Paradise Valley Community Women's Cross Country

Barney's Pumas have 27 times been in the top 10 at the NJCAA National meet. Numerous PVCC athletes have excelled individually, capturing 42 Individual National Championships and 116 All-American awards. Coach Barney grew up in Arizona and has strong ties to its running community. He was a state cross country and track and field champion, as well as junior college national champion. Following his days as an All-American athlete at the University of Arkansas, he returned to Arizona. He competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials four times and twice represented the U.S.A. in the world championships as a member of the U.S. National Team. He has been named NJCAA Cross Country National Coach of the Year seven times and was named Indoor Track and Field National Coach of the Year in 2002. In 2012, was honored as an inductee into the Arizona Runners Hall of Fame (along with Olympians Jesse Owens, Herman Frazier, and Lynn Nelson). Currently, he lives in Scottsdale with his wife Tracy and their six children, Michael, Meghan, Matthew, Jonathan, Elizabeth, and Rachel. Brian Batliner joined the Puma Track & Field program as a co-head coach for the 2014-2015 academic year. Prior to joining the Pumas, Brian spent six seasons as an assistant coach with the Johnson County CC Cavaliers cross country and track programs in Overland Park, Kansas. For five of those season, Brian directed the JCCC jumps and multis program, coaching athletes in the long jump, triple jump, high jump, pole vault, and multi-events. In 2016, Brian will enter his seventh season of coaching jumpers and multi-event athletes. Under his guidance, athletes have produced 99 NJCAA National Championships qualifying marks, six National Runner-Up performances, six NJCAA All-America Performances, 34 NJCAA Coaches All-American Performances, and have reached the National Podium (top eight) 42 times. Brian is passionate about the sport of track and field and has put forth efforts to grow the sport in the community and beyond. While in Kansas he spent four years helping coach the Johnson County Comets, one of the largest youth track clubs in the state, and also directed multiple clinics and camps that provided learning opportunities for youth and high school athletes. He has been a speaker at both the Arizona and Kansas High School Coaches Clinics and currently is a clinic coach for Sky Athletics Pole Vault as well as being on staff for both the Kiss The Sky Summer Camp and the Reno Pole Vault Summit. Brian was a student-athlete at University of Missouri Kansas City, Western State College and JCCC. As a Junior College Athlete, he was a five-time All-American, five-time All-Region VI performer, seven-time All-Kansas Jayhawk Conference performer, and two-time conference indoor champion in the mile. Brian earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at UMKC in 2008. In 2010, he earned a Level 1 coaching certificate from USATF. He is currently completing an MS in health, physical education and recreation from Emporia State University. Nick Candrea was born in White Plains, New York, and then moved to New Orleans, Louisiana where he lived until 1960 when he then made his new home in Phoenix, Arizona. Upon graduation from Sunnyslope High School, he then went to Glendale Community College on a baseball scholarship. After 2 years at GCC he spent 4 years in the United States Air Force. He then attended ASU and completed his degree in education. His first high school teaching was at Moon Valley High School where he spent one year as a member of the Physical Education Department as well as coaching football and baseball. His past thirty years have been spent at Washington High School where he has been Head of the Physical Education Department and during those years he has coached football, has been the Head Baseball coach for 28 years, Head Softball coach and Head Golf coach. He has coached two State Championship teams: 1986 Baseball Championship and 1988 Golf Championship. In Nick's tenure of teaching and coaching he has accomplished the following: Skyline Region Coach of the Year in baseball, softball, and golf. 1986 he was the Arizona Baseball Coach of the Year. He has been North All-Star Baseball Coach 4 times. He was inducted into the Arizona Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2008. Prior to taking over the Softball program he was the mens Golf coach at PVCC. Nick currently lives in Peoria, Arizona with his wife Staci. He has six children: Scott, Christy, Jeff, Whitney, Kelsey, and Cody. He retired after 35 years of teaching. He is an avid golfer and New York Yankee fan. Conor Clancey comes to Paradise Valley Community College as a first year coach. He was born in Scottsdale, Arizona. Upon graduating from Horizon High School as a first-team All-State selection, Conor attended the University of Arizona. After one year, he transferred to PVCC and was a member of the Pumas for two seasons where he was an All-Conference selection in 2013. After completing his AA and his career at Paradise Valley, Coach Clancey transferred to Wofford College, a member of the Southern Conference. As a senior at Wofford, Conor was named a Louisville Slugger All-American at first base, as well as first team All-Southern Conference. He led the Southern Conference in RBIs and doubles, and was in the top 10 in all of NCAA Division I baseball in both categories. Upon his graduation with a degree in Sociology, Conor returned to Arizona. Conor currently resides in Scottsdale. Freddy Delgado Sr. comes to Paradise Valley Community College with a wealth of experience ranging from the youth, high school, adult and college levels.  Delgado most recently served as part of Notre Dame Prepatory High Schools staff while mainly overseeing the boys Junior Varsity Program.  From 2010-2013, Delgado was the womens assistant coach for Arizona Christian University.  While at ACU, his main duties included team training, recruiting and game day management.  Freddy has strong ties within the Phoenix soccer community, coaching in the Valley for over 36 years with various clubs including Santos, CCV, Cisco and currently as a staff coach for the Blackhawks Soccer Club. Delgado is a member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.  He attained their highest coaching license, the Premier Badge, in 2013.  He also holds the NSCAA Goalkeeping Diploma, USSF D License, NAIA Champions of Character Diploma and the NFHS Fundamental f Coaching Diploma. A native of Arizona, Freddy Delgado Sr. retired after 32 years at Century Link and is currently living his passion as a full time soccer coach.  He is currently married to Sandy, his wife for over 40 years and they have three children (Freddy, Richard and Jennifer) and four grandchildren. Christina Hundley joined the PVCC Athletic Department in June 2008. Christina grew up in San Francisco, California and came to Arizona in August 1996. She attended Arizona State University where she studied Journalism and Public Relations at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications. While attending ASU, Christina worked for Sun Devil Athletics in the Sports Information Department. After graduating from ASU, Christina spent time with the San Francisco Giants, Phoenix Mercury, Phoenix Suns and the Harlem Globetrotters. Currently Christina is heavily involved with The Pat Tillman Foundation and their annual fundraiser Pats Run. These funds are awarded as scholarships for Tillman Military Scholars who strive to make a significant impact for our country and communities through their studies in medicine, business, government, education and the arts. Christina earned her Masters in Education Leadership from Northern Arizona University in August 2013. Matt began his career with JW Marriott Wildfire Golf Club in December, 2005.  Matt, an Arizona native, worked as an Assistant Golf Professional and Certified Instructor for Wildfire Golf Academy while earning his PGA Class A credentials.  Matt is now the Lead Golf Instructor and runs Wildfire Golf Academy.  During this same period, Matt was also the Head Golf Coach for Veritas and North Phoenix Preparatory Academies in Arizona. Matts teaching experience includes golf schools, individual lessons and group clinics for men, women, and juniors of all skill levels.  In his teaching philosophy, Matt believes that the body swings the club.  Along with this philosophy, Matt provides drill based instruction to create effective changes resulting in long term improvement and more enjoyment of the game.  Matts belief that modern instructors take on more of a coaching role is evident in his patient manner, communication style and knowledge of golf.  Over the past several years, Matt developed a junior program at Wildfire Golf Club.  He exceeded Wildfires expectations, and today, Wildfire Junior Academy has more than 30 kids actively receiving individual, and group lessons throughout the week.  Most of these juniors had never held a club prior to joining the academy.  At present, these juniors compete individually, on teams, or just play for fun.  Matt has certainly developed a well-received program. Feroz Rast is a graduate of Northern Arizona University (B.S. Elementary Education with emphasis in Mathematics) and earned his associates degree from Paradise Valley Community College. He currently teaches in the Paradise Valley Unified School District. During his playing time at PVCC Rast was an Academic All-American and a quarterfinalist at the National Tournament. He helped lead the PVCC mens program to two national tournaments. Rast began coaching tennis in 2006, and his coaching resume includes over seven years coaching juniors and adults for the City of Phoenix. He was the director of Granada Park, working closely with high caliber players from all over the valley. Rast is very familiar with the PVCC tennis program and works closely with the mens head coach Jim Paajanen. He has worked alongside coach Paajanen at the Mountain View Tennis Center and also as an assistant coach for the mens program at PVCC. His latest tenure in coaching was at the high school level. He was the coach for a local boys program in north Phoenix. Jon Ruzan joined the Puma program in 2013 as head coach. Taking the reins of one of the nations top womens junior college soccer programs, he led the PVCC women to a record of 21 wins, 1 loss and 2 ties, and a final season ranking as the number 5 team in the nation in 2013. He was named the ACCAC Womens Soccer Coach of the Year for 2013. Ruzan was born in the Banat region of Serbia to an ethnic Romanian family.  His family emigrated to New York City, where he played youth soccer for the prestigious Blau-Weiss Gottschee Soccer Club, and for Queens United (Banatul NY) in mens open adult competition. Jon earned a Bachelors Degree in Journalism from St. Johns University in New York.  He relocated to Arizona in 1992 and formed the Banat Soccer Club in 1998.  Jon played for and eventually coached the clubs first team, Banat Arsenal, which became one of the nations top amateur, open/semi-pro sides winning the coveted Silver Mug Invitational (Bud Cup) in 2006, as well as numerous National Cup and U.S. Open Cup appearances.  The Banat Soccer Club began operating as a youth soccer club in 2006 and he served as club president and director of coaching.  In addition to his role with the Pumas, he also currently serves as the managing director of Soccer Club del Sol Banat. Jon has been coaching for 16 years and holds a National Y License for Directors of Coaching, and previously served on the Board of Directors for the Arizona Youth Soccer Association.  Jon lives with his wife Dorina, midfielder/daughter Ilyssa, and goalkeeper/son Marcel. Jared started with the Puma Coaching staff in 2011.  He works with the Pitchers and Catchers, and Outfielders.  Sotelo also provides hitting instruction and serves as the Recruiting Coordinator for the Puma softball program.  Sotelo also assists in fundraising, camps, and clinics.  He has been coaching in Arizona for the last 18 years.  He first coached in baseball for 13 years, in city leagues in Phoenix, Glendale, and Surprise then moved on to Club Baseball.  Sotleo was named Coach of the year in 2004 by the AZ Mustang League.  In 2004 he coached for the Team USA 11U program sweeping Team Mexico in a three game set in International competition. In 2005 Sotelos team took 3rd place in the Cal Ripken Championship with a 15-2 overall record.  In 2006 his Cal Ripken Team won the City of Surprise Championship with a 19 -1 record.  In 2007, he was asked to be the JV baseball coach at Valley Vista High School in Surprise.  In 2008 he started his softball coaching career by winning the South West Valley Softball League Championship. His team since has been competing in misc. club events, taking 7th in the 2010 TCS World Series in Park City, Utah. Sarah Stemm joined the PVCC Athletics Department in 2012 as an Assistant Track and Field Coach. Through her role as an assistant coach, she began helping out in the athletics office and eventually became an office assistant for the department. In January 2016, she was hired as Coordinator of Student-Athlete Support Services. Sarah was a PVCC student-athlete herself, having been a member of the PVCC Track and Field team. Sarah had success as a Puma and after two years at PVCC, she went on to Grand Canyon University where she was a member of the inaugural Track and Field program for the Lopes. During her time at GCU, she was an NCAA Division II national qualifier in the 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles, as well as the 4x400m relay both Indoor and Outdoor. After her senior season, she was named to the NCAA Division II All-Academic team. In December 2012, Sarah graduated from Grand Canyon University with a Bachelors of Science: Exercise Science with an Emphasis in Health Education. Rick came to the Pumas in 2007 from Chandler-Gilbert CC where he was the Assistant Athletic Trainer. He earned his bachelor's degree in Athletic Training at Vanguard University, where he also played intercollegiate soccer. He graduated from A.T. Still University in 2007 with a masters degree in Sports Healthcare. Rick manages over 150 athletes in 12 sports at PVCC. He is also adjunct faculty teaching health and exercise science classes. In Fall 2008 he became an Approved Clinical Instructor (ACI) for athletic training students from Grand Canyon University.  The GCU students are enrolled in an athletic training program and each semester are assigned to different levels of athletic training competencies.  In 2009 his master's thesis was accepted for poster presentation at the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) annual meeting in San Antonio, TX. The presentation was titled Evidence-Based and Critical Appraisal Characteristics of Athletic Training Literature/JAT: between 2002-2006. Rick is a native of Southern California and has lived in Arizona for 4 years. He continues to play soccer and enjoys hiking the many trails in and around Phoenix with his wife, Danelle.  Randy Wittig is a fourth generation Arizona native who grew up in the North Phoenix area and attended and played golf at Shadow Mountain High School and Phoenix College. For the past 34 years Randy has served Arizona Golf, Arizona golf guests, and Phoenix/Scottsdale golf facilities as a Southwest Section PGA member. Randy is currently the Director of Instruction at the Gainey Ranch Golf Club in Scottsdale, AZ, and is also the Senior Sales Executive for Glove Caddie a Scottsdale based golf glove accessory company. Randy also spent 26 years growing, learning, and advancing through every golf department job position from outside guest service attendant, Assistant Golf Professional, Head Golf Professional, up to Director of Golf Operations & Tournament Event Sales at the Orange Tree Golf Resort in Scottsdale, AZ. Randy served on the Board of Directors for the Southwest Section PGA for 8 years, is a past recipient of the Southwest Section PGA Bill Strausbaugh Award, and has raised/donated nearly $10,000 to The First Tee (2012) & Special Olympics Arizona (2009 & 2010) by playing 108 holes of golf in one day.  Throughout Randy's extensive Arizona (and a little NE Ohio) golf career he has helped hundreds of students learn and/or improve his/her golf game by providing an energetic and positive learning atom sphere. Randy is very active in Southwest Section PGA competitive golf events and is a multiple stroke play and pro-am event winner. Some of Randy's playing accomplishments include: 2012 Southwest Section PGA Senior Match Play Champion, 2011 Southwest Section PGA Senior Champion, 2011 National PGA Senior Club Professional Championship qualifier/participant, 2009 Quail Cup Champion, 2008 National PGA Club Professional Championship qualifier/participant, 2002 Southwest Section PGA Match Play Champion, 1998 Phoenix Open qualifier/participant, and 9 time Goldwater Cup Team Member.  Randy is married to wife Jeanne and has a young daughter, Taylor.