Sports Reporter
ksparkhu@mavs.coloradomesa.edu
Hiring new coaches is no easy feat.
The Athletic Department hired two while transitioning into a new era under Tom Spicer as Athletic Director.
After 17 years as the men’s basketball coach, Jim Heaps moved into an assistant A.D. position, leaving a large hole in CMU’s coaching staff. However, it didn’t take much thought from Spicer to find a replacement when he chose Heaps’ assistant coach Andy Shantz to step into the role.
Shantz came to play basketball at Mesa State in 1994 from San Diego. After a successful career as a player, he joined the coaching staff as an assistant and for the next 17 years (an eternity in collegiate coaching standards) Shantz managed recruiting for the team along with his coaching duties.
“I’m not going to lie, I had looked elsewhere for coaching opportunities,” Shantz said. “I consider myself to be loyal and I was committed to this program and coach Heaps from the day I arrived on campus as a freshman… it’s like a family.”
Shantz inherits a team that went 18-10 and made it to the second round of the RMAC tournament before falling to the D2 national runner up, Metro State.
“There’s a lot to get excited about with this team, we have a few key returning guys and I feel we did a great job getting a few new young guys to the program,” Shantz said.
Last season, first-year coach Taylor Wagner lead the women’s basketball team to the Elite 8 in the D2 National Tournament after a 31-2 record leaving high expectations for any incoming coaches this season. When asked if he thinks he can emulate that success, Shantz laughed, “We have a great group of guys right now who are all dedicated and excited for this season,” he said. “It’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
The time Shantz spent as an assistant will make the transition to head coach easier, meanwhile, however, the transition for new cycling coach Patric Rostel may take a little more time.
Rostel, 27, came to Colorado Mesa in 2009 from Germany on a cycling scholarship. Rostel, primarily focusing on road cycling, was made an assistant after his first year racing.
Durng last season, cycling coach Rick Crawford stepped down from the position after admitting to have been involved with doping during his professional cycling career. The move left the team, who is ranked among the top cycling programs in the nation, coach-less with 3 championship races remaining.
Scott Mercier, former professional cyclist and CMU’s Cycling Director, oversaw the program soon after and Rostel was promoted from assistant to interim head coach in December leading the Mavericks to the top ranking in collegiate cycling.
“I had never planned on being a head coach,” Rostel said with a laugh. “I was encouraged by Scott Mercier to apply for the job. He thought I would be a good fit and, fortunately, the school thought so as well.”
The transition from athlete to coach varies in difficulty with the different sports, but Rostel explained it is rather difficult in cycling.
“As a racer, you know your body and you can feel it and know what areas you need to train,” Rostel said. ”But as a coach, you can say, ‘you need to train this and this and this,’ but everybody is different. From the outside, it looks way easier, but you have to have a lot of tactics and understand the dynamics of the race.”
As an assistant, Rostel was still able to ride with his teammates and coach them along the way. As the head coach, however, he will have to coach from the side, but he says he has a lot to be excited about, including defending their national title.
“I’m really looking forward to being able to defend,” Rostel said. “We brought in a lot of great new kids this year who are going to be working hard to make sure we do.”
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