Coaches

Kelly Christensen - Director of Distance Program

Coach Christensen has been a school counselor at multiple schools in Colorado. Kelly spent 8 years in construction management before making a career change to school counseling where he has remained for 7 years. He joined the Niwot High School Counseling team in 2016. Kelly was a cross country and track & field athlete at Western State College from 2000 – 2005. An All-American in both cross country and track, he was also a member of three Division-II national championship cross country teams.

Coach Kelly has been the head cross country coach at Niwot since 2016, and he serves on the coaching staff for the track and field team as well. The Niwot cross country program has achieved two girls’ state championship titles and a boys’ state championship team title during his time. Additionally, the girls team has gone onto Nike Cross Nationals for fifth, third and second place finishes in back-to-back years and the boys to a first place Nike Cross Nationals finish in 2024. Prior to coaching at Niwot, Christensen has served as the head cross country and track coach at Palmer Ridge High School from 2014 - 2016 (achieving two boys’ track and field titles and a cross country title), Thompson Valley (2011 – 2013), University High School (2011 – 2012), and Exceler8 Track Club (2013 – 2016).

Brandi Menegatti, Director of REAL Training SoCo (Pueblo-Colorado Springs)

Coach Menegatti is a high school teacher at Pueblo West High School, where she is also the Head Coach for the girls’ and boys’ track programs. She has been coaching for the Cyclones since 2012, but has also coached at La Veta High School (2006 – 2012) and Hoehne High School (2004 – 2006). Brandi was also the Graduate Assistant Coach at Auburn University (1996 – 1997) and the Sprint and Hurdle coach for the Austin Striders Track Club (1992 – 1997).

Menegatti attended the University of Alabama from 1993 – 1996 where she was the NCAA Indoor Runner-Up and part of the SEC Indoor and Outdoor Championship teams. She also ran at Louisiana State University from 1991 – 1992, where she was a member of the 1991 NCAA Division-I National Championship team.

Craig Sherman - Director of REAL Training - East (Commerce City, Brighton, & Henderson)

Coach Sherman has coached track & field for over 30 years at the middle school, high school, collegiate, and professional levels. Coach Sherman has coached 55 high school All-State performers and 11 collegiate All-Americans. His high school teams have won a state championship and finished second three times. Two of his collegiate teams have been national runner-ups. During the past ten years, he has had two individuals who have qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials, including one who qualified in 2008, 2012, and 2016.

Bryant Strause - Director of Horizontal Jumps

A graduate of the San Diego State School Counseling graduate program, Coach Bryant has held school counseling positions at Denver South High School and, currently, and Nevin Platt Middle School in Boulder, CO. During his undergraduate career, he was a member and captain of the track and field team at University of California - Santa Cruz from 2007 – 2011. He competed in sprinting events, as well as long and triple jump as a UC - Santa Cruz banana slug. Bryant served as the head coach for the girls’ track and field program at Denver South High School from 2013 – 2018 and, concurrently, as an assistant coach for the boys’ program. He has been a jumps coach for Niwot High School and REAL Training since 2018.

Daniel Bloom - Distance Program Coach

Bloom is currently a graduate student at Adams State University receiving his degree in counseling. His undergraduate career was at Western State Colorado University for 2013 – 2016, where he was a member of the cross country and track teams. He was also a member of the Western State Train Running team from 2016 – 2017. Daniel ran at Thompson Valley High School while Coach Christensen was an assistant coach, and Bloom has assisted Coach Kelly at Niwot High School and REAL Training since 2018.

Eddie Taylor - Director of Multi-Events

Coach Taylor is a science teacher at Centaurus High School. He has served as an assistant and head coach for many high school track & field programs in the area, including Broomfield, Fairview, and presently, Centaurus. He has coached many athletes who have gone on to have successful collegiate athletic careers; specifically in the field and the multi-events.

Taylor competed as a decathlete for the University of Colorado, receiving all-conference honors, and graduating with a double-major. an avid and experienced climber, Coach Taylor summited Mt. Everest in May of 2022.