BEREA, OHIO --  Two former Baldwin-Wallace College student-athletes, Eric Schmuhl '05 (track & field) and Keith Boedicker '83 (football), have returned to Berea as assistant coaches in the Yellow Jacket athletic program. 

Schmuhl joins a Yellow Jacket track program that is one of the best in Ohio and will assist longtime Head Coach Bill Taraschke. Boedicker joins a Yellow Jacket football program that has had 40 winning season in the last 41 years and will assist Head Coach John Snell.  Schmuhl, who earned an undergraduate degree in education at B-W and a Master's of Education degree this summer from Muskingum College, returns to the College after spending the past year as a graduate assistant coach for track and cross country at Muskingum. In addition to his coaching duties, he assisted in recruiting and strength and conditioning.

Prior to coaching at the collegiate level, Schmuhl was an assistant coach for track and cross country at his high school alma mater, Medina Senior High School in Medina, Ohio for four years. He first served as a volunteeer coach for three seasons and then was hired fulltime for the 2006-2007 academic year.  While at Medina Senior, Schmuhl coached several Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) Division I State qualifiers and All-Ohio athletes in track and cross country.  Schmuhl also has served as an organizational trustee and clinic instructor for the Greater Medina Track Club since 2006.

Schmuhl, a 2001 graduate of Medina Senior High School, was a 2001 OHSAA State qualifier in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and a two-year team captain in track.

At B-W, Schmuhl ran four years of indoor and outdoor track under Taraschke. He was an NCAA Division III national qualifier for outdoor track in 2004 and 2005 and the 2004 Ohio Athletic Conference champion in 400-meter intermediate hurdles.  He also was a seven-time All-OAC honoree, an Academic All-OAC selection and a three-time Vance Carter Award Winner as the Most Outstanding Male Hurdler.

"We are pleased that Eric Schmuhl is joining our staff at Baldwin-Wallace College and know that he will be a great asset to our track program and student-athletes," said Taraschke, who will enter his 25th season as head coach. "Eric was an outstanding competitor in college and is quickly becoming an excellent teacher and coach."

Boedicker will begin his first season as a member of the Yellow Jacket staff after a distinguished 24-year high school coaching career.  Boedicker, who will be responsible for the freshman defense, returns to his alma mater after a 10-year stint a Macedonia Nordonia High School where he compiled a 92-32 record, including five OHSAA state playoff apperances, including one runner-up finish, one semifinal appearance and two regional final apperances. 

He also has coached at Gibsonburg, Akron Hoban, Akron Springfield, Rootstown, Wapakoneta and Stow-Munroe Falls high schools.  In additon to coaching football, Coach Boedicker has coached baseball, softball, basketball and track.  His Akron Hoban baseball team twice advanced to the OHSAA Final Four.

While a football student-athlete at B-W, Coach Boedicker played special teams on the 1978 national championship team as a freshman and was a key member of the defense on the defensive line for the 1980 and 1982 playoff teams.  He was a three-year starter and and twice earned first-team All-OAC honors at defensive tackle.  He was inducted into the B-W Alumni Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2006.

Boedicker graduated from BW in 1983 and also received his master's degree from Southeastern (Fla.) University.

"Coach Boedicker brings a wealth of knowledge and experience back to B-W," said seventh-year Head Coach John Snell. "He has served as both an assistant coach and head coach. While at Nordonia, Coach Boedicker distinguished himself as one of the best high school coaches in the state of Ohio. We welcome him back to the College and know that he will be an outstanding asset to our program."

FOR MORE INFORMATION, please contact B-W Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327, by FAX machine at 440-826-2329 or via e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. 

To contact Head Football Coach John Snell, please call him at 440-826-2069 or e-mail him at jsnell@bw.edu. 

To contact Head Coach Track and Cross Country Coach Bill Taraschke, please call him at 440-826-3322 or e-mail him at wtarasch@bw.edu.

You can get all of the latest B-W athletics information by visiting our Web site at www.bw.edu/athletics.