Assistant cross country and track and field coach Amanda Kerno will have a few more duties added to her plate with a promotion from part-time coach to full-time heading into her fourth year at Gettysburg College.
Kerno takes over as the Bullets’ lead assistant and fills the void previously vacated by current Head Coach Bryson Hartzler. Hartzler took over the six men’s and women’s cross country and indoor/outdoor track and field programs following the retirement of long-time coach Aubrey Shenk following the 2019 cross country season.
“We are very excited to have Amanda transition into this full-time role here within our program,” said Hartzler. “Her time spent working with the distance program over the past three years has produced conference champions, school record holders and all-region performers. I look forward to seeing what she can continue to accomplish and add to our program in this elevated role.”
A former standout runner at Elizabethtown College, Kerno arrived at Gettysburg in the fall of 2018 as a part-time assistant with the cross country and track and field programs. Over the course of the last three seasons, the Bullets have racked up an all-region and all-conference performer in cross country and posted a total of 24 all-conference performances in the indoor and outdoor track and field campaigns. Gettysburg has set a pair of program records and student-athletes have posted a total of 61 top-10 performances in track and field.
Kerno has focused specifically on the distance events and witnessed Sam Sheldon ’20 earn all-conference and all-region honors in cross country in 2019 before breaking the program’s indoor record in the 5,000 meters in 2020. The pandemic wiped out the 2020 outdoor, 2020 cross country, and 2021 indoor seasons, but when Gettysburg returned to action this spring the team was more than ready, posting a total of 10 all-conference performances and managing 10 top-10 marks in the record book.
In addition to her increase input across the six programs, Kerno will also aid Hartzler in recruiting of prospective student-athletes and day-to-day planning.
Prior to Gettysburg, Kerno was a four-year member of the cross country and track and field teams at Elizabethtown. She was a three-time NCAA Division III Championship qualifier, two-time all-region performer, and three-time all-conference honoree in cross country. On the track, she was named All-Middle Atlantic Conference First Team after a third-place finish in the 5,000 meters at the conference indoor meet and was tagged all-conference second team in both the 5,000 and 10,000 outdoors as a senior.
Kerno, who is an A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer, graduated from Elizabethtown with a degree in psychology in January 2015.
Gettysburg returns to the cross country course this fall with a race against the alumni on Saturday, Aug. 28, at 10:45 a.m. The first intercollegiate meet is set for Friday, Sept. 3, at 8:45 p.m. at Shippensburg University.
This story was originally posted on the Gettysburg College Website.