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Head Coach

Bill Ballinger
406-461-9008 (cell)

Feel free to call during evening hours!

Bill Ballinger enters his third season as the inaugural head coach of the Men’s and Women’s Cross-Country teams at Carroll College.   Carroll finished their sophomore season last fall with the Women’s team defending their 2nd place standing in the Frontier conference while the Men’s team finished third.  Highlights of the year included Taylor Gregory becoming the first Carroll Cross Country athlete to qualify for the NAIA National Championships and both the Men’s and Women’s team earning national recognition as NAIA All-Scholar teams.  The women’s team maintained a cumulative 3.55 GPA while the men earned a 3.2 during the 2008-2009 school year.

 

Bill Ballinger ran competitively at NCAA DIV 1A level for the University of Montana (1986-1991).  During his collegiate competitive career he earned 2 Athletic Letter Awards and several Big-Sky Conference All Academic awards.  Bill has over 10 years high school coaching experience at the Montana class B and AA levels.   Bill served as the Head Boy’s and Girl’s Cross Country and Distance Track coach at Missoula Hellgate through the spring of 2006 when he joined the staff at Carroll College as the Director of the Army ROTC program.  During the 2007-2008 school year he recruited for Carroll’s first XC program which began competition in 2008 and finished 2nd in both the Men’s and Women’s Frontier Conference Championships.

Bill has a M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction (UM, 2004) and B.A. in Biology / Chemistry minor (UM 1992).  He currently holds the rank of Major in the Montana Army National Guard and serves as the director of the Regimental Training Institute at Fort Harrison, Montana.  He is also a Level I certified USATF Coach and working towards Level II certification.

Bill is married to Britt (Streets) Ballinger (UM 1997) who also competed for the University of Montana Track / XC teams.  Britt helps coach the team and organizes both training camp and their annual home meet.  They have two sons  (Jake 11,  Henry 5).  They also have a Beagle named Bob who likes to try to keep up with the team.

 

Assistant Coach

Brian Wieck

Racing Saints Assistant Coach Brian Wieck is no stranger to competitive distance running.  He has run over thirty 50 KM races in the past 10 years and has finished in the top 10 in over 90% of his competitions.  He has won the prestigious Elkhorn 50 K four times dating back to 2002 and was the 2006 Montana Governor's Cup Half-Marathon Champion.  He is the founder and current race director of the Pemberton Trail 50K and the Helena South Hills Trail Series races.

 

Brian graduated from Eastern Washington University with a B.A. in Recreation Management.  He has coached collegiate distance runners (2002, University of Montana) and is currently a professional coach with the Helena Legion Baseball club. He has an 86-42 record over the past two seasons.  In addition to Carroll Cross-Country athletes he coaches many tri-athletes, marathoners, and middle distance runners in Helena.  This past year he ran a 1:14 half marathon in Tucson, AZ.  He is also AFAA  personal trainer certified.

Brian's hometown is Rockford, Michigan and his family consists of his parents, sister, and dog Olive who accompanies Brian on most of his trail runs in the Helena  mountains.

Assistant Coach

Britt (Streets) Ballinger

Britt Ballinger joined the Carroll XC coaching staff as a volunteer for the 2009 season.  Britt has been an integral part of the development of the Carroll XC program the past two seasons by serving as the Carroll Open Meet Director and Endurance Camp organizer.  This year she has decided to pursue a more active role by working on a part time basis with the Women’s team.

Britt graduated from the University of Montana in 1997 with duel Bachelor Degrees in Microbiology and Medical Technology.  While at UM she competed for 4 years as a member of the Lady Griz Cross Country and Track Teams.  Her athletic highlights include three athletic letter awards and three All Conference Academic selections.  Upon graduation she attending Salish Kootenai College and completed her A.S.N. in Nursing in 2000. For the past nine years she has worked as an R.N. in cardiology and is currently completing her Masters of Science in Nursing and certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner.

Britt has two years of high school coaching experience at Montana Class B Loyola Sacred Heart where she helped guide the girl’s team to the school’s first state championship in 1999 as an assistant coach under head coach Matt Morris, who now serves as the Head XC Coach at Western Illinois University.