Haskell Cross Country Coaches

 

Albert L. Gipp, Jr. is originally from Ft. Yates, North Dakota and is an enrolled member of the Hunkpapa Lakota tribe.  He grew up in the Ft. Yates area and attended the Community Schools of Ft. Yates and graduated in 1974.  Albert received a scholarship and graduated from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 1978 with a bachelors degree in Physical Education in Elementary and Secondary Education.  In addition, he has completed thirty hours of coursework at the University of Kansas working on his master's degree in Community Health. 

Albert L. Gipp, Jr. has been teaching Native students for over 25 years, upon graduation his first teaching assignment was at Wahpeton Indian School located in Wahpeton, North Dakota.  Mr. Gipp later transferred to Flandreau Indian School in Flandreau, South Dakota teaching health and coaching basketball.  In 1984, he was hired as an instructor/coach here at Haskell.  During his tenure at Haskell, Mr. Gipp has served as an assistant in Football and head coaching duties for Track and Field, Cross Country, Women's Basketball and Men's Basketball. 

This is Mr. Gipp's second season as Head Coach for the Men and Women's Cross Country team.  Last season he returned to Cross Country and had six runners earn spots on the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference All Conference Teams.  During his tenure at Haskell he coached fourteen NJCAA All-Americans and 8 Academic All-Americans.  He also has had two National Champions one in the Marathon and one in Track, as well as a National Team Championship in the 1987 Marathon.

             Lester Natoni enters his second season as the men’s and women’s assistant cross-country coach. He works primarily with the men’s program and also is an assistant coach for the track program as well, coaching the middle distance runners.

            Coach Natoni is a 1990 graduate of Many Farms High School, Many Farms, Arizona and he also ran for Haskell from 1990-1993 competing in both the indoor and outdoor track, cross country and the marathon. He is a 1993 graduate of Haskell with an A.A.S degree and currently works for the Haskell facilities department.