Steve Pfingsten, Head Coach
The College of St. Scholastica
1200 Kenwood Ave.
Duluth, MN 55811
(218) 723-6001
SPfingst@css.edu
Assistant Coach: Amy Wicker, Jake Turman
Program Assistant: Pat Pfingsten
Student Manager: Emily Martin
Dr. Steve Pfingsten enters his 20th season of coaching cross country at The College of St. Scholastica. He has been the head coach for 18 years. Under the guidance of Coach Pfingsten, six teams and 16 individuals have competed in National Cross Country Championships. The Saints have won nine UMAC conference championships in the past eight years and have earned a total of 81 All-Conference awards and seven individual championships under Coach Pfingsten. Coach Pfingsten has been named conference coach of the year eight times.
Coach Pfingsten is known as an enthusiastic, positive, and knowledgeable coach with a great love for cross country. He believes the sport greatly enriches the college experience. He brings a wealth of cross country and life experiences to his coaching. Coach Pfingsten’s teams train hard and intelligently while having fun at the same time.
His coaching style is one of encouragement, support and positive reinforcement. Each and every team member is valued and respected. Coach Pfingsten emphasizes improvement, and the CC program is designed to enable each runner to become the best runner he or she can be.
As a former professor in the School of Education at The College, Dr. Pfingsten knows and recognizes the importance and demands of students’ education and is very supportive of team members in their pursuit of academic excellence. The cross country teams excel in the classroom year in and year out. During the 2008-09 fall semester, the women achieved a team GPA of 3.43 while the men compiled a 3.24 GPA.
Dr. Pfingsten holds a B.S. degree from Carroll College (Wis.), an M.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Ph.D. from Marquette University. He serves as the Academic Coordinator for the Athletics Department and is the advisor for the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
Coach Pfingsten and his wife Pat, a licensed parent educator, have three children and seven grandchildren. Coach Pfingsten’s Christian faith is very important to him and is reflected in his approach to life and coaching. The Pfingstens live in Duluth less than two miles from campus.
