Meet Our Coaches
Troy Plummer
Athletic Director
Plummer received his BA in Business Management/Athletic Administration (double major) from Simpson College and his MS in Sport Management from Western Illinois University. Troy has been named the MCC Athletic Director of the Year twice.
He’s very excited about the growth of our sports programs, commenting,“At a time when many colleges are dropping athletic programs, we are adding athletic opportunities for our students. We are also unique in the fact that we can offer athletic scholarships, which allows us to compete at a very high level athletically while still maintaining our commitment to the individual student’s academic success.”
He played baseball at Simpson and was an outfielder and pitcher in the Division III World Series in 1991. Troy is a big sports enthusiast and enjoys watching baseball and playing golf. But his favorite thing to do is spend time with his wife, Amy, and three children.
Baseball - Lou Yacinich
Lou Yacinich
Baseball Coach
Lou Yacinich, in his third decade as the Viking head coach, has compiled a 900-607 record (1048-799 overall). From 1971-76 Grand View competed at the Junior College level, and Yacinich guided his teams to a state championship (1974) and two state runners-up (1975, 1976), with many team members going on to compete at major colleges and universities and some playing professionally.
Coach Yacinich is a member of the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame, the NAIA Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Grand View Athletic Hall of Fame. He also serves as the Director of Athletic Advancement at Grand View.
Bowling - Gary Gioffredi
Gary Gioffredi
Bowling Coach
Gioffredi, a Grand View alumnus, earned multiple top-five state awards for singles, doubles and teams before the age of 12 and basically "grew up in the bowling alley" with his family. He played football and baseball for the Des Moines Lincoln Railsplitters and baseball for Grand View. He played centerfield and pitched for the Vikings and was a member of the 1991 World Series Team.
Following graduation from Grand View, Gioffredi returned to competitive bowling. Since that time, he has consistently averaged over 200 and has bowled three sanctioned 300 games. He has bowled and placed at the National Bowling Tournament in Reno, Nevada, along with multiple state tournaments.
Cross Country & Track - Jerry Monner
Jerry Monner
Cross Country and Track
Under head coach Jerry Monner's leadership, the men's and women's cross country teams continue to be one of the top programs in the Midwest Collegiate Conference each season. Recently he has guided five of his athletes to the NAIA Cross Country National Championships highlighted by Obsie Birru earning NAIA All-American honors for the third consecutive season in 2010.
During his tenure at Grand View, Monner has coached twenty three MCC All-Conference runners, eleven NAIA individual national qualifiers, four MCC conference champions and three NAIA All-Americans in cross country. In 2005 he was named the MCC men's coach of the year after guiding his team to the MCC conference title.
Dance & Cheer - Stacie Horton
Stacie Horton
Dance/Cheer Coach
Stacie Horton, head coach of the Competitive Dance Team, is a Grand View graduate with a mass communication degree. She was a member of the University of Iowa pom-pon squad and coached the Iowa Barnstormers' dance team. She has led the Grand View Dance Team to qualifying for the 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 national dance competitions. In 2010 the squad finished second in the Open Pom Division and 12th in Jazz and in 2011 the team placed 4th in Jazz at UDA Nationals held in Orlando, Florida.
Football - Mike Woodley
Mike Woodley
Football Coach
Head Coach Mike Woodley's name is synonymous with athletics in Iowa. He's spent nearly three decades coaching in the state: graduate assistant at the University of Iowa, head coach at St. Ambrose University, coaching positions at several Iowa high schools, including Fort Dodge and West Des Moines Valley, and nine years as assistant coach at Iowa State University. Before coming to Grand View, he spent four years as the athletic director and head football coach at Sam Rayburn High School in Houston, Texas. All four of his sons are involved in coaching.
Coach Woodley is an inductee to the Iowa High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and is a Hall of Fame member of the University of Northern Iowa, where he was an All-American, and at Waterloo East High School. He has won Coach of the Year honors at each school he has coached and was the NAIA District 15 Coach of the Year while at St. Ambrose after his team earned a victory over IAA power Western Illinois.
Golf - Chris Winkel
Chris Winkel
Men's and Women's Golf
An accomplished player and teacher, Coach Winkel brings an impressive background to the Vikings program. A PGA professional for 12 years, he was named Iowa's PGA "Player of the Year" in both 1999 and 2003, is a three-time Iowa PGA section champion, and has competed in three PGA tour events.
Winkel earned Iowa PGA "Teacher of the Year" honors in 2001; in 2003 he was named one of Iowa's "Best Teachers." He was MCC Coach of the Year in 2006 and had an NAIA National Tournament appearance in 2006. The Viking men’s golf team was ranked by GolfStat as the No. 1 team in the nation in the fall of 2009.
Men's Basketball - Denis Schaefer
Denis Schaefer
Basketball Coach
Coach Schaefer has led the Vikings men's basketball team to three Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament titles, claiming regular season titles in 2001, 2009, and 2010. He was the MCC Coach of the Year in 2001 and 2009. The Vikings also appeared in five MCC Tournament Championship games, taking the MCC tournament championship in 2001 and 2010.
Coach Schaefer's teams have made NAIA National Tournament appearances in 2000, 2001, 2009, and 2010. The 2000 season ended with a Final Eight appearance and, in 2009, the Vikings advanced to the Sweet 16. He has coached two MCC Players of the Year, and multiple All-Conference, Academic All-Conference, All-American, and Academic All-American players.
Men's Soccer - Blair Reid
Blair Reid
Men's Soccer
Blair Reid, men's head soccer coach, was instrumental in getting soccer in Iowa as a state sanctioned high school sport. In 2001, he was inducted into the Iowa High School Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame; he is also a member of the Grand View Hall of Fame.
In his nearly three decades at Grand View, Reid has coached the Vikings to 12 MCC championships, nine MCC Tournament Championships, one district championship, and six national tournament appearances. He has been named MCC Coach of the Year seven times, NAIA District 15 coach of the year eight times, and Region VII Coach of the three times. In September of 2010, Reid won his 300th and is one of the winningest coaches in the NAIA.
Men's Volleyball - Donan Cruz
Donan Cruz
Men's Volleyball
Head coach Donan Cruz leads the inaugural men's volleyball team in its 2011 debut. He had been an assistant coach with the Viking women's volleball program for the past two seasons. During this time the program became one of the best in the Midwest Collegiate Conference. Cruz continues to assist the women's team in the fall, as well as coach the men who compete in the spring.
Cruz has been a co-coach and skills trainer with the Iowa Power Volleyball Alliance for the past three years. He also served as head coach for the varsity boy's volleyball team at the University of Hawaii Lab School in 2008. Cruz played his college career at Graceland University where he was an outside hitter and defensive specialist for the Yellowjackets. He was the team captain his junior and senior seasons.
Softball - Lou A. Yacinich
Lou A. Yacinich
Softball
Coach Yacinich led the Vikings to their first national tournament appearance in 2006. He's an alum of Grand View and played baseball from 1981-1985. His coaching experiences include serving as head softball coach at Urbandale High School, with a 2002 team that placed sixth the State Tournament, an assistant coach at Valley High School and assistant coach at Waukee High School, the 2009 state runner-up. Yacinich was inducted into the Iowa Amateur Softball Association Men's Fastpitch Softball Hall of Fame in 2000 after playing in the major-open level from 1986-1996.
Tennis - Kirk Trow
Kirk Trow
Tennis
Kirk Trow led the inaugural men's and women's tennis teams in their 2011 debut. Trow has an extensive background in tennis and a longtime presence in the Des Moines area community. He has been coaching tennis for 24 years, most recently as the head boys' tennis coach at West Des Moines Valley High School. In 2010, the Valley Tigers went undefeated and were State Champions under Trow's direction.
Trow holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Iowa State University and a Master of Science degree from Drake University.
Women's Basketball - Garey Smith
Garey Smith
Women's Basketball
Coach Smith has led the Vikings to four trips to the conference tournament championship game, advancing to the NAIA National Tournament in 2003 and 2010. In 2010, the Vikings made program history and advanced to the Elite 8 of the national tournament.
A native of Nevada, Iowa, Smith came to the Vikings from William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa. In 18 seasons with the women's program at William Penn, he coached the Statesmen to six Iowa Conference titles and five NCAA Division III tournament appearances. Smith has coached numerous All-Americans and 1,000-point career scorers, and one 2,000-point scorer. He was honored in 1986, 1988, and 1989 with the Converse Regional Coach of the Year award. During the 2008-2009 season, Smith recorded his 600th collegiate career win.
Women's Soccer - Ventsi Stoimirov
Ventsi Stoimirov
Women’s Soccer Coach
Coach Stoimirov was a member of the Bulgarian Junior National Team and started six seasons for the Des Moines Menace, leading the team to two final four appearances.
He's built a program known for its successes on and off the field. In 2009, the Vikings won the MCC Tournament and earned the program's first trip to the NAIA Championships. In 2003, the Vikings rocketed to the top of the Midwest Collegiate Conference, earning their first MCC title. The 2003 and 2004 MCC Coach of the Year and 2003 Region Coach of the Year has coached 69 MCC All-Conference athletes, three MCC Players of the Year, 103 MCC Academic All-Conference athletes, 14 NAIA Academic All-Region athletes, one Region Player of the Year, 20 NAIA All-Region athletes, 19 NAIA Academic All-Americans, and 15 NAIA All-Americans.
Women's Volleyball - Tina Carter
Tina Carter
Volleyball
Tina Carter's first Grand View team finished with an overall record of 17-21. The 2008 Grand View volleyball team finished with an impressive 6-1 home record. In 2009, the Vikings 24-14 overall, were the runner-up in the MCC at 7-1, and Coach Carter was voted by her peers as the MCC Coach of the Year.
Wrestling - Nick Mitchell
Nick Mitchell
Wrestling Coach
Head Wrestling Coach Nick Mitchell came to Grand View after serving as the assistant wrestling coach at Wartburg College for eight seasons. His squads collected three national dual and team championships and were the runners-up three times.
In his short time at Grand View, he has built a national championship wrestling program that hosted the 2012 NAIA Wtrestling Champsionships and finished the dual season undefeated.
Mitchell wrestled his college career at Wartburg, where he was a three-time Iowa Conference champion and three-time NCAA Division III All-American. Individually, he finished second at the national championships once, was third twice, and was a part of the 1999 national championship team. Mitchell, a Johnston native, graduated from Wartburg in 2000 and completed his Master's in Education at Viterbo.
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