Bald Eagle Area makes 3 new coaching hires, including one from Bellefonte
Bald Eagle Area’s school board of directors approved the addition of three new coaches to its athletics staff Thursday night.
The district hired Kris Glunt as the boys’ basketball coach, Shawn Thompson as the girls’ basketball coach and Harley Yoder as the cheerleading coach.
Glunt will coach the Eagles after spending four years as the Bellefonte boys’ basketball coach, where he helped Ben McCartney become a 1,000-point scorer. The new head coach is leaving behind his alma mater to take the helm of the Eagles’ boys’ basketball program.
He and the Red Raiders finished this season with an 8-14 record, but saw plenty of success in the year prior. In the 2018-19 season, Glunt led Bellefonte to a 15-8 record and an appearance in the District 6 Class 5A Final, where they fell in overtime, 75-71.
He’ll be replacing longtime Bald Eagle Area head coach Bill Butterworth, who resigned from the position in early February after 22 years in charge.
Thompson takes over the girls’ basketball program after maintaining a presence in other Bald Eagle Area athletic programs. He has been an assistant with the football and track teams at BEA after moving to the school district in October 2017. Thompson was formerly an assistant basketball and football coach at Mount Pleasant, while also leading its track and field program. The new girls’ basketball coach also brings with him seven years of experience as a PIAA basketball official.
Yoder will take over cheerleading program next season and comes to Bald Eagle Area from Oregon, where she was a cheerleader until she suffered an injury her senior year of high school. She then began coaching to stay involved in the sport.
This story was originally published May 15, 2020 at 3:21 PM.
