Phil English is the head coach of the Eisenhower Cross Country team. He has been coaching Cross Country and Track and Field for 28 years; 7 at Carroll HS and 21 at Eisenhower.
Mr. English started competing in running events in Ireland at the age of 14. In 1971 he earned the title of Irish School's National Steeplechase Champion. In 1974 he was again honored with a title for the Irish Men’s Steeplechase Champion. In 1974 Phil received an athletic scholarship to attend Washington State University. He competed in 4 NCAA cross country seasons from 1973 to 1977.
Mr. English was named the National High School Girls Coach of the Year in 2001. He has coached girl’s teams to 7 Cross Country State Championships as well as 2 State Championships for the boy’s teams. In 2000, as head coach, he led the girl’s team to win the State Championship for track and field. He has coached high school teams to many Regional, State and National meets, among the most memorable was the 2004 Nike Team Nationals where his Eisenhower boys team took 9th place.
Mr. English has fun working with youth, once at a JV meet at Eisenhower ”I convinced a runner from another school that our starting blocks were voice activated, she then attempted to set her blocks by talking to them!”
Phil is married to Darcy and has two grown children Liza and Michael. Phil and Darcy have one granddaughter, Brennen. He is currently a science teacher at Eisenhower teaching honors biology and anatomy.
Robert Price has been coaching Cross Country and Track for 14 years. Mr. Price spent his first 7 years coaching and teaching at Ellensburg High School where he was the head Track & Field coach 7 years and head Cross Country coach for 2 years. At Eisenhower he has been an assistant coach for Cross Country and Track for the last 7 years.
Robert graduated from Carroll High School in 1986 where he ran Cross Country and Track for Mr. English. In high school Robert was an All-American in both Cross Country and Track and an 8-time State Champion (3 titles in Cross Country, 3 in the mile, and 2 in the 2 mile). Robert was also the first male in Washington State history to win 3 consecutive state Cross Country titles.
After high school Robert attended Washington State University where he competed in the Steeplechase. In 1987 he was a member of the United States National Junior Track & Field Team in the Steeplechase. In 1991 he was an All-American in the Steeplechase for Washington State University. In 1992 Robert qualified for the Olympic Trials in the Steeplechase. His Personal Bests include 8:38.10 3000m Steeplechase, 4:02.5 mile, and 14:56 for the Sunfair course in 1984.
While coaching at Ellensburg Robert coached Ja’Warren Hooker to a total of 8 State titles, one National 100m title, and state records for Washington in the 100m (10.27) and 200m (21.02) and a #2 All Time 400m in 46.23. In 1997 Robert coached the Bulldogs to the State 2A Track team title on the heels of Ja’Warren Hooker’s 3 state titles. In 1995 he coached the Bulldog women to a third place state trophy with the help of the “Quick Chicks from the Sticks” who won the 400m and 800m Relays. As an assistant coach at Ike Robert helped coach the Ike girls to the 2000 State Cross Country title and the 2001 1600m Relay State title in track.
Robert is married to Lisa and has two sons, Ronan and Jonas. He spends his days teaching Social Studies at Eisenhower.
Annette Menzia has 45 years of coaching experience. In cross country she works with the junior varsity runners. She has attended several colleges including Yakima Valley Community College, Washington State University, University of Oregon and Central Washington University.
Annette has sent many athletes to the Washington State Championship Meets, including the girl’s Washington State Champions in the years 1999 and 2000. She received two summer track coaching awards from the Yakima Q.B. club. She assisted in coaching the girl’s track and field team to win the State Championship in 2000.
One of her most memorable coaching experiences was “when one of my 300m hurdlers, Anthony Stewart, led the state finals the whole race until he hit the last hurdle and finished in 2nd place by a photo finish”. Her favorite coaching experiences occur every year because”I’m amazed that I am still able to coach!” (And what an amazing coach she is).
Annette has been married to Ray Menzia for 46 years. They have four children; two boys and two girls, six grandchildren and one great grand-son. She is a retired teacher and works as an assistant coach with her husband Ray.
Ray A. Menzia has 45 years of coaching experience. He works with Annette and the JV runners. He attended Yakima Valley Community College and Central Washington University. He played football for four years in college. His personal track experience includes running the high hurdles and throwing the javelin with a personal best of 185 feet.
Mr. Menzia helped to coach the Eisenhower girl’s track and field team to become a Washington State Championship in the year 2000. He is the assistant coach for cross country and helped the girl’s cross country team win the Washington State Championship in 1999 and 2000.
Mr. Menzia has sent many individual athletes to the state championship meets. He has received two summer track club awards from the Yakima Q.B. club for coaching. One of his most memorable track and field experiences was “on a relay (4x400) at Wenatchee, the second leg on the boys team dropped the baton and finished his leg without the baton and just touched the next runner with his hand, needless to say we were disqualified.” His favorite coaching experiences include “coaching our kids to the next level of competition; District, Regional and State Meets”.
Mr. Menzia has been married to Annette for 46 years. They have four children, 6 grandchildren and 1 great grandson. Ray is a retired teacher. He enjoys coaching cross country and track and field with Annette.
Aleah Mickleson has been coaching the girls cross country and track teams since 2005.
Aleah competed in track and cross country for four years at Eisenhower High School, winning the State Cross Country title in 1994 after going undefeated all season (including Sunfair). She led the girls team to a State title that same year. In 1995 Aleah won the State Track title in the 3200 meter race and was 2nd in the 1600 meter race. Aleah's 10:54 PR in the 3200 is one second shy of the school record set by Robin Bryson. Aleah maintained a 4.0 grade point average at Eisenhower!
After high school Aleah attended the University of Portland on an academic/athletic scholarship for one year and then transferred to the University of Washington on a full academic scholarship. Aleah red shirted her first Cross Country season in college and ran varsity for a year and a half. Aleah graduated after only 3 years in college due to a lot of AP credits and summer school and lettered at both the University of Washington and the University of Portland.
When asked about significant personal achievements as an athlete she modestly responds,”a couple of State Titles but no records that stand today”. Aleah is especially proud of qualifying for the Boston Marathon and then completing the race only six months after giving birth to her first child. Aleah has run in two marathons and a lot of half marathons and plans on running in another marathon after her children get a little older. Her most memorable experience was meeting her husband Erik Mickleson the first day of cross country practice at the University of Washington.
Aleah and Erik have been married for 8 years and have two children; Kara and Mary. She currently works hard at being a mother, coach and math tutor.
Eric Mickelson is in his second year as a volunteer coach at Eisenhower. Eric ran some with the boys team last year and also spent a year coaching his sister in the mile.
Eric Mickelson ran Cross Country and Track for four years for Newport High School in Bellevue, Washington where he won two State Track Titles in the 800 meter in 1994 and 1995. In his senior year Eric won the mile at the Arcadia Invitational. He also competed twice at Golden West where he placed 4th in his senior year. Eric attended the University of Nebraska and the University of Washington for two years each where he was on the Varsity Cross Country and Track teams all four years.
Eric's most significant personal achievement was coaching his sister to a 5:13 mile in her senior year. He lists his most memorable experience as "after winning the mile at Arcadia he immediately began throwing up. The first person he saw, mid heave in fact, was Phil English. It was a sign he was destined to coach at Ike some day."
Eric has been married to Aleah for 8 years. They have three daughters. Eric manages Howard's Medical Supply, a home healthcare supplier located in Selah.
Von Steinhilb coached distance runners for 27 years; 17 years at Eisenhower and 10 years at Lewis & Clark Middle School.
Mr. Steinhilb graduated from Central Washington University with a Bachelors degree in Education in 1970 and obtained his Masters degree in 1975. He participated in track during junior high and through high school when he was growing up.
Von was an assistant coach in 2000 when the girl’s team won the Washington State Track and Field Championship. Von has coached many successful cross country teams since 1970; some of the notable competitions were at, Iolana Honolulu, Charlotte NC, Great American Cross Country Race, and San Francisco. Mr. Steinhilb helped guide the Eisenhower girl’s team to win the Washinton State Cross Country Title in 1994 and 1999. Von considers his most significant achievements as a coach to be “helping kids to be successful”. He has favorite memories of coaching from every season for different reasons and experiences.
Von is married to Chris and they have 2 grown sons. Both boys participated in cross country and track and field at Eisenhower. Von and Chris have 3 grandchildren. Von taught school for 32 years.