Jessica Bridenthal finished up her first season as the head coach of Keystone College’s men’s and women’s cross country and track & field teams during the 2017-18 academic year.
In the fall of 2017, her first season with Keystone's cross country teams, Bridenthal led both the men's and women's teams to third place finishes at the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) championship as the Giants enjoyed a five-place improvement on the men's side and a four-place improvement on the women's side from the previous fall's conference championship meet. Freshman women's runner Julia Stapleton and junior men's runner Mark Arzie earned First Team All-Conference honors while freshman men's runner Devin Smith claimed Second Team All-CSAC accolades. Both squads also improved four places at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships from the previous season, with the women finishing 45th overall while the men placed 47th in the region.
This past spring, she led the men's outdoor track and field team to a third-place finish at the CSAC championships while the women's team placed fourth overall. Individually, the men's team set one record indoors, in the 55-meter hurdles, while the women's team established two new records indoors, in the long jump and the weight throw, and five outdoors: 110-meter hurdles, 400-meter hurdles, long jump, discus, and hammer. Five members of the men's team capped off the season by earning all-CSAC honors at the league's championship meet at Gwynedd Mercy University on May 5-6, including Carl Joseph, Yaw Acheampong, and Edward Sichilongo, each of whom picked up first-team honors for winning the 400 meters, long jump, and triple jump, respectively. Three members of the women's team--Kaylee Ceci, Alexandra Myers, and Hannah Richner, landed spots on the CSAC second-team after finishing runner-up in their respective events. Ceci placed second in both the discus and the hammer and Myers and Richner were second in the javelin and 400-meter hurdles, respectively.
Bridenthal, a 12-time all-American and an NCAA Division II national champion as a competitor for Ashland University, comes to La Plume having most recently worked multiple positions in athletics at Duquesne University, Freedom Area High School, and as a personal trainer.
At Duquesne, an NCAA Division I institution, Bridenthal was an assistant strength and conditioning coach most recently and worked with the Dukes’ track & field, football, and volleyball teams. She also spent this past season as an assistant track & field coach at Freedom Area High School in Western Pennsylvania where she created individualized workout plans for varsity athletes on the boys’ and girls’ teams.
Bridenthal, who has worked as a personal trainer for Snap Fitness 24/7 and the YMCA since 2014, spent the 2015-16 season as an assistant track & field coach at the College of Wooster in Ohio. Bridenthal was active in all aspects of the NCAA Division III program including developing and administering practice and strength and conditioning programs for the entire team, recruiting, and budgeting. She coached a two-time All-American in jumps and multi events and numerous Fighting Scots that scored at the conference championships in throwing events.
Bridenthal joined the coaching ranks following a decorated track & field career as a thrower at Ashland, earning 12 All-American honors in indoor and outdoor throwing events and winning the 2014 NCAA Division II national championship in the indoor weight throw. She also earned United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Region accolades in all eight seasons she competed and was named the GLIAC Outstanding Women’s Field Athlete of the Year in 2015.
A standout in the classroom as well, Bridenthal was named the 2014-15 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year and also garnered Academic All-District honors as a senior. She was a recipient of the GLIAC All-Academic Award for the entirety of her career as well.
At Ashland, Bridenthal trained under the guidance of four-time Olympian, Jud Logan, who has led the Eagles to 35 top-10 national placements in indoor and outdoor track & field since the 2005-06 season.
Bridenthal earned a bachelor of science degree in exercise science with a minor in coaching from Ashland in May 2014 before obtaining her masters of business administration with a concentration in sports management in December 2015, also from Ashland.
CSAC Cross Country Championship Results at Keystone
Men
2017-18 3rd place (9 teams)
Women
2017-18 3rd place (10 teams)
CSAC Track & Field Championship Results at Keystone
Men
2017-18 3rd place (7 teams)
Women
2017-18 4th place (7 teams)
