MCHS Hires Track Coach

McDonald County High School has filled its coaching staff for the 2020-2021 school year with the addition of Ashleigh McFarland as girls’ track coach and boys’ and girls’ cross country coach.

“I am very excited to be joining the team at MCHS,” McFarland said. “It is great to be getting to start this summer working and meeting the staff and students I will get to work with, especially with everything going on.”

McFarland is a native of Texas, graduating from Rio Vista High School in 2011. She attended Missouri Southern State University where she received her bachelor’s degree. While at Southern, McFarland was a member of the MSSU track and field team for four years, receiving conference honors in the pole vault. She later received a master’s degree in athletic training from Texas A & M University.

She previously coached high school track at Joplin High School, as well as volleyball for the middle school. She served as a track and cross country trainer for Pittsburg State University in 2018, the year Pitt State won an indoor national championship.

“My goals for MCHS are to continue improving the competitive level of track and cross country,” McFarland said. “My hopes are to continue building the programs by taking cross country teams to compete at the state level and to build a women’s track program where it is more than just something they do in their free time. I want them to look toward being conference and district champions. Getting girls to compete at the state level for the track and field team is another goal I have. I hope to have an impact on the men’s team, as well, to build a dominant track and cross country program. These kids need someone to invest just as much into them as they expect from themselves. The best coaches I had were great because they were knowledgeable, but also because they believed in us more than we typically did ourselves. That is my goal for myself and for my athletes. I want to compete for championships and help kids reach their potential. I would like to provide that type of atmosphere within the program.”

McFarland said summer workouts began this week, as did her “contact days” with the cross country team. She said, with covid-19, it has been a slow start to the summer but she is glad to be able to get started at this time.

Bo Bergen, athletic director at MCHS, said he contacted McFarland upon the resignation of Henri Whitehead at the end of the 2019-2020 school year.

“I’m very excited to add Coach McFarland to our team,” Bergen said. “The experience she brings with her, both as an athlete and a coach, will be good for our athletes. She knows what it takes to compete at a high level and I have confidence that she will bring that knowledge to our cross country and track and field programs. I have enjoyed getting to know her over the past couple of months and I believe that she will be a great mentor for our kids — both in the classroom and on the athletic field. We are very excited to have her and I think she will fit right in.”

McFarland was approved by the board of education at its June 11 meeting.

“I am very thankful to the school board, Dr. Stanton (Mark Stanton, superintendent), Angie Brewer (high school principal) and Bo Bergen for choosing me to fill these positions,” McFarland said. “I am excited to be a McDonald County Mustang and can’t wait for the school year to get started.”