The College of St. Scholastica

 
Steve Pfingsten – Men's and Women's Cross Country Coach – 1978-79, 1994-2015
After 26 seasons coaching cross country at St. Scholastica, Steve Pfingsten announced his retirement in February of this year. Pfingsten is the only coach to be part of the St. Scholastica Athletics Department for four of its first five decades. In 1978, Pfingsten was hired as the school's first head cross country coach. In addition to his coaching duties, he was hired as a full-time instructor in the Management Department at St. Scholastica in 1979 and then served as a professor and chair (for five years) in the Education Department from 1982-2008. Under the guidance of Coach Pfingsten, six teams and 20 individuals have competed in National Cross Country Championships. The Saints won 22 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) championships in the past 14 years and earned a total of 149 all-conference awards and 11 individual championships. Pfingsten was named the UMAC Coach of the Year 20 times. In 2013 he coached Chelsea Johnson to the school's first-ever NCAA Division III National Championship in any sport.