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It's our privilege to serve as coaches to the Austin Champions!
Head Coach - Joy Hilscher
Joy has faithfully served as a leading coach for homeschool XC and track in the Austin area for over 15 years! Since she was 10 years old and running with her Dad, Joy has hardly missed a week of running, even through 7 pregnancies. As a high schooler in Michigan, Joy was a leader on two high school state champion xc teams. In track, she also won the 800 meter dash at the State Meet in 2:17. She attended Hillsdale College and was a 4 year letter winner in XC and Track. She was an All American on the track in both the 1500 meters (indoors and outdoors) and 1000 meter run (indoors). She also ran the anchor leg on the Distance Medley Relay squad, which won the NAIA national meet. After school, Joy finished a couple of Marathons (winning women's overall at the Arkansas Marathon), and she can still be seen nearly every morning zipping around area trails and neighborhood streets. In fact, she was well-known in the Stone Canyon neighborhood as being "that pregger runner".
When she isn't running and coaching, Joy manages a full household of seven kids (and husband, Jay, too)! Though three (Austin, Grace, and Will) are now adults living independently, it still feels like quite the busy household. Joy is co-Race Director for the Texas Independence Relay, and Joy, Jay, and family are members at Hill Country Bible Church in Cedar Park.
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Coach and Ombudsman - Matt Manly
Like Joy, Matt has coached for well over a decade! Matt ran for Cedar Park High School from 2005 to 2008 and was a leading runner in XC and in the 1600 and 3200 meters on the track. Matt went on to run collegiately at TCU, winning varsity letters in XC and track and scoring in the Big 12 conference 10,000 meters in both his Junior and Senior years. Just a handful of years ago, Matt finished in the top 10 overall at the Capitol 10K!
Besides training runners, Matt has excelled in training Abby, his young Rhodesian Ridgeback! Matt can also boast as one of the preeminent cannoneers in Texas. 🙂
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Coach and Athletic Supporter - Jay Hilscher
After realizing the odds of going pro in football, basketball, or baseball were not favorable, Jay turned to running in his Junior year in high school (Westwood). He made it to the State Meet in XC and ran 4:21 in the 1600 meters as a Senior. Hillsdale College is where Jay met Joy, and likewise he was also an All-American in XC and track. After school, Jay ran a handful of marathons near 2:30 with a best of 2:27. Jay was a three time consecutive winner in the Corporate Sports Battle 5K which were all televised on ESPN. Ironically, his "claim to fame" running-wise came as a result of giving a very editable interview in which ESPN could not help themselves from exploiting! 🙂 Jay believes that he may have run more miles with a baby jogger than just about anyone, but no manufacturer has reached out to him yet.
Jay is Race Director of the Texas Independence Relay, a 200 mile running relay event that starts in Gonzales, TX, and finishes in Houston. Jay steadfastly stood by Joy through the birth of their 7 children, and he also attends Hill Country Bible with the fam.
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Fresh Legs Coach - John Rivers
John just recently finished High School when the Rivers family reached Austin (from northern California) a couple of years ago, but he was able to step right in as a young coach who was really able to hit it off with many Champions! He is tremendous at being able to make it to SEVERAL different spots to coach Champions in their XC meets. Also, his own running and training is impressive. This past year, he finished at the front of both the Austin 3M Half Marathon (1:14:58) and the Austin Marathon (2:44:48)! John also qualified for the 2023 Boston Marathon and will be running it in the Spring! Good luck, John!
John indeed appears to be tireless as he balances coaching with serving as a waiter, going to school, and going to all the coffee shops!
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Young Mama Coach - Hailey Hoskins
We are thrilled that Hailey came from the Champions program and is now demonstrating the ability to excellently coach! In just the past couple of years, Hailey has gotten married (to Andrew Hoskins, another Champion alumni) and has had a baby, so she is young Mama Coach! In fact, Hailey volunteered to coach one morning and then later that day went into labor to deliver her baby daughter, proving that she knows how to roll as a Champions coach!
Every homeschooler from 5th to 12th grade is invited to run with us! We hope and trust every runner, whether they are highly advanced in their running and looking to run collegiately or they are brand new to running and exploring exercising for the first time, will feel warmly welcomed. They will be coached according to where they are at in their fitness journey. While we do encourage the Champions to run well, it's more important to us that they are able to enjoy God and His creation while they spend time outside and that they experience lasting bonds of friendship that happen through sport. We look forward to running with you (or your young one)!
It's our privilege to serve as coaches to the Austin Champions!
Head Coach - Joy Hilscher
Joy has faithfully served as a leading coach for homeschool XC and track in the Austin area for over 15 years! Since she was 10 years old and running with her Dad, Joy has hardly missed a week of running, even through 7 pregnancies. As a high schooler in Michigan, Joy was a leader on two high school state champion xc teams. In track, she also won the 800 meter dash at the State Meet in 2:17. She attended Hillsdale College and was a 4 year letter winner in XC and Track. She was an All American on the track in both the 1500 meters (indoors and outdoors) and 1000 meter run (indoors). She also ran the anchor leg on the Distance Medley Relay squad, which won the NAIA national meet. After school, Joy finished a couple of Marathons (winning women's overall at the Arkansas Marathon), and she can still be seen nearly every morning zipping around area trails and neighborhood streets. In fact, she was well-known in the Stone Canyon neighborhood as being "that pregger runner".
When she isn't running and coaching, Joy manages a full household of seven kids (and husband, Jay, too)! Though three (Austin, Grace, and Will) are now adults living independently, it still feels like quite the busy household. Joy is co-Race Director for the Texas Independence Relay, and Joy, Jay, and family are members at Hill Country Bible Church in Cedar Park.
------
Coach and Ombudsman - Matt Manly
Like Joy, Matt has coached for well over a decade! Matt ran for Cedar Park High School from 2005 to 2008 and was a leading runner in XC and in the 1600 and 3200 meters on the track. Matt went on to run collegiately at TCU, winning varsity letters in XC and track and scoring in the Big 12 conference 10,000 meters in both his Junior and Senior years. Just a handful of years ago, Matt finished in the top 10 overall at the Capitol 10K!
Besides training runners, Matt has excelled in training Abby, his young Rhodesian Ridgeback! Matt can also boast as one of the preeminent cannoneers in Texas. 🙂
-----
Coach and Athletic Supporter - Jay Hilscher
After realizing the odds of going pro in football, basketball, or baseball were not favorable, Jay turned to running in his Junior year in high school (Westwood). He made it to the State Meet in XC and ran 4:21 in the 1600 meters as a Senior. Hillsdale College is where Jay met Joy, and likewise he was also an All-American in XC and track. After school, Jay ran a handful of marathons near 2:30 with a best of 2:27. Jay was a three time consecutive winner in the Corporate Sports Battle 5K which were all televised on ESPN. Ironically, his "claim to fame" running-wise came as a result of giving a very editable interview in which ESPN could not help themselves from exploiting! 🙂 Jay believes that he may have run more miles with a baby jogger than just about anyone, but no manufacturer has reached out to him yet.
Jay is Race Director of the Texas Independence Relay, a 200 mile running relay event that starts in Gonzales, TX, and finishes in Houston. Jay steadfastly stood by Joy through the birth of their 7 children, and he also attends Hill Country Bible with the fam.
-----
Fresh Legs Coach - John Rivers
John just recently finished High School when the Rivers family reached Austin (from northern California) a couple of years ago, but he was able to step right in as a young coach who was really able to hit it off with many Champions! He is tremendous at being able to make it to SEVERAL different spots to coach Champions in their XC meets. Also, his own running and training is impressive. This past year, he finished at the front of both the Austin 3M Half Marathon (1:14:58) and the Austin Marathon (2:44:48)! John also qualified for the 2023 Boston Marathon and will be running it in the Spring! Good luck, John!
John indeed appears to be tireless as he balances coaching with serving as a waiter, going to school, and going to all the coffee shops!
-----
Young Mama Coach - Hailey Hoskins
We are thrilled that Hailey came from the Champions program and is now demonstrating the ability to excellently coach! In just the past couple of years, Hailey has gotten married (to Andrew Hoskins, another Champion alumni) and has had a baby, so she is young Mama Coach! In fact, Hailey volunteered to coach one morning and then later that day went into labor to deliver her baby daughter, proving that she knows how to roll as a Champions coach!
Every homeschooler from 5th to 12th grade is invited to run with us! We hope and trust every runner, whether they are highly advanced in their running and looking to run collegiately or they are brand new to running and exploring exercising for the first time, will feel warmly welcomed. They will be coached according to where they are at in their fitness journey. While we do encourage the Champions to run well, it's more important to us that they are able to enjoy God and His creation while they spend time outside and that they experience lasting bonds of friendship that happen through sport. We look forward to running with you (or your young one)!
