Coach

Head Coach: James Kling

James Kling is in his third season as a head coach for the Rattler cross country program. He is also the assistant softball coach, a position he has had for the last six years.

In his first season at the helm of the squad, he led the team to a third place finish at the Heartland Conference Championships, while Tara Wicketts earned All-Heartland Conference honors. In addition to the Rattlers good work on the course, they epitimized the term “student-athlete” with six of the eight members of the team earning Heartland Conference President’s Honor recognition, while Tara Wicketts and Jessie Smith were named ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District. The cross country team also had the highest grade point average in the St. Mary’s Athletics Department.

During his five years with the softball team, the Rattlers have won a combined 242 games and advanced to the NCAA South Central Region Tournament five times. Over that time period, 30 Rattlers have earned All-Heartland Conference honors, while nine have been named All-American.

Kling has been involved in coaching for many years prior to his time with the Rattlers. He has worked in competitive softball for 14 years, most of which was with American Softball Association (ASA) select ball teams.

Kling graduated from the University of the Incarnate Word with a bachelor of arts in business management. He has two daughters, Kym and Kathryn. Kym is the owner of several St. Mary’s softball records, while a player for the Rattlers. She also helped St. Mary’s to the 2002 NCAA Championship.

2009 Cross Country Team Roster