Sierra Grande hires Ben Sandy as boys and girls cross country coach

Photo courtesy of Sierra Grande High School

With a new cross country season comes a new coach for Sierra Grande. The school announced in an email to CHSAANow.com that it has hired Ben Sandy as the new cross country coach for both the boys and girls teams.

Sandy is also a physical education teacher at Sierra Grande.

His last coaching stop came at Dawson Community College in Glendive, Montana. He competed in both high school and in college. He was a Class 3A state champion in Wyoming his junior year and won nine Nebraska Iowa Athletic Conference titles while competing collegiately.

At the end of his career, he was a two-time NAIA All-American.

“We at Sierra Grande feel very fortunate to have such an outstanding mentor for our students and athletes,” athletic director Matt Lucero said in the email. “We are proud and fortunate to have him join our Panther Community.”

Practice for all cross country teams began this week and competition is slated to begin on Saturday.