Coaching Staff
Lonnie Speidel, Head Coach
Lonnie Speidel begins his 10th season as head track and field coach at Cornell College. He is also a fourth-year assistant on the cross country coaching staff.
Prior to coming to Cornell, Speidel spent three years at Illinois State University in Normal, Ill., (Aug. 1997-July 2000) which produced four Missouri Valley Conference championship teams and five MVC runner-up teams during his tenure as an assistant coach.
Speidel graduated from Mount Vernon (Ill.) High School in 1993 and Elmhurst (Ill.) College in 1997, earning a bachelor's degree in physical education while competing in cross country and track and field. He was team captain for the Bluejays during his senior campaign. He earned a master's degree in sports management from Illinois State in 2000.
Speidel has completed his USATF Level II certification for the sprint/hurdles/relays, jumps, endurance, and multi-event areas. He is also a USATF Certified Level I instructor.
Under Speidel, Cornell's track and field programs have set 97 school records in the past nine seasons. The Rams have crowned eight all-Americans, 39 NCAA provisional qualifiers, 15 Iowa Conference champions and 61 all-IIAC performers.
Cornell's track and field athletes also excel in the classroom. The 2009 women's track and field team was honored by the United States Track and Field Coaches Association as an all-Academic team.
Speidel resides in Lisbon with his wife, Keri, and sons, Baylor and Brody.
All-Americans
Rachelle Hawkins 2009 Indoor Mile Run (Eighth)
James Klobucar 2007 Outdoor 110 Hurdles (Sixth)
Lynn Schneider 2005 Outdoor Shot Put (Eighth)
Lynn Schneider 2005 Indoor Shot Put (Third)
Andy Stoecken 2004 Outdoor High Jump (Seventh)
Ean Caskey 2004 Indoor 800 Run (Eighth)
Andy Stoecken 2004 Indoor High Jump (Third)
Julie Carne 2002 Indoor 400 Dash (Seventh)
NCAA Provisional Qualifiers
Rachelle Hawkins 2009 Indoor Mile Run
Madison Craw 2009 Indoor Shot Put
Madison Craw 2009 Outdoor Shot Put
James Wohrley 2009 Decathlon
James Klobucar 2008 Outdoor 400 Hurdles
James Klobucar 2008 Decathlon
James Klobucar 2008 Indoor 55 Hurdles
Madison Craw 2008 Indoor Shot put
James Klobucar 2007 Outdoor 110 Hurdles
James Klobucar 2007 Decathlon
James Klobucar 2007 Indoor 55 Hurdles
Jessica Axen 2006 Outdoor 100 Hurdles
James Klobucar 2006 Indoor 55 Hurdles
Heather Axen 2006 Indoor Pole Vault
Heather Axen 2005 Outdoor Pole Vault
Lynn Schneider 2005 Outdoor Shot Put
Lynn Schneider 2005 Outdoor Hammer Throw
Lynn Schneider 2005 Outdoor Javelin Throw
Heather Axen 2005 Indoor Pole Vault
Brandi Rheberg 2005 Indoor Shot Put
Lynn Schneider 2005 Indoor Shot Put
Ean Caskey 2004 Outdoor 800 Run
Matt Ditch 2004 Outdoor Long Jump
Andy Stoecken 2004 Outdoor High Jump
Heather Axen 2004 Outdoor Pole Vault
Lynn Schneider 2004 Outdoor Shot Put
Lynn Schneider 2004 Outdoor Hammer Throw
Jaime Scholz 2004 Outdoor 3000 Steeplechase
Ean Caskey 2004 Indoor 800 Run
Andy Stoecken 2004 Indoor High Jump
Lynn Schneider 2004 Indoor Shot Put
Matt Ditch 2003 Outdoor Long Jump
Andy Stoecken 2003 Outdoor High Jump
Andy Stoecken 2003 Indoor High Jump
Dan McHugh 2002 Outdoor 400 Dash
Julie Carne 2002 Outdoor 400 Dash
Lynn Schneider 2002 Outdoor Hammer Throw
Julie Carne 2002 Indoor 400 Dash
Ian Benedict 2001 Outdoor 1500 Run
Iowa Conference Champions
James Wohrley 2009 Indoor Pentathlon (3,287 points)
James Klobucar 2008 Outdoor Decathlon (6,227 points)
James Klobucar 2008 Outdoor 400 Hurdles (54.08)
James Klobucar 2007 Indoor 55 Hurdles (7.71)
Jason Williams 2006 Outdoor Shot Put (44-8 1/4)
James Klobucar 2006 Indoor 55 Hurdles (7.71)
Lynn Schneider 2005 Outdoor Shot Put (43-3 ¼)
Heather Axen 2004 Outdoor Pole Vault (11-0) MEET RECORD
Andy Stoecken 2004 Indoor High Jump (6-10 ¾) MEET RECORD
Lynn Schneider 2004 Indoor Shot Put (44-4 ¾) MEET RECORD
Jaime Scholz 2004 Indoor 1,000 Run (3:08.06)
Matt Ditch 2003 Outdoor Long Jump (22-10)
Heather Axen 2003 Outdoor Pole Vault (10-4)
Ean Caskey 2003 Indoor 800 Run (1:57.05) MEET RECORD
Dan McHugh 2002 Outdoor 400 Dash (48.37)
Dan Schofer, Assistant Coach (distance)
Dan Schofer enters his fourth year as Cornell College head coach of men's and women's cross country and assistant coach of men's and women's track and field in 2009-2010.
A native of Wilmette, Ill., Schofer graduated magna cum laude from Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., in 2000 with a major in biology. He earned an MS degree in exercise physiology from the University of Oregon in December 2001. While at Oregon, he taught running and weight training courses in the physical education department, worked as a teaching assistant in the exercise physiology department, and competed for Team Eugene, a running club active in the Pacific Northwest.
In his first year at Cornell, Schofer was selected by the student-athlete advisory committee as the school's Coach of the Year, as he guided the women's cross country team to its best season in the program's history - fourth place at the Iowa Conference Championships with 2 all-IIAC performers. In his first 3 years with the cross country and track programs, Schofer has coached 11 all-IIAC performances. Under his guidance, the distance runners have set new school records in 11 different events.
Cornell's distance runners enjoyed a successful season in 2008-2009. Rachelle Hawkins became the school's first NCAA national qualifier in cross country since 1993. She finished her cross country career as a three-time all-IIAC and two-time all-region honoree. Hawkins earned all-America honors with her eighth-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in the mile. Her time of 4:58.08 is one of Hawkins' five individual school records. Andrew Tobben earned all-region honors in cross country for the second straight season and has been all-IIAC in both cross country and track in his first two years at Cornell.
At the 2009 IIAC Indoor Championships, the distance men earned all-IIAC honors in the 4x800 meter relay and set a new indoor school record in that event as well as in the distance medley relay. At the IIAC Outdoor Championships, the men scored twice in both the 10k (fifth and eighth) and 5k (sixth and eighth) and took fourth in the 800. All point scorers were freshmen and sophomores. In 2009, the distance women set new school records in the 4x800 relay and distance medley relay and six different women ran 11:13 or better in the 3,000 run.
The men's and women's teams enter the 2009-2010 year with solid recruiting classes and high expectations. The men return their entire roster from the previous year, while the women's squad features six freshmen and no seniors in its lineup.
Schofer came to Cornell from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., where he served for four years as assistant coach of men's and women's cross country and track and field. During his time at Rhodes, he helped coach 40 individual all-conference performances, one team and nine individual conference championships, one team and seven individual national qualifiers, and four all-American performances.
Schofer also served as assistant coach for the Carleton women's track and field program for the 2002 winter and spring seasons.
During his junior and senior years at Carleton, Schofer captained both the cross country and track and field teams. Additionally, he earned three most-improved awards, several all-conference citations, and qualified as an individual for the NCAA Cross Country Championships in the fall of 1999. Schofer has continued to train and compete at a high level since graduating from college.
Schofer has USA Track and Field Level II coaching certification and is a member of the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
"I have high expectations for the student-athletes in our program, in terms of discipline, hard work, sportsmanship, and citizenship. Participating in cross country and track at Cornell is one of the most demanding aspects of our students' college experience, but there is no question that it is also one of the most rewarding. From our fastest to our slowest runners, all members of our program enjoy the lifelong bonds of friendships formed and the satisfaction gained from working hard and improving as part of a competitive team."
Schofer and his wife, Marie, a competitive distance runner herself who works in Cornell's office of admission, live in Mount Vernon.
Kory Swart, Assistant Coach (sprints)
Swart begins his sixth season on Cornell's track and field staff, coaching the sprinters.
Swart earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of Northern Iowa in 1996 and received a master's from UNI in 1998. He was an accomplished two-sport athlete at UNI, competing in cross country and track and field. In track and field, Swart was a three-time all-Missouri Valley Conference performer in the distance medley relay and also earned all-conference recognition once in the mile run. He was a member of three MVC championship track and field teams and one conference team title in cross country.
Swart is a 1992 graduate of Belmond-Klemme High School, where he was a key figure on two conference championship track and field teams. He ran on Belmond-Klemme's state championship 4x800 relay as a junior and was state runner-up in the 800 and 1600 his senior season. Swart also placed fourth at the state cross country championships his senior year.
Swart is an assistant professor in mathematics at Kirkwood Community College. He and his wife, Conni, have two daughters, Laura and Kiersten.
Chad Compton, Assistant Coach (jumps/multi-events)
Compton, a native of Zimmerman, Minn., is in his fourth season as assistant coach at his alma mater.
Compton earned four letters each in cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field before graduating from Cornell in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in physics. He earned All-Iowa Conference honors in 2006 in the indoor 800-meter run, placing third with a time of 1 minute, 57.46 seconds. Compton was named Cornell's MVP in outdoor track and field in 2006 and was the most improved runner for the Rams in cross country in 2004. He was named all-conference in 2003 as a member of the third-place distance medley relay team in indoor track and field.
