CSR (Calvin College Names Bret Otte Head Men's/Women's Track & Field Coach)

Calvin Sports Report for August 13, 2009
      

Calvin College Names Bret Otte Head Men's and Women's Track and Field Coach

GRAND RAPIDS -- Calvin College has named Bret Otte as its head men's and
women's track and field coach. Otte has spent the last 11 years serving as head
men's and women's cross country coach and head men's and women's track and
field coach at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Otte replaces Dr.
Jong-il Kim who has decided to step down as Calvin's head men's and women's
track and field coach to devote more time to his teaching as an associate
professor in Calvin’s Health, Physical Education, Recreation Dance and Sport
department and coaching of specific events as a coach with Calvin’s track and
field program. Kim will remain as an assistant coach with both Calvin teams.
Kim will also continue to serve as an assistant coach with the Calvin women's
soccer team and as an associate professor in Calvin’s HPERD’s department.

Kim has served as head coach of the Calvin men's track and field team since
the fall of 1997 and as head coach of the Calvin women's track and field team
since the fall of 2002. During his tenure as head coach, Kim led the Calvin
men's track and field team to 12 MIAA championships and the Calvin women's
track and field team to eight league crowns. With 20 league titles under his
watch, Kim is ranked 11th among all MIAA coaches for most championships won.
During his tenure at Calvin, Kim has been named Division III National Outdoor
Track and Field Coach of the Year four times receiving the men's award in 2003
and the women's award in 2002, 2003 and 2005.

"I want to thank Dr. Kim for his many years of service as Calvin men's and
women's track and field coach," said Calvin director of women's athletics Dr.
Nancy Meyer. "He has done a phenomenal job directing our track and field
program and we are thankful that he will continue to serve our program as an
assistant coach."

Director of Calvin men's athletics Dr. Jim Timmer Jr. echoed Meyer's comments.
"We are all thankful to Dr. Kim for his years of service and I am pleased that
he will remain with the track and field program. Our track and field programs
have a rich tradition of athletic and academic accomplishment as well as
spiritual leadership. Dr. Kim has been a big part of that tradition and
leadership and I again want to thank him for all of his efforts."

A 1990 Calvin College graduate, Otte is no stranger to the Calvin program as
he was a four-year letterwinner on the Calvin men's track and field team from
1986-to-1989, competing as a sprinter on Calvin teams that won MIAA titles in
1987, 1988 and 1989. He later served as an assistant coach with the Calvin
men's and women's track and field teams in 1995 and 1996 while earning his
Master's Degree in physical education from Central Michigan University. Otte
worked closely with Calvin's sprinters and hurdlers and helped Holly Breuker
win a national title in the 400 meter hurdles at the 1996 NCAA III Outdoor
Track and Field Championships. Otte is also no stranger to West Michigan as he
hails from Wyoming and is a graduate of Grandville Calvin Christian High School
where he was a varsity letterwinner in football and in track and field.

Otte's coaching expertise has been honed from learning from coaches from
around the world. After graduating from Calvin in 1990, Otte and his wife
Lorraine moved to Ontario where he taught and coached at Beacon Christian High
School. While there, he earned a Level III Coaching License in track and field
from the Canadian National Institute of Sport. While living near Toronto, Otte
was able to learn from several international coaches who had centered
themselves in Canada. "After the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, there were
many international coaches that chose to remain in Canada and live in Toronto,"
said Otte. "I took advantage of the opportunity to learn as much as I could
from them while I was there. That (Toronto) experience helped spur me on to
become a collegiate track and field coach."

After receiving his Master's Degree from Central Michigan in 1996, Otte
accepted an assistant coaching position with the Central Michigan women's track
and field program. He later served as an assistant track and field coach at
Illinois State before accepting the head cross country and track and field
positions at Geneva College in 1998.

At Geneva, Otte took over cross country and track and field programs that were
thin in roster size and built them up to highly competitive levels. His women's
cross country teams were twice ranked in the NAIA top 25 and he sent numerous
distance runners to the NAIA Cross Country Championships. Otte also sent
numerous Geneva track and field athletes on to the NAIA Championships. In 2003,
he led the Geneva women's track and field team to its first American Mideast
Conference title. He then led Geneva in its transition to becoming an NCAA III
institution and as a member of the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (PAC).

"We are very pleased that Bret Otte has accepted the head men's and women's
track and field coaching position," said Meyer. "He has extensive experience as
both a men's and women's track and field coach and I am confident that he we
will do a fantastic job."

According to Timmer, Otte has a passion for his alma mater that is readily
apparent. "Bret is a highly skilled coach with years of experience," said
Timmer. "I think the thing that stands out the most about him however is his
love for Calvin College. He understands the mission of our institution
wholeheartedly. When you have an individual like that working for you, it is a
blessing. We are looking forward to working with Bret for years to come."

A return to his alma mater has Otte brimming with excitement.

"I am extremely excited to come back to Calvin College," said Otte. "In some
ways it is a bittersweet transition for me and my family as Geneva College has
a very special place in our hearts and we are sad to leave friends and
colleagues. At the same time, Calvin College also has a special place in our
hearts and in many ways, I can already see where God has led me back to my alma
mater. I am eagerly looking forward to the opportunities that the Lord has
presented to me here at Calvin."

In addition to serving as Calvin's head men's and women's track and field
coach, Otte will also serve as a faculty member in the Calvin Health, Physical
Education, Recreation, Dance and Sport department.

"I am just as excited about becoming a faculty member as I am as a coach,"
said Otte. "I love to learn and Calvin College is a wonderful place to learn. I
look forward to learning from my students. I look forward to learning from
events like the (Calvin) January Series and I look forward to learning from my
colleagues."

Otte and his wife Lorraine have four children – Andre, 15, Jacob, 12,
Brenna, 10, and Jordan, 8.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Wed Aug 12 23:15:50 2009