Coaching Staff

Matt Brass: Head Coach

Matt began running his freshman year of high school to prepare for basketball, and was surprised to discover he had a talent for it. His freshman year he ran as the 3rd man of a state championship team, placing 5th at regionals. For the next three years he would run as the first runner on his team, qualifying for the state championships 9 times, 4 in cross country, 4 in track, and once in basketball. His senior year in cross country he placed 6th at state, was the regional champion, was voted team captain, set the school record (16:24) for the 5K and was the All-North Idaho runner of the year. In basketball he was voted team captain, Co-MVP, and was and the All IEL First Team. In track he set the school record in the 1600 (4:25) and medley relay, was regional champion in both of those events, and took 5th and 3rd respectively at the state meet. At the end of that year he was nominated for the North Idaho Male Athlete of The Year.

After graduating from high school, Matt ran recreationally but took some time off from competitive running; He began to train again as a junior in college. During his senior year he was sponsored to run by Tri-State Athletic and lowered his personal record to 15:29 in the 5K and began placing well at many local races. During the winter of that year he had an accident playing basketball, and ended up with a torn ACL and damaged 6 areas of meniscus on his knee. The recovery took 9 months but during that time he student taught, coached the Moscow Junior High Cross Country team, and graduated from the University of Idaho with a 3.6 GPA, earning Bachelors in Education. After graduation, a high tech computer firm offered him a job and he stepped away from teaching and running for much longer than he anticipated.

For 5 years Matt didn’t run at all, partly because he was concentrating on family and career, and partly because he was worried about his knee. He and his wife Angie lived in Dallas, Irvine, and Portland where he was employed as a programmer and systems architect. Along the way they had two beautiful little girls, Saydee and Niah who are now 9 and 10.

In 2005 he and Angie decided to leave the big city and come back to Sandpoint, and once here desired to become more involved in the community that had given so much to them. They volunteered as coaches for the 2005 Sandpoint High School Cross Country team, and found the experience so rewarding that Matt dusted off his teaching certification and applied for the coaching position. He is running again, and over the last five years has managed to get into the sub 17 range for his 5k. But more important he has found a place where he feels he can make a difference working with student athletes.

Jim Barton: Assistant Coach

Coming Soon.

Mike Keating: Assistant Coach

Mike began running cross country at the age of 13 as a freshman in high school and has continued to run ever since. While attending college at the University of Delaware he was invited to row for the University of Delaware Men’s Crew by one of his former cross country teammates. In 1994 he competed in the Championship 8’s at the largest rowing event in the world, the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, MA. In 1996 he stroked his Varsity 8 to the silver medal in the Championship 8’s at the Dad Vail Regatta, the largest collegiate rowing event in the country, in Philadelphia, PA. All the while Mike continued to compete as a runner in numerous road and trail races.

Upon earning his B.A. from the University of Delaware, Mike volunteered as a coach for his college crew. While completing his M.Ed. from Wilmington University, Mike began his teaching career. He taught middle school math in his hometown of Newark, DE for ten years. Mike’s students scored first on the state test during five of those years and he coached the math league to three consecutive state championships. In 2005 he decided to share his lifelong passion for running with his students and founded a middle school cross country team at the school where he taught. The team grew to as many as 57 members and consistently placed among the top 3 schools at major invitational’s. He is proud that many of his runners went on to compete at the varsity level in high school. Mike has continued to compete in road and trail races posting a personal best 10 miler of 63:30 at the Philadelphia Broad Street Run in 2006.

After years of spending summers traveling out west Mike spent the summer of 2008 in Sandpoint. He decided to relocate and in 2009 accepted a position teaching math at the Sandpoint Charter School. In the summer of 2010, after meeting Coach Matt Brass, Mike accepted the position as Assistant Coach for the Sandpoint Cross Country team. Mike is excited about joining a well organized program with rich traditions. Mike has enjoyed the abundance of outdoor opportunities in North Idaho, especially for cycling and skiing.

Angie Brass: Assistant Coach

Angie is a native Sandpointian and a Sandpoint High School graduate of the last millennium. :)

While attending SHS, Angie set school records in Cross Country and the 3200m and 1600m in track. She competed at State each year in Cross Country and track, medaling each year, while running her way to multiple Regional Championships, State Runner-up positions, and a State Title. She was voted Sandpoint High School Cross Country’s MVR four years and was named to North Idaho’s First Team for Cross Country four times and North Idaho’s MVR three years. She was inducted into the Sandpoint Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.

Angie graduated from SHS in 1994 and from The University of Idaho in 1998 with honors, earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Child, Family and Consumer Studies with an emphasis in human development. After exploring several cities and jobs, and having two children along the way, she and her husband, Matt (Head SHSXC Coach) wanted to come back to the community where they grew up and put forth a piece of themselves to make a difference.

Based on a love of the outdoors, a passion for running and a firm desire to coach the fabulous sport of Cross Country, Angie became active once again with the Sandpoint Cross Country team in 2005. It is here that Angie and Matt hope to make an impact in the lives of student-athletes through running and cross country.