Trojan Shield Weekly Update: July 9, 2018

Greetings from Trojan Country!

It was a slower week in the athletic department. Many of us took advantage of the mid-week holiday to get some rest and recharge as we will have a large group of athletes, both soccer teams and the volleyball team, returning to campus in less than a month. Things pick up speed the rest of July as we get the student-athletes all registered and ready for classes. We are just 44 days from our first official games of the 2018-19 sports year.

Later in this Trojan Shield update I will tell you all about our new baseball coach, but first I would like to thank the members of the committee and other folks that helped in the selection process. It was difficult as we had many qualified applicants for this sought-after job. Many of our coaches pitched in, looking at resumes, sitting on the committee, or giving sound advice from their years of experience. Also, members of the faculty and staff who agreed to help out on such short notice. Mr. Dean Duran from the City of Trinidad was instrumental in helping as well. Finally, I would like to thank everyone that called with recommendations, or words of wisdom. I really appreciated all of your input. It was a difficult choice, but I think we make a great one.

Summer Camp Schedule

• June 5-8 – Boys Basketball Camp (completed)
• June 20-22 – Girls Basketball Camp (completed)
• August 7-9 – Volleyball Camp

Wichert named Head Baseball Coach

Following an intensive national search, that brought in top candidates from around the United States, Justin Wichert has been named to be the next head coach of the Trojan Baseball team.

Wichert has spent the last four seasons as the assistant coach/pitching coach for the Lions at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith. He began his college playing career at Cowley County Community College. While at Cowley County, he was selected in the MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres. After Cowley, Wichert pitched at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri where he received his bachelor's degree in Business Management.

In 2006 Wichert began his coaching career at William Jewel and has served in various coaching positions since. He also spent some time playing professional baseball as a pitcher in the Frontier, South Coast and Northern Independent professional baseball leagues. While playing professional baseball he played under many great managers including Cecil Fielder, Jackie Hernandez and Al Gallagher.

In the summer of 2012 Justin received his master's degree from Pittsburg State University in Health and Human Performance.

"We are excited to bring Justin in to take over the Trojan Baseball team," commented Athletic Director Mike Salbato. "Justin came out on top of a great pool of candidates and I think he is the right person to lead the Trojan baseball team into the future. He has tremendous knowledge of the game, is a hard worker and comes with glowing recommendations from some of the top college baseball coaches."

Wichert and his wife Susie have two children. They will be moving to the Trinidad area in the near future.

A year in photos

I have always loved taking pictures, and I still pull my camera out whenever possible, but thankfully we had such a great group of photographers running around last year that I didn’t have to use my photos very often. Matt Young, David Barrack, Breelyn Craig, Destinee Vigil and others all contributed photos to the cause this year. You see their work all over social media and in the newspaper. I would like to thank them for giving me such great photos to work from all year long.

I would also like to thank the Chronicle News. They run this newsletter each week and I am very grateful for that. As you can see in the photo, almost all of the pictures from the paper make their way onto the board outside my office.

The pictures in the header at the top of the page are the ones that recently went up on the wall outside my office as well. All eight of these athletes graduated from TSJC this past year and were also NJCAA All-American, either on the field or in the classroom, or in the case of Daniel Haymes – both. Our athletes made the choice to whose photos to use difficult this year as we had an amazing sophomore class. This year’s sophomores have some big shoes to fill.

Cross Country releases fall schedules

Coach Lauren Masterson has released the 2018 fall Cross Country schedules. The Trojans will race in five events starting with the 25th annual Joe I. Vigil Open in Alamosa on September 9. They will then go to Gunnison and Victoria, Kansas prior to running in the Region IX meet in Riverton, Wyoming. They will finish the season at the national meet in Garden City, Kansas on November 10.

See the schedule at - https://www.tsjctrojans.com/sports/mxc/2018-19/schedule

Some photos from the week

Quote of the Week -

"Good seasons start with good beginnings." - Sparky Anderson

GO TROJANS!

#StriveForExcellence

Mike Salbato

Athletic Director
Trinidad State Junior College