Coach Baganz - Distance

Coach Grant Baganz started coaching at Naperville Central in the 2011-2012 school year as an assistant boys' cross country coach and as the head distance coach for boys' track and field.

  In cross country, the Redhawks have qualified for the State meet in 8 of those 12 years. Coach Baganz has served as the head boys cross country coach since 2022.

In track and field, Coach Baganz has coached the distance Redhawks (RDN-- Redhawk Distance Nation) to State 18 times. The last 6 years have netted 8 All-State performances in the distance events. Only two distance groups in Illinois have achieved more, with 9 each. Highlights for RDN include All-State in the 1600 (3rd place, which is the highest finish in this event in school history) in 2018, and State titles in both the 4 x 800, and 800 in 2019; the first State championships for Naperville Central boys’ track and field since 1990.  Since 2015, RDN has had between 23 and 35 guys sub-5 minutes for 1600 meters each year and in 2019, the Redhawks finished #1 in Illinois and #3 in the US for the Sub-5 Challenge. In the most recent challenge, RDN finished #1 in IL for both the 1600 and 3200, and in the top 10 nationally in both, yet again. During Coach Baganz's tenure, school records have been set in the 4 x 800, 800, and 1600.

Coach Baganz has been coaching track and field and/or cross country, in some capacity,  since 1994, including experiences as a head coach in both sports.  He has coached athletes to State over 76 times in track and field, including 33 total All-State performances in numerous events for both boys and girls.  Among those are 10 top three finishes, including a girls 4 x 800 Wisconsin State runner-up, and boys State champions in Wisconsin in the 100, 200, and 400, along with the 800 and 4 x 800 in Illinois.  His coaching career began at his alma mater, Racine Lutheran High School. Baganz then coached for 2 seasons at Martin Luther High School, near Milwaukee. While at Martin Luther, 7 out of 8 school records were set in the distance events. He has coached sprints, middle distance/distance, relays, long jump, and triple jump.  

In addition, Baganz ran with, and/or coached at, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and Christ Lutheran Academy in Plainfield.      

As an athlete, Coach Baganz’s personal records include 51.0 for 400, 1:52.9 for 800, 3:51.9 for 1500, 4:09.8 for an indoor mile, 15:08 for 5000, and 26:01 for a cross country 8K. Coach Baganz was a State champion for Racine Lutheran High School in the 800. He placed third at the state meet in the triple jump, and 9th in the 400. He also qualified in the 200 and relays. In his senior season, the team was State runner-up. Baganz also played basketball  for 4 years and football for 1 year. Baganz went on to compete for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in track and field, and trained with the cross country team.  He received his coaching certification from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and his master's degree in Exercise Science—Human Performance from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where he also had an emphasis in Sport Administration. In 2012 he finished 7th in the USATF Masters Outdoor Championships 800 meter run and was on the US Masters Performance List for 1600 meters.  Baganz credits long-time coach Mike DeWitt as his biggest mentor.

In addition to coaching, Coach Baganz currently teaches K-8 Physical Education at Bethany Lutheran School in Naperville.  He was born and raised in the great state of Wisconsin and currently lives in Naperville with his wife and two sons. In addition to Wisconsin sports, Baganz loves summer, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.  He loves and appreciates what he does and feels very blessed to work at great schools with tremendous support and wonderful people. 

For more info from Coach Baganz click HERE

High School Sports: Football, Basketball, Track and Field

College Sports: Track and Field

Email: grantbaganz@hotmail.com 

Coach Bransby- Sprints & Hurdles

Coach Bransby joined the Naperville Central Track & Field team in 2022 as the Redhawk Sprints/Hurdles Coach. Coach Bransby works alongside Coaches Stack and Damhoff to oversee the Sprints & Relays. Since he began coaching, the Redhawks have had 1 hurdler crack the Top 10 All-Time list (Bode Smith 37.80), 3 Relays crack the Top 10 All-Time list, Indoor School Record in the 4x400 Relay (Foster Shelbert, Chad Earl, Patrick Clune, Bode Smith) and 5 IHSA State Qualifiers including double qualifiers in 2023 in the 300H (Bode Smith & Noah McAninch).

His track and field experience began in high school where he competed at Naperville Central from 2011-2014 and was a four year Varsity letter winner with PRs of 21.70 and 48.40. Coach Bransby went on as a student-athlete at the University of Nebraska, where he earned his degree in Elementary Education while minoring in Spanish Foreign Language. In his 4 years at the University of Nebraska, he qualified for the D1 National meet on 4 separate occasions, culminating in a 3rd place finish in the Men’s 4x400 relay in 2016 (3:03.74). The Huskers finished with 3 Big Ten Championship titles over the 4 years, and Coach Bransby currently holds the Big Ten meet record in the 4x400 Relay (2016).

Outside of Track & Field season, Coach Bransby enjoys running (surprise there), reading and traveling.

High School sports: Soccer and Track & Field

College Sports: Track & Field - Sprints

Follow Coach Bransby on Twitter: @RedhawksTF or Instagram: @RedhawksTF

Email: sbransby@napervill203.org 

Coach Damhoff -Jumps & Sprints

Dr. Brian Damhoff joined the Naperville Central staff in 2020 as the jumps coach. He has been coaching high school track and field/cross country since 2009 having coached at Fulton High School, Parkway West High School and Plainfield North High School. He competed in college as a long jumper at Lewis University and competed post-collegiately for 11 years. Dr. Damhoff is a chiropractor in Naperville and owns Elite Performance Institute. He is the team chiropractor for Northern Illinois University's track and field/cross country program. He excels at injury prevention and running/jumping mechanics. He is also the community coordinator for the Naperville Healthy Kids Running Series, a non-profit community-based running series for kids ages 2-14. In his free time, he enjoys running, hiking and traveling. 

High School Sports: Basketball, Track and Field

College Sports: Track and Field - Long Jump

Follow Coach Damhoff on Twitter: @DrBrianDamhoff or Instagram: @DrBrianDamhoff

Email: briandamhoff@gmail.com 

Coach Sullivan- Throws 

 Coach Sullivan is a graduate of Elmhurst University where he majored in Physical Education. Coach Sullivan was a 2-Sport Varsity athlete at Glenbard East High School as a lineman on the football team and thrower on the track and field team. He went on to play football collegiately at Concordia University – St. Paul.  

His high school track PRs were 52'1 and 136'5. He has several years of experience coaching at the youth and high school levels, including stints as the boys throws coach at Montini, the girls throws coach at Lake Park, and coached the throws for DuPage Track Club. Sullivan began his coaching career at Sacred Heart School-Lombard in 2016 where he developed 2 of the top middle school-age throwers in the state. 

Coach Sullivan is currently employed as a Physical Education/ Health teacher at a middle school in DuPage County.

High School Sports: Football & Track and Field

College Sports: Football