Raymond Antel III has been hired as head coach of the boys’ cross-country team at Wayland High School this fall.
Antel, currently head coach of the Wildcat girls’ track team, succeeds Steve Harcourt, who guided the Wayland boys for a quarter of a century. Harcourt retired from teaching math and coaching this past spring at the end of the academic year.
Sue Brewer will continue to coach the Wayland High School girls’ cross country squad. She posted on Facebook, “I would like to extend a warm Wayland Wildcat welcome to Coach Ray Antel to the cross country team. Coach Antel is officially the Wayland Wildcat Boys Varsity X-C Coach! I’m looking forward to working alongside you my friend!”
Antel certainly is no stranger to distance running. He was coach at Kelloggsville High School when Nicole Bush won three consecutive individual state championships and he coached at East Kentwood after that. Bush went on to be national collegiate champion in the steeplechase.
Antel’s Lady Rockets Kelloggsville team won the Division 3 state championship in 2000. At East Kentwood, his Lady Falcons finished third in the state Division 1 meet in 2008. He turned in 13 years of coaching cross country at Kelloggsville and 11 years at East Kentwood.
Antel has coached the girls’ track team for the past two seasons at Wayland. His wife, Jennifer, is a member of the Wayland City Council and a junior high cross country and track coach at Wayland.
“I know I can never replace Coach Steve Harcourt,” Antel commented on Facebook. “It is my honor to follow in his footsteps. He was one of the first friends I made in the coaching world, 25 years ago.”
Harcourt coached a large number of state qualifiers and several of his teams won O-K Gold Conference championships.
“I can now rest easy knowing the team is in good hands!” the retiring coach commented on Facebook. I remember the first time I ever met him at a Wayland C-C meet. So much positive energy. Enjoy coaching the Wildcats!”
PHOTOS: Ray Antel Steve Harcourt and “Sparty”
