and is good friends with one of the USA’s most well-known triathletes, Gwen Jorgensen. While living for years in Clermont, Fla., Rhyner said he was surrounded by Olympians.

“It’s kind of a neat place,” he said. “A lot of Olympians live there. From there the track athletes we had Tyson Gay, who is probably the biggest name. The Jamaicans live there. I’d be on the track on any given day and you could count gold medals on the track, so it was a pretty neat environment. Humbling for sure. But I think that whole process was, just being around some phenomenal athletes.”

Rhyner ultimately transitioned more into half-Ironman triathlons, which total 70.3 kilometers.

“I raced all over the place,” he said. “Looking back on it, I had two world-class performances where I beat world champions and really created a name. But I really struggled with injuries and I had a hard time staying healthy.”

In a way, thinking about health has led him to where he is today. While a triathlete, Rhyner said he always stayed employed in pathology labs. As his athletic career wound down, he used his GI Bill military funding to attend chiropractic school in South Carolina. Before graduating in December, he interned last fall at Borealis under Dr. Sam Klinner, who has also joined Medford’s coaching ranks as the new girls swim coach.

Rhyner, his wife Sarah, and their two children now call Medford home with Sarah just finishing her first year as a firstgrade teacher at Medford Area Elementary School.

“For me, where I’m at now and coaching and looking at other athletes and helping to guide and mentor them, my goal is to keep them healthy, because I had so many coaches that overworked me,” Rhyner said. “From adrenal fatigue to overtraining, to all sorts of injuries, it’s just not a road I want to see athletes go down. There’s a better way to go about that. If I can help inspire someone to chase sporting goals but not burn out and get injured, that would be my goal.”

Rhyner said coaching is something he figured he would end up doing and with the opportunity with the Raiders being there, along with some nudging from those in the community who knew him, he applied for the job.

“I always thought I would get into coaching,” he said. “I did help coach some triathletes over the years but very limited. Triathlon, I feel like it’s very involved and if you’re going to pursue that at a high level, there’s just so much that goes into that. It’s three sports in one. It’s very demanding. To just come back to the roots of running, that’s exciting for me. The opportunity was there and I think working with that age group will be good.

“I’m glad I (applied),” Rhyner added. “I’m excited. I think there’s a really good group of girls that have already been active with their summer running. I hope that will catch on. I hope we get some more numbers with the guys. I haven’t gotten an enrollment or sign-up sheet yet from (athletic director) Ryan Pilgrim but I’m thinking we’re going to need to boost the numbers with the guys.”

Cross country season starts with the first practice on Aug. 19. The team’s first meet is the Timm’s Hill Invitational on Aug. 29.