Montague has welcomed back one of its most successful past runners as the new Wildcats' coach, as Cole Jensen has taken over the cross-country program from Joe Brunson.
Brunson stepped down earlier this summer from coaching both cross-country and track in order to accept a position at Holland Christian, where his kids attend school. Jensen, who ran at Calvin University and Hope College during his collegiate career, knew Brunson from occasionally doing offseason runs with the Wildcats during Brunson's time as coach and received a call from his predecessor encouraging him to apply.
Jensen graduated in 2019 and was an all-state performer as a Wildcat, and still holds the school record for a 5K run with his 15:54 at the 2018 GMAA meet. He viewed coaching as a great chance for him to stay connected to the sport. He credits his own Montague coach, Terry Fick, with inspiring him to get into coaching.
"He was an incredible influence on me when I was running at Montague," Jensen said of Fick. "Somewhere around my freshman or sophomore year (of college), I started to realize the impact he'd had on me, the kids around me and the community he created. I wanted to be part of creating and building a community like that and having relationships with runners about running. I love this sport the way he does, and I want to be part of that."
Jensen said he and Brunson were also able to connect over their love of the sport when their paths crossed. While the Wildcats' participation numbers aren't quite where they were when Jensen was helping make the team a West Michigan Conference contender, they remain strong, and Jensen attributes that to Brunson. He said the two have been in contact since Jensen got the job, as he's picked Brunson's brain for information and further inspiration.
"He was worried there'd only be 3-4 girls on the team this year, and lo and behold, my roster says there are 12," Jensen said. "That's all his work. I'm really excited to pick up where he left off. He'll be missing out on some athletes now that he'd be super proud of."
Jensen's goal is to build an athlete-driven program at Montague. His motivations in hoping his athletes can take the lead within the program are pragmatic as well as holistic; Jensen doesn't have a teaching position at the school and so won't be as easily able to recruit students to compete. He is currently running a small construction company, having taken a year after leaving school to learn the trades.
"In my experience at Calvin, at a school where coaches were really proficient at making sure their teams were well-prepared, regardless, the kids were in control of the team," Jensen said. "I believe having kids be the base of decisions on the team, outside of us coaches pointing in the right direction, is very important. They have a decision over where the team goes in the future. Their commitment attracts other kids."
Already Jensen has been pleased with the response from some of the athletes on the team, shouting out returner Brock Hunter specifically for putting in a lot of work.
"He stepped up this year in terms of his summer mileage," Jensen said. "There are a couple kids who have really stepped up and have been working hard. I'm really looking forward to seeing them progress and go places with it."
As fall approaches, Jensen is looking forward to his "schedule of chaos."
"I'm excited for the school year to start to get off work a little early and have a 3 p.m. practice," Jensen said. "I'm really excited to grow a couple relationships with the kids who are really interested in this sport and really want to get better at it and who are leaders on the team."
