CSR (Longtime Calvin Men's Basketball Assistant Named Head Men's Basketball Coach at Waynesburg College)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR April 9, 2009 (Part Two)

Longtime Calvin Assistant Basketball Coach Accepts Head Men's Basketball Spot
At Waynesburg College

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Longtime Calvin men’s basketball assistant coach Mark Christner has been named
the head men’s basketball coach at Waynesburg College in Waynesburg,
Pennsylvania. A native of Big Rapids, Christner will take over the helm of a
Waynesburg program that is an NCAA Division III institution and a member of the
President’s Athletic Conference. Waynesburg is a private Christian University
located south of Pittsburgh that was founded by the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church.
Calvin’s junior varsity men’s basketball coach the last eight years, Christner
is the third assistant coach under current Calvin head men’s basketball coach
Kevin Vande Streek to accept a head collegiate coaching post in men’s
basketball. Other former Vande Streek assistants to have accepted head coaching
jobs include Chris Fear at Dana College in 2000 and Tim Walker in 2002 at
Trinity Christian College.
Fear is still currently the head men’s basketball coach at Dana College and
the school’s Associate Director of Athletics. Walker recently accepted the head
men’s basketball coaching job at Malone College after a successful tenure at
Trinity Christian College. Walker recently concluded his first full year as
head coach at Malone College.
“I am very excited for Mark and I think he will do an outstanding job as head
men’s basketball coach at Waynesburg,” said Vande Streek. “Mark has all of the
intangibles you look for in a head coach. Most importantly, he is a man of
integrity and character and those principles will help him succeed in his new
post.”
According to Vande Streek, Christner did everything a head coach must do
during his time as an assistant with the Calvin men’s basketball program. “Mark
did everything while he was an assistant coach for us,” said Vande Streek. “He
put together practice plans, he recruited, he organized our tip-off tournament
every year and served as our head junior varsity coach at the same time. On
most days, he was at both the varsity and junior varsity practices. He
committed an incredible amount of time and was very hands-on with everything he
did with our program.”
Seeing Christner leave is also bittersweet said Vande Streek. “This is a
wonderful new step for Mark but it is hard to see him go,” he said. “Mark has
become a close friend and when a close friend leaves, there is some sadness but
at the same time, I am very happy for him.”
Having another member of his coaching tree move into the head coaching ranks
is also pleasing to Vande Streek. “I am really proud of the guys who have moved
on to head coaching jobs,” said Vande Streek of Fear, Walker and Christner. “I
think Calvin helped prepare all three of them to be a head coach. I also think
having experience at Calvin College on their resume’s made them appealing to
other institutions. There is no question that Calvin College carries a lot of
positive noteriety, particularly when it comes to athletics.”
During his eight years (2002-2010) as an assistant men’s coach and head men’s
junior varsity coach at Calvin, Christner helped lead the Knights to four
berths in the NCAA Division III national tournament. During his time on the
bench, Calvin posted an overall record of 158-73 and won three Michigan
Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) regular season titles. Over that
same stretch, the Knights won three MIAA tournament titles and advanced all the
way to the NCAA Division III Final Four in 2005.
Prior to working with the men’s team, Christner broke in as a coach at Calvin
with the women’s basketball team from 1999 to 2002. In 2000, the Calvin women
made it all the way to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16.
Christner earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1999 from Calvin, where he
majored in history and minored in physical education with emphasis in coaching.
While a student at Calvin, he was a three-year member of the Calvin men’s
basketball program and served as a student assistant men’s basketball coach
during his senior year. He later went on to earn a Master of Arts degree in
physical education with a pedagogy emphasis in 2005 from Western Michigan.
He is also an experienced teacher. Christner was a Health, Physical Education,
Recreation, Dance, & Sport (HPERDS) instructor at Calvin from 2006 until he
left the school, and was an adjunct instructor in the same program from 2004 to
2006. He also spent four years (2000-2004) as a social studies teacher at both
the Creston Christian School and the Holy Spirit School in Grand Rapids.
Christner is married to 2000 Calvin College graduate Sara (Plasman) Christner.
They are the parents of a son and daughter.
 
Received on Sat Apr 10 00:11:52 2010