North Cross Athletics Staff

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Administration
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Jeremy Eubank
Director of Athletics
Ashford University–B.A.
Liberty University–M.A.
Appointed 2023
​2023 VIAAA Athletic Director of the Year - Independent Schools
VISAA Cross Country Chair
VIAAA Liaison to VISAA
VIAAA Board of Directors
VIAAA Mentorship Committee
BRAC Treasurer/Secretary
Former Director of Athletics at Chatham Hall 
Former Director of the soccer and track and field programs at Hargrave Military Academy
​Christopher Pollock
Assistant Director of Athletics
Head Coach Boys Varsity Lacrosse, Assistant Coach Boys Varsity Soccer
Upper School Sports Business
Roanoke College—B.S. in Physical Education, concentration in Athletic Training
Appointed 2001
Played Division III college Lacrosse
Three-time All-ODAC, three-time All-American, four-time Top 10 National Team Ranking, 1986 NCAA Div III Elite 8, 1988 NCAA Div III Final Four, and 2007 Inductee into the Roanoke College Hall of Fame
Been coaching lacrosse for nearly 29 years
VISAA State Boys Lacrosse Champions in 2018, 2021 & 2022 and at least State Final Four every season since 2016
Conference Champions in 2021 and Runner-up 2016-2019 and 2022
National Interscholastic Lacrosse Coaches Association (NILCA) Coach of the Year in Virginia
Four-time VISAA State Coach of the Year and one-time VIC Conference Coach of the Year
Pollock's four children are all NCS graduates - Christopher '14, Hope '15, Gray '18, and Geist '21. Christopher played soccer at Dickenson College, Gray played lacrosse at Haverford College, and Geist plays lacrosse at Rhodes College.
Tracy Schaefer
Administrative Assistant for North Cross Athletics
Head Coach Coed JV Tennis
Wake Forest University—B.A.​
University of Georgia—M.Ed.
​Appointed 2013
Played Division I college tennis, ranked top 3 in GA, top 15 in the South and top 100 in the nation
Olympic Tennis Training Site Supervisor for the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games
Named Tennis Industry’s “Top 40 Under 40 Most Influential People in Tennis” in 1999
Did graduate school internship with the Denver Broncos
Started the first-ever middle school tennis program at North Cross in 2015
Won the Roanoke Valley Middle School Tennis League Championships in 2015, ‘16, ‘18 & ‘19 and in 2020 moved up to JV status 
Athletic Trainer
Holly Marshall
Head Athletic Trainer- Covers all after school sports practices and events for both middle and upper school
Radford University – B.S. in Athletic Training
BOC Certified, Licensed through Virginia Board of Medicine, CPR/AED certified, First Aid certified
​Appointed in 2021
Former athletic trainer at William Byrd High School (2018-2020)
Worked with Division 1 College athletes in women’s lacrosse, women’s soccer, and track and field
Played soccer, basketball, softball, and track and field in high school. Was passionate about sports from a young age and also enjoyed helping others. She put the two together graduating top of her athletic training class and passing her national boards to officially become an athletic trainer.

What is an athletic trainer? Athletic trainers are healthcare professionals who work with physicians to provide preventative care, emergency response, and rehabilitative care. We prevent, examine, diagnose, treat, and rehabilitate injuries of emergent, acute, or chronic state.
Head Coaches
Jamiel Allen
Head Coach Boys Varsity Basketball
Roanoke College- B.S. in Exercise Science, Health and Human Performance
​Appointed 2022
​Coach Allen is currently in his 16th year as a high school boys basketball coach and in his third year with the Raiders' program. He has coached at Hidden Valley High School, Blacksburg High School, and The Steward School in Richmond, Va. where he led his team to three state tournament appearances as Head Coach. As a player, Coach Allen helped lead his team at The Steward School to a state championship in 2002 and was an all-state player with the Spartans. He played at Roanoke College under Coach Page Moir from 2002-2006. 
James Brown
Head Coach Boys Varsity Soccer, Girls Varsity Soccer, Girls Varsity Basketball
Lower School P.E.
​Roanoke College—B.S.​​
​Appointed 2004
Played Division III college soccer
VISAA State Boys Soccer Champions 2012, 2014, 2018, 2021 and qualified for State tournament 13 out of 13 years
Conference Champions 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022
Three-time VISAA Coach of the Year, two-time Conference Coach of the Year​
2012 United Soccer Coaches of Virginia Private School Coach of the Year
​2012 MaxPreps Army National Guard National Team Ranking of #13 (team was 24-0)
BRC Girls Soccer Champions 2015 & 2022, three-time qualifier VISAA Final Four, qualified for State tournament 11 out of 14 years
Jennifer Camp
​Head Coach Middle School Swimming
Davidson College - B.A. in Spanish
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine - MD
Appointed 2020
Jen comes from a family of swimmers and began swimming at age 5.  She participated in club swimming in Williamsburg, VA, high school swimming at Hampton Roads Academy and Division I swimming at Davidson College.  At Davidson the women’s team won their Southern States Conference Championship meet all 4 years that she was in attendance.  Her favorite events were the 100 and 200 butterfly and backstroke.  She just recently returned to the sport of swimming as a member of Masters Swimming with the Marlins swim team.  She also competes for the Hunting Hills Hound Dog swim team during the summer with her 3 daughters.  She has enjoyed coaching the middle school swim team at North Cross since 2020. 
Stan Chopski '92
​Head Coach Girls Varsity Lacrosse
University of Mary Washington- B.A. in Historic Preservation
Appointed 2022
Played Division III College Lacrosse
 
Played Football (All State), Lacrosse, Wrestling and Basketball at North Cross School
North Cross School Mark Higgins Excellence in Sports Award (1992)
Fork Union Military Academy Post Graduate program for Football
 
Coach Chopski has been coaching and officiating Boys and Girls Lacrosse in the Roanoke Valley for over 20 years.  He is a Level I Certified US Lacrosse Girls Coach and has been a Rec Coach for the Roanoke Valley Ladies Lacrosse Association (RVLLA) and the Roanoke Valley Lacrosse Boys Association (RVLA) along with a Valley Select Girls Travel Lacrosse Coach.  He was an Assistant Girls Varsity and Middle School lacrosse Coach at North Cross School in 2020 and 2021.  His wife, Michaux, also played Lacrosse at the University of Mary Washington. 
Ryan Cook '93
Head Coach Boys and Girls Middle School Soccer
Upper School History
Radford University—B.A.​​
​Appointed 2011
Played Division I college soccer
Has coached soccer for 25 years (VBR Star, Valley AFC, Hidden Valley, NCS) 
His middle school teams are always very competitive and some have gone undefeated
​Currently still plays “old man” league soccer
Ed Dickenson
Head Coach Coed Middle School and Varsity Cross Country and Track & Field
Middle School French and English
​Hampden Sydney College—B.A.​​
​Universite de Paris-Sorbonne—M.A.​​
​Appointed 1989
Ran Division III college cross country and track
Boys Cross Country Conference Champions 1996, 2000, 2015, 2022
Girls Cross Country Conference Champions 2010, 2016
Started the first-ever North Cross Track and Field program in 2018
VIC Track & Field Champions 2022; VISAA DII Track & Field State Runner-up 2022
Currently part of the Roanoke Elite Running Team (nine-time winner of the Mountain Junkies Trail Running Series, finished 2nd in the 2009 National Duathlon Championships) and a member of the VMI Marathon Training Team and Marine Corps PFT Team​
Emily Gaston
Head Coach Girls Varsity Volleyball
CrossWalk Teacher
Roanoke College- B. A. in Psychology 
​Appointed in 2021
Emily grew up in Hopkinton, MA and played at the Varsity level, as well as at the club level. She has experience playing women's and co-ed sixes, quads, and doubles and still plays volleyball several times a week in the year-round Roanoke Valley Volleyball Association (RVVA) adult league. 
Emily has coached with Next Revolution Volleyball (NRV, a local club) for 8 years at the 14s, 15s, and 17s levels.  From 2015 to 2021, Emily coached for Roanoke Catholic School, at the middle school (head coach), JV (assistant and head coach), and varsity (assistant coach) levels before joining the North Cross staff in the Fall of 2021.  Emily is very much looking forward to continuing to work with the North Cross volleyball players and taking the program even further!
Justin Jensen '16
Head Coach Boys Middle School Baseball
Bridgewater College - B.S. in Exercise Science
Appointed 2021
Has been coaching for 3 years (Summer Legion, Travel, NCS)
Enjoys teaching players life lessons through baseball while keeping the sport both fun and engaging. 
Mike Jensen
​Head Coach Boys Middle School Basketball
Assistant Coach Girls Varsity Basketball & Girls Varsity Soccer
Eric Lawrence
Head Coach Boys Varsity Baseball
Director of Operations 
Liberty University—B.A. in Physical Education
Appointed 1989
His college athletic career started as a student on the basketball court and ended as an assistant strength and conditioning coach, where he was responsible for the in-season and off-season training for the mens and womens basketball, baseball, golf, and womens volleyball teams. He also assisted with the football team and was a member of the track team for his junior and senior years  competing in the hammer and javelin throwing events.
Coach Lawrence has been the head Varsity Baseball coach at North Cross School since 1994.
​In the last 18 seasons, his teams have qualified for the VISAA state tournament 16 times with 5 of those as a state semifinalist.
​Conference Baseball Champions 2022
Coach Lawrence has a passion for using the sport of baseball for training future citizens and leaders with character and resilience.
Chris Pollock
Head Coach Boys Varsity Lacrosse
Assistant Athletic Director
Upper School Sports Business
Roanoke College—B.S. in Physical Education, concentration in Athletic Training
Appointed 2001
Played Division III college Lacrosse
Three-time All-ODAC, three-time All-American, four-time Top 10 National Team Ranking, 1986 NCAA Div III Elite 8, 1988 NCAA Div III Final Four, and 2007 Inductee into the Roanoke College Hall of Fame
Been coaching lacrosse for nearly 30 years
VISAA State Boys Lacrosse Champions in 2018, 2021 and 2022 and at least State Final Four every season since 2016
Conference Champions in 2021 and Runner-up 2016-2019 and 2022
Three-time VISAA State Coach of the Year and One-time VIC Conference Coach of the Year
Pollock's four children are all NCS graduates - Christopher '14, Hope '15, Gray '18, and Geist '21. Christopher played soccer at Dickenson College, Gray played lacrosse at Haverford College, and Geist plays lacrosse at Rhodes College.
Jim Schaefer
Head Coach Boys Varsity Tennis
​State University of New York at Cortland—B.S.
Appointed 2017
Played Division III college tennis and track & field teams 
Played professional tennis on the French Federation and USTA Pro Circuits as well as for a German Club in Neutraubling
Been a tennis teaching pro for over 45 years, coached either at the collegiate or high school level for over 13 years and has been the North Cross Boys Head Coach since 2017
Won the Jantzen Fast Serve Contest in 1984-85 with a 133mph serve
Ranked #1 in the nation in Men’s 40’s Doubles in 1997 & ‘98
Currently still competes in National USTA tournaments; player for the 5-time Atlantic Coast Cup Champion Mid-Atlantic team and Dohan Intersectional Cup
Conference Champions in 2021 and 2022
State Runner-up 2021
State Champions 2022
Tracy Schaefer
Head Coach Coed JV Tennis
Administrative Assistant for North Cross Athletics
​Wake Forest University—B.A.
University of Georgia—M.Ed. 
Appointed 2013
Played Division I college tennis, ranked top 3 in GA, top 15 in the South and top 100 in the nation
Olympic Tennis Training Site Supervisor for the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games
Named Tennis Industry’s “Top 40 Under 40 Most Influential People in Tennis” in 1999
Did graduate school internship with the Denver Broncos
Started the first-ever middle school tennis program at North Cross in 2015
Won the Roanoke Valley Middle School Tennis League Championships in 2015, ‘16, ‘18 & ‘19 and in 2020 moved up to JV status 
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Ryan Schlachter
Head Coach Girls Varsity Tennis, Assistant Coach Boys Varsity Tennis
Associate Director of Information Technology, Student Technology Contact
US Army 2009-2014
Virginia Western Community College - AAS - IT
CompTIA A+
CompTIA Network+
​Appointed 2018
Played on the Cedar Hill High School tennis team in Cedar Hill, TX before joining the US Army.  Became the Assistant Tennis Coach for the North Cross Boys Varsity Tennis Team in 2020, where he has actively helped them win two Conference Championship titles (2021, 2022) and one State Championship title (2022), as well as one State Runner-up title (2021).  
Emily Votta
Head Coach Varsity Swimming
​Early Childhood Program- Junior Kindergarten- 4
University of Mary Washington—B.A.​​ with a certificate to teach NK-6
Hollins University- working on completion of M.E.
Appointed 2014
Began swimming as a toddler taking swim lessons at the YMCA in Waynesboro and then later swam year round for the Shenandoah Marlins Aquatic Club and other area summer league teams throughout high school.  In college, she swam all four years for the UMW Eagles.  She was a national level swimmer in both high school and college and her specialties were long distance free and butterfly.  She enjoyed giving swim lessons and coaching summer league swim teams during her high school and college days and is excited to once again return to the competition pool with North Cross!
Kendra Wert
Head Coach Girls Middle School Volleyball
Lower School/Middle School Art Teacher
Bowling Green State University—B.F.A
Appointed 2021
Kendra grew up in Toledo, Ohio and played a few years in the High School Level. She has joined the local Roanoke Valley Volleyball Association (RVVA) and has been playing co-ed sixes. Kendra has coached and been a part of multiple athletic teams over the years, and she is excited to be joining our North Cross Coaching Staff. She is looking forward to working with the players and cultivating a love for the game.
Scott Wilde
Head Coach Coed Varsity Golf
Upper School Math
Bowling Green State University—B.S.
Liberty University—M.S.
Played Division III college basketball and club volleyball
Appointed 2012
Has coached numerous sports over the years, including basketball for 20+ years, but has coached volleyball and golf at North Cross since 2017
Has also coached multiple players that have gone on to play either basketball or volleyball in college
Ezra Zigarwi '14
Head Coach Boys Middle School Basketball
Assistant Soccer Coach for Boys and Girls Varsity and Middle School
Lower School P.E.
Roanoke College- B.S. in Sports Management
American National University- Masters in Business Administration with Information Technology Specialization
​Appointed 2019
Played division III college soccer at Roanoke College
Played at North Cross won VISAA State Boys Soccer Championship in 2012 and VIC Conference Champions 2012.   2012 MaxPrep Army National Guard Team Ranking of #13 going undefeated that year (24-0)!
Coaching; Boys Soccer VIC Conference Champions and VISAA State Champions in 2021; 
Girls Soccer BRC Champions in 2022