Jed Friedrich, a native of St. Cloud, Minnesota and 2003 graduate of Northern Michigan University, has been named the head men’s and women’s cross country coach and head men’s and women’s nordic skiing coach at Gustavus Adolphus College. Friedrich, who has been teaching health and physical education and coaching at Herman-Norcross Community School during the past year, succeeds Scott Jerome who resigned to accept the position as head nordic ski coach at the University of Alaska – Fairbanks.
Set to begin his full-time responsibilities at Gustavus in August, Friedrich is looking forward to his first head coaching opportunity. “I am excited to get a chance to be a head coach. The Gustavus nordic ski and cross country running programs are really on the rise and I look forward to helping them continue to grow and improve.” He added, “I am fortunate to take over programs that have good talent and where the athletes have experienced success. We will continue to emphasize effort and attitude and if those two characteristics remain a constant I am confident we will remain among the top programs in the conference and region.”
Gustavus Athletics Director Al Molde feels Friedrich’s knowledge and enthusiasm are an excellent match for Gustavus and its cross country running and nordic skiing programs. He stated, “Jed is going to be a great young coach and we are excited to have him join us. We are also pleased to add another quality person in a line of talented young coaches from Northern Michigan University.”
At St. Cloud Apollo High School, Friedrich was a three-time all-conference performer in cross country and track and field and a two-time all-state honoree in nordic skiing. He enrolled at Northern Michigan University in the fall of 1999 and was a member of Central Region Championship teams in 1999, 2000 and 2001. He received All-America Scholar honors from the Nordic Ski Coaches Association in 2000. After serving as an assistant coach at his alma mater 2002, Friedrich accepted a teaching and coaching position at Herman-Norcross Community School in 2003. This past year he served as the assistant girls’ volleyball coach, assistant boys’ basketball coach and assistant track and field coach.