Coaching Staff
Rod Wortley - rwortley@cornerstone.edu
In his 10th year at the helm of the Cornerstone University Cross Country and Track & Field teams, Coach Wortley has build a solid program producing the best runners, jumpers and throwers in school history. Every year he has taken athletes to the NAIA National Championships and 52 times they have returned with All-America honors along with 22 All-America Scholar Athlete awards. His athletes have also earned over 100 individual Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference titles in the last 6 years.
Wortley was named NAIA Region VII and VIII Coach of the year for women in 2001, 2004 and 2005 and for men in 2003 and was the 2003 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Women’s Indoor and Men’s Outdoor Coach of the Year. He was also selected the 2000 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Cross Country Coach of the Year for both men and women.
Wortley graduated from Cornerstone University in 1988 with a BA in English Literature. He completed his MA in English/Professional Writing at Western Michigan University in 1992. He also holds three U.S.A. Track & Field Level II coaching certifications. His wife, Anita is also a Cornerstone University alumnus. They have 2 children.
Paul Koutz - paul_b_koutz@cornerstone.edu
Paul Koutz enters the 2009-10 season in his ninth year as assistant coach for sprints, hurdles, jumps and multi-events and fifth year as recruiting coordinator for cross country/track and field.
Since becoming a full time coach in 2005, Koutz has guided his event groups to 35 All-American honors, five National runners-up, and one National Champion. Amongst his event groups, Koutz has qualified eleven different high jumpers to the NAIA National Championships and has returned with nine All-American honors including two National runners-up. In 2009, four of his hurdlers posted NAIA qualifying marks indoors and outdoors. Cornerstone hurdlers have been represented at each Indoor and Outdoor NAIA National Championship since Koutz’s arrival on staff in 2002. The sprint crew has delivered much success under Koutz’s tutelage as well, which has included national qualifying 4x100 relay teams for women five of the last seven years, and the 4x400 teams either indoors, outdoors or both since 2002 including three All-American squads over that span. On the men’s sprint side, the 4x400 has been represented at Indoor Nationals each year since Koutz’s arrival and outdoors seven of eight years including a pair of All-American relay teams. As a multi-event coach, he has had five different National Qualifiers which include All-American performances in both the heptathlon for women and decathlon for men.
At the conference level, his athletes have amassed 55 WHAC (Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference) individual titles and 12 relay championships including 16 WHAC meet records over a five year/ten meet span. He has also coached seven WHAC Most Valuable Athletes over that same time frame. In the 2009 Indoor and Outdoor WHAC meets, Koutz guided athletes to seven individual WHAC titles, and both the Women’s Indoor and Outdoor Athlete of the Meet awards.
During his collegiate Track & Field career at Cornerstone (1999-2001), Koutz compiled one of the most impressive resumes in school history. Upon graduation, Koutz held 15 school and conference records in the hurdles, jumps, and relays. He was honored in 2001 by being named the WHAC Outdoor Male Athlete of the Year, as well as taking 8th place in the 400m hurdles at the NAIA Outdoor National Championships. Koutz was also selected as the team MVP on two occasions and his senior year was given the school’s highest honor winning the Golden Eagle award.
Koutz graduated from Cornerstone University in 2001 with a B.A. in Youth Education. He also currently holds two USA Track & Field Level II coaching certifications. He and his wife Jody currently live in the Grand Rapids area.
Nate Van Holten
Nate Van Holten begins his 8th year as assistant coach for the men’s middle distance and distance events as well as the racewalk. In his time as coach his athletes have broken all previous school records in Cross Country and Track.
Van Holten received a Masters Degree in Social Work from Grand Valley State University in 2004 and completed his B.S. in Youth Psychology from Cornerstone University in 2002. He also holds three USATF Level II coaching certifications as well as the instructor training certification. He lives in Grand Rapids with his wife Jane and son Logan with one on the way.
Kevin Patterson
Kevin Patterson launches into his eighth season as Assistant Coach for Pole Vault. Each season at least one of his vaulters have qualified for the NAIA National Championships.
For ten years Patterson has coached vault at Rockford High School and held numerous vaulting clinics, including the nationally attended Grand Haven Beach Vault, “I enjoy my family, and any sports, but mainly coaching kids.”
A 1985 graduate of Central Michigan University with a B.S. degree in Business Administration, Patterson competed for three years as a pole vault specialist at CMU.
Patterson works for Gordon Food Service in Grand Rapids. He lives in Rockford with his wife, Patti and their two children.
