Saugatuck's Angelina Bauer earns MITCA's highest cross country honor
SAUGATUCK - Angelina Bauer led the transformation of the Saugatuck women's cross country and track and field teams into perennial state powers.
The Trailblazers have developed state champions, all-state athletes and a plethora of college scholarship athletes under Bauer's direction.
It hasn't gone unnoticed outside of Saugatuck.
Bauer was selected as Kermit Ambrose award recipient by the Michigan Interscholastic Track and Field and Cross County Coaches Association, the highest honor a cross country coach can receive in Michigan.
"When I was told, I was in disbelief. I have watched people get this award since I was a new coach. All of these coaches I admired were receiving this and it was like, 'Do I fit the requirements?' Not to many women have gotten this. I was pretty much floored," she said.,
Bauer is the third female coach to earn the honor in state history.
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She is a coach who runs alongside her team during cross country practice, leaving a lot of time to chat and bond, something that strengthens Saugatuck's program day by day.
"Mrs. Bauer genuinely cares and believes in all of her athletes and creates an environment that just makes you want to be successful," said former Saugatuck state champion Jillian Johnson. "I never realized how blessed I was to have a coach that literally did every single workout right by our side, because she herself is an amazingly talented runner. But beyond running, she has always shown me what it means to be my own force in the world and she will always be one of my biggest inspirations. I'm so happy she is receiving this award because literally no one deserves it more than her."
Johnson's teammate Aerin Baker also became an all-state athlete under Bauer's tutelege.
"Coach Bauer was one of the most encouraging coaches I've had. she was always pushing me to improve my technique and alter the little things that made huge differences in my events," Baker said. "She had faith in me even before I would start a new event, and she was able to give me that push I needed to become a better athlete."
The Trailblazers earned MITCA team state title honors, plus a slew of top 10 finishes in both cross country and track during Bauer's tenure, in addition to a plethora of conference and regional titles. That is in addition to assiting with the boys program that has won multiple state championships.
"Success is a byproduct of staying the course," Bauer said. "We have worked our way up. It is about the help you have from other people and always wanting to learn. But relationship building is huge in our program. We get the lasting relationships, seeing the 30-year-old that you used to coach running down the street, or at the weight room. We had a Christmas party a couple years ago and had nearly 50 alumni there. That is the cool stuff, the lasting stuff."
Bauer will receive the award at the MITCA Hall of Fame banquet on Nov. 11 in Mount Pleasant.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Saugatuck cross country coach Angelina Bauer earns MITCA's highest career honor
