Coach Wackett is a 1984 graduate of Watertown High School where he competed in both cross country and track and field all 4 years. He went on to graduate from U.W. - Whitewater with a BSE in Physical Education and Health after competing there for 4 years. In 2003 he graduated from U.W. - LaCrosse with a MEPD.

His coaching career started in 1989 as the girls distance coach for Jefferson High School. In 1990 he became the sprint/relay coach for Watertown High School and was hired as a teacher at Riverside Middle School where he where he taught physical education and health for 29 years promoting a lifestyle of lifetime fitness. He coached the middle school cross country program from 1990 - 1994 as well as volunteering his time when he could in the high school program. In 1995 he became a full time assistant with the high school cross country program as well as a guide runner for Missy Lehman. He moved from sprints to being the distance coach for the track program in 1997 and has been proudly doing so ever since.

Coach Wackett is most interested in developing student athletes into young adults with good character and work ethic. All while they learn to enjoy the fruits and labors of becoming the best distance runners they can be.

Coach Mertens is a 1994 graduate of Algoma High School and a 1998 graduate of St. Norbert College. He ran cross country and track throughout high school and college.  In the fall of 1998, he accepted a teaching position at Watertown High School to teach everyone's favorite subject: math!  In 1998, he also became an assistant cross country coach after simply running around the track one day.  In 2002, he was added to the track staff as a sprint coach and in 2006 became the head track and field coach where he now focuses on hurdles.

Coach Mertens is married and has two children.  He still runs today to try to keep up with the kids: those on the team and his daughters at home.

Coach Fredericks is a 2007 graduate of Wisconsin Heights High School where she was a varsity athlete on the track & field and cross country teams. She is also a 2012 graduate of UW - Stevens Point with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Composition and will be 2019 recipient of a Masters of Science in Education, also from UWSP.

Prior to coming to Watertown in 2016, Coach Fredericks was an English teacher at Platteville High School. While there, she coached eighth grade girls track & field and was a volunteer assistant coach for the high school cross country team. Currently, Coach Fredericks serves as one of the track coaches at Riverside Middle School specializing in distance events and relays.

In her free time, Coach Fredericks enjoys running a variety of road races, including her first full marathon in October 2018. Coach Fredericks finds great fulfillment in watching her athletes reach their full potential as not only runners, but as people as well.

Coach Schmied is a 2018 graduate of Watertown High School and a proud alumnus of Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he earned a B.S. in Exercise Science with a minor in Athletic Coaching in 2023. A lifelong runner, he competed in both track and field and cross country throughout high school and college.

His coaching career began during his time at Minnesota State, serving as a volunteer assistant coach for the Mankato East High School boys’ cross-country team. He aided the Cougars to their first of back-to-back state championships. He later assisted YMCA’s STRIDE program in Mankato, a character development and running initiative for boys in grades 3–5. While competing for the Mavericks, Coach Schmied was a multi-time Northern Sun Conference champion, received All-Conference honors in cross-country, and was named the Northern Sun Outstanding Senior of the Year in 2023. Since graduating, he has returned to Watertown as a volunteer assistant coach for track and cross country, taking on the sprints/relays and assistant cross-country coaching positions in 2025. Coach Schmied is proud to be a Gosling once again!

He continues to compete in road and track races and is passionate about instilling the lessons he learned as an athlete into the next generation. His mission is to help young athletes grow not only in sport, but in character—becoming the best versions of themselves both athletically and as young adults.