Coaches honored by Wyoming peers

It was a successful year for Saratoga Middle High School (SMHS) as two of their teams returned from state tournaments as State Champions. 

Last fall, the 2A Boys Cross Country Team returned home as the 2A State Champions and freshman twin brothers Grant and Grady Bartlett returned home State Champion and State Runner-up, respectively. This spring, the Saratoga Panthers fought their way to be 1A State Basketball Champions for the first time in school history.

On June 29, coaches for both programs were honored by the Wyoming Coaches Association (WCA). Rex and Mary Hohnholt, coach and assistant coach for Saratoga Cross Country, were awarded the 2A Coach of the Year Award. Jason Williams, head coach for the Panthers, was awarded 1A Coach of the Year Award and the 20 Year Coaching Award.

While Mary Hohnholt was not present to accept the award, Rex and Jason were. As a sign of their humility as coaches, the two credited their families and those they coached as to their reasons for winning the awards.

“The kids that I coach, the boys that I coach, make it worthwhile. Then, having my wife and family to support everything I do. Couldn’t and wouldn’t want to do all this without them,” said Williams. “It’s a reflection of them—my family and of the kids that I’ve coached—not just this year, but in years past. They’re the ones that make me keep wanting to come back.” 

“There’s not a lot of kids that do what our kids do and that’s make a lot of sacrifices for one another. They don’t care how they run on a particular day, especially State Championship, as long as they have a chance to win it,” said Hohnholt. “They really do a lot of things because of each other and that’s why we do what we do. It’s to see how you can mold that group into a team.”

For Williams, it is important to him that an entire season doesn’t come down to just one game or one weekend’s worth of games and he doesn’t have the goal of “State Championship or Bust.” Yet, for Hohnholt, the State Championship is a goal set for the cross country team each year. The 2A Boys Cross Country team have come home as State Champions three of the last four years having won in 2016, 2018 and 2019.

“There’s a lot of individualism to this sport, no doubt about it, but you can ask each one those kids; those accolades that are individual, those kind of dissipate over time. That team championship, when they talk into a gymnasium 20 years from now and say ‘I was a part of that, that that.’ That’s the part that sticks with me,” Hohnholt said.

“We want to enjoy the journey and enjoy the process along the way and whatever that last weekend brings, hope that we’ve given everything that we have leading up to it. That’s really what we did this year, we just felt like we were getting better all along and that it was a fun ride. Going into the State Tournament, we just felt like we’re going to try to play three good games and just see what happens,” Williams said. “I think that’s what we’re going to be doing next year.”

In both cases, the coaches feel like they are able to point to shining moments in their respective programs. For Hohnholt, it was the teamwork shown by the long-distance runners he coached in the fall and the leadership displayed by two-time state champion Jarom Herring. During the season, Herring would often encourage the Bartlett twins to push ahead of him.

“That says a lot for your program when you see your two-time state champion encourage others,” said Hohnholt.

“We’re very grateful for our fans and parents. I’m the one out front getting the award but it really goes to so many more people,” said Williams. “My family, the boys that put in the time and the community. We’re just really grateful to be a part of such a great community.”

According to the Wyoming Coaches Association website, members of the WCA are able to nominate, vote and be Coach of the Year. In the first year that a coach wins the award, they are presented with a ring. If they are awarded in subsequent years, they receive a plaque. State Championship and State Runner-Up winners are automatically nominated for this award.

Williams was presented with a ring while Rex and Mary Hohnholt were presented with plaques by WCA Past President Mike Lashley.