Wood River High School athletic/activities director John Rade has announced the hiring of new head coaches and assistants for the 2012-13 Wolverine track and field, tennis and girls’ basketball teams.
· Rade said that Woodside's Carlos Meza will replace Vicki Johnston as head tennis coach and Wood River Middle School's Scott Chaffin will replace Eleanor Jewett as assistant tennis coach. The Wolverine tennis team won its second State 4A boys’ team title in three years in May.
Said Rade, “Vicki and Eleanor resigned their positions to spend more time with their families. Vicki and her coaching staff have done an amazing job with the Wood River tennis program.
· Rade added that Melanie Schrader and J.C. Nemecek will switch track coaching positions—Melanie becoming head coach and JC an assistant track coach.”
· Succeeding the husband-and-wife team of Kevin Stilling and Mendy Benson in the girls’ basketball program are the new head coach Matt Newhouse and assistant varsity coach Krista Cater. Cater was a Wolverine junior varsity coach last year.
· Wood River has also brought back Reamy Goodwin to the Wolverine volleyball program starting in the 2012 season, bolstering the staff of returning head coach Tim Richards. What position Goodwin takes is the decision of Richards, according to Rade.
Goodwin has been one of Idaho’s most successful volleyball coaches for more than 25 years. He was Wood River’s varsity head coach for 12 seasons from 1990-2001, piling up a 277-175 match record (.613 winning percentage) highlighted by five straight district titles and five consecutive 30-win seasons from 1994-98. He won seven district titles for Hailey.
For eight seasons from 2002-09, Goodwin was head coach for the Community School volleyball team. He also helped coach the Cutthroats to the school’s only state volleyball championship way back in 1984.
Here is a look at the new head coaches at Wood River:
New coach Carlos Meza
Carlos Meza, 54, father of three, has coached tennis for six years at Jerome High School—two years as an assistant and four years as head coach. He helped run an elementary school tennis program in Jerome called Quick Start. Meza also coached youth baseball, basketball and volleyball.
“Last year was the first year I missed out on the fun and excitement of coaching high school students in tennis,” said Meza. “Coaching high school tennis is one of my passions. Tennis players understand when I say I love the sport and I want to pass the game on to young people.”
An employee of Blaine County School District as a Woodside Elementary School social worker, Meza is an avid tennis player. He averages playing tennis twice a week and has participated in adult tennis leagues for 20 years. Carlos competes in local tennis tournaments including the Lyle Pearson holiday tournaments in Sun Valley.
Meza, originally from El Paso, Texas, has a master’s degree in Social Work from Worden School in San Antonio. He has been working in the educational system since 1989.
Rade said, “Carlos believes it is very important for players to be highly motivated to play tennis and to embrace the love for the sport of tennis. He works hard to instill these values in his student athletes.”
Track coach Melanie Schrader
Rade said, “Melanie brings great experience to the track program.”
A Wood River assistant track coach for five years, Schrader helps run a YMCA summer youth track and field club in the Wood River Valley.
She would like to increase participation numbers at Wood River High by building a team-centered track program that stretches from middle school through high school, Rade said.
Prior to coming to Hailey, Schrader was an assistant track coach at West Middle School in Nampa, and at Eagle High School. Melanie's Eagle jumpers assisted the boys to two state championships and the girls to one state championship in her two years at Eagle.
As a track competitor, Schrader won a state championship in long jump as a freshman in high school. She competed at Boise State University where she finished seventh overall in her conference as a heptathlete before switching to the 400m hurdle event.
Pound-for-pound one of the strongest collegiate athletes in the U.S., she was named an All-American by the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
Cage coach Matt Newhouse
Rade said, “As many of you know, Kevin Stilling and Mendy Benson stepped down as Wood River head and assistant girls basketball coaches to spend more time with their family. Kevin will remain as WRHS head football coach.”
New head girls’ coach is Matt Newhouse, 46, who has taught in many capacities since graduating in 1992 from the Univ. of Alaska-Fairbanks. He hails from Juneau, Ak. where he played high school basketball for Juneau Douglas before going to Salisbury State in Maryland for college hoops.
He has coached basketball in Fairbanks, Juneau and Angoon, Ak., and was boys’ varsity coach at Seattle (Wash.) Academy from 1996-98—earning “Coach of the Year” honors.
From 1998-2001 Newhouse was girls’ varsity coach at Holy Names Academy in Seattle, a private all-girls college prep school—including a “Coach of the Year” honor. In March 2011, the Academy's basketball team crowned an undefeated season (29–0) by winning the Washington state 3A girls championship—first in school history.
Newhouse was recently hired by Blaine County School District to replace Casey Kelly in the Wood River High School Special Education department while she takes a family medical leave in the coming year.
His most recent teaching assignment prior to being hired here was as a high school special education teacher in Lapeer, Mich. Newhouse was a girl’ varsity basketball coach from 2007-09 at Lapeer West.
Newhouse and his wife Heather along with children Levi, 11, and Sawyer, 7, moved to the valley last summer. He is now conducting open gym sessions with Wood River girls Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:30-7 p.m. at the high school.
Heidi Husbands will also join the staff as the head freshman girls’ basketball coach. J.C. Nemecek will continue to be the head girls’ JV coach and Krista Cater will be the assistant varsity coach.
