Eric Isley has taken over as the new head cross country coach at Pleasantville.

Isley will lead the boys and girls programs as former coach Aaron Fichter stepped down after last season after serving in that role for 13 seasons. Isley was a longtime assistant to Fichter and is also an assistant track and field coach so he is familiar with the program along with his athletes. Isley will inherit a young roster on both sides as the boys team just graduated one athlete last season in former state qualifier Kurt Kuhnen and the girls team graduated three. Isley tells KNIA/KRLS that being around the program the last several years has made it a smooth transition as he steps into the head coaching role.

“Since I’m not a teacher at this school it gave me a chance to get to know the current kids we have and spend some time with them over the last few years even helping with junior high back in the day. I definitely think we are continuing the same program we’ve been, we’re just changing a few things up and building a culture going forward.”

The Trojan cross country teams will have their first meet of the year on September 4th at West Central Valley.