Baily named CSC head track and field coach

WSC Head Track & Field Coach Resigns; Named CSC Head Coach 

Western State College head track and field coach Ryan Baily has been named the head coach at Chadron State College.  Baily who resigned from WSC after five years at the helm, will start his position with the Eagles in June.

Baily replaces John Reiners, who resigned in February.

Baily is a native of Scottsbluff and a graduate of Chadron State, where he lettered four years both indoors and outdoors in track and field.

"Ryan is going to be a great addition to our staff," Smith said. "You can't ever replace a man like John Reiners, but Ryan is right up there with John's caliber. Ryan has had a great coaching career at Western State, as well as a successful career as a student-athlete at CSC. He's an exciting young coach and everyone here is excited to have him back."

Coaching assistants Michael Gusbeth and Matt Sparks will join Baily in his move to Chadron State.  Baily noted that the move will enable them to attend graduate school while still being able to coach.

Willie Hoffman, who served as interim head coach, will remain with the CSC program an assistant coach. Baily said he's eager to begin working with Hoffman. The two have worked track and field camps in the past and were teammates at CSC from 1998-2001.

"Coach Reiners did a wonderful job of building the program and it was because of him that I have such an interest in Chadron State," Baily said. "I had the opportunity to be a part of it and I want to keep building on the success that Coach Reiners and Coach Hoffman have had and take it to another level. I have ambitions to win conference and national titles.

"To have an opportunity to coach at my alma mater is very special and it's close to family. The community and school support from Chadron is extraordinary and I'm excited to get to work."

Baily, a Chadron State graduate and former track athlete, helped turn Western State into one of the premier programs in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Since 2005, Western State has had nearly 30 All-Americans and three national champions. Baily's teams have had plenty of success, too. The Western State women have placed third or better in the past four RMAC Championships, and the Western State men's team won the 2008 indoor title and claimed four runner-up finishes since 2007.

Baily is a two-time RMAC Coach of the Year and he was also the North Central Regional Coach of the Year in 2008.

"We appreciate the impact that Ryan had on our track and field programs and we wish he and his family the best as they embark on a new chapter in their lives," remarked Greg Waggoner, Western State athletic director.

Baily was an outstanding middle distance runner at Scottsbluff High School. He graduated from Chadron State in 2003 and was the RMAC champion in the decathlon in 2001. He was also all-conference in 2000 and 2003.

Before coaching at Western State, Baily worked as a graduate assistant at Cumberland College in Willamsburg, Ky., where he received a master's degree in special education.

Baily and his wife, Janel, have one daughter, Jayden Renee, 15 months. The couple is expecting a boy in July.