COACHING & PERFORMANCE STAFF
Chargers athletes train with a full performance staff. Director of XC⚡️TF Christopher Young and the Chargers coaching and performance staff work together as one team, so every athlete gets expert input from coaches who are on the same page.
CHRISTOPHER YOUNG
Director of XC⚡️TF
Christopher "Chris" Young is the Director of XC⚡️TF (Cross Country and Track & Field) at Lake Wylie High School, with nearly 30 years in the sport as an athlete and coach. At Allen County-Scottsville (KY), he was the 1999 KHSAA Second Region and Class AA state cross country champion, the 1999 AAU South Regional champion, and an AAU National Cross Country Championships qualifier. In 2000 he won the Class AA 1600m (4:26.24) and 3200m (9:43.21) on the same day at the state meet, after sweeping the Class AA 1500m and 3000m at the Mason-Dixon Games state indoor championships. A collegiate letterman at Western Kentucky University on a full scholarship, he placed 5th in the steeplechase (9:36.28) and 6th in the 5,000m (15:01.09) at the 2002 Sun Belt Outdoor Championships and earned a B.S. in Exercise Science.
At Franklin-Simpson HS (KY), he developed the cross country course, launched the Wildcat Wilderness XC Invitational in 2008, and led his first boys team to the program's first regional title while the girls finished as regional runners-up. At Clover High School (fall 2022 to spring 2026), he was the distance and applied exercise physiology coach for a distance program that went from 6th of 6 at Region in 2022 to the 2025 SCHSL 5A Division I girls state championship, with the boys placing 7th at State. He designed the Eagles Nest cross country course, launched the Clover Classic in 2025, and his athletes rewrote the Clover distance record board from the 800m up, including four individual state titles for Ella Nighbor and a boys 4x800 school record of 7:53.44. At Lake Wylie, he leads the founding Chargers program and hosts the Victory Bolt XC and T&F Invitationals.
B.S. Exercise Science, Western Kentucky University · USATF Level 1 · NFHS Level 3 Certified Interscholastic Coach (CIC)
RACHEL JONES
Distance Performance Coach, XC⚡️TF
Coach Rachel Jones is an RRCA Certified Running Coach and the founder of Run.Stride.Inspire. (runstrideinspire.com) in Lake Wylie. She has run seven straight Boston Marathons (the first one virtually) and will run her eighth in April 2027. She ran 3:01:13 at Boston in 2026 and has qualified for Boston nine times. On October 11, 2026 she ran 3:08:18 at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon with a negative split, running the second half 3:16 faster than the first. She has qualified for the Chicago and New York City Marathons, placed 2nd in her age group at the 2026 Around the Crown 10K, has run 41:13 for 10K and 1:29:33 for the half marathon (2025), and has finished two Ironman 70.3 triathlons.
She is a wife and mom of two in Lake Wylie who loves helping athletes find their purpose and chase their goals.
BRIAN TAYLOR
Team Development & Retention
Coach Taylor ran varsity cross country and was a co-captain in high school. He brings 20 years of coaching experience, including wrestling at the middle school and high school levels, and has been part of multiple conference, regional, sectional, and state championship teams. His focus is developing varsity, JV, and newer runners and building depth for the program's future.
CHAVIS SIBERT
Biomechanics, Coordination & Speed
Coach Sibert is a two-time collegiate All-American (The Ohio State University / Shaw University) and the founder of iTrainSpeed in Lake Wylie. At Shaw he ran 22.54 for 200m and competed at the CIAA Championships and the Penn Relays. His mechanics-first approach covers max velocity, acceleration, force application, agility, coordination, and power.
LESHEA PERKINS
Recovery, Mobility, Breathwork & Mental Focus
Coach Perkins has more than 20 years in health and wellness and is a certified yoga teacher, Pilates instructor, and stretch therapist. A former yoga studio owner, she teaches reformer mobility classes at re|form Pilates in Lake Wylie. She leads restorative mobility, functional flexibility, performance breathwork, and race-day mental focus.
AARON WELLS, NASM-CES
Strength & Conditioning
Coach Wells is a NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist. He owns periodization, movement quality, power development, and injury-prevention strength work.
ALLISON BANSEN, MSN, NP-C
Team Nutrition & Performance Health
A board-certified Nurse Practitioner, she founded Optimal Health and Hormones, PLLC, where she focuses on metabolic health, hormones, and nutrition, and she is the author of Healed from the Inside Out. She leads the team's nutrition education.
DR. DAVID REDDING, DC
Chiropractic Wellness & Longevity
Dr. Redding is a Doctor of Chiropractic (New York Chiropractic College, 1992) and the founder of Lake Wylie Wellness & Chiropractic Center. At Alfred State he was a two-time NJCAA All-American in cross country, and he still holds the college's 10,000m record (30:57.6). He is a member of the Alfred State Athletic Hall of Fame and the Dansville (NY) Athletic Wall of Fame.
ROBERT MCBEE
Distance Mentor & Distance Strategy Coach
The 2022 USATF South Carolina Male Masters Long Distance Runner of the Year and South Carolina men's 55–59 record holder in the marathon (2:55:55, Kiawah Island, 12/10/2022) and the 10K (36:11, 4/3/2022). He has run nine straight Boston Marathons (2018–2026), with bests of 2:53:33 in the marathon (Chicago 2023) and 1:20:41 in the half marathon (2024). On October 10, 2026, at age 59, he won the Grand Masters title at the Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon in 1:29:31 (6:50 per mile), 24th of 1,112 overall, in wind and heavy rain, and was honored as a Legacy Runner. He runs that race in memory of his uncle Danny McBee. He is also an LWHS FCA testimony speaker, and he mentors athletes on race strategy, pacing, and the mental side of championship racing.
TRACK & FIELD EVENT COACHES
Track & field event coaches for the 2027 season will be announced here.