DJ Rodkey (2023 - present) enters his fourth season as the Head Coach of the Thundering Herd for Outdoor Boys and Girls Track & Field. Coach Rodkey, entering his fifth year on the Thundering Herd coaching staff and his seventh year as a track & field coach, is the Information Technology Teacher at Carlisle High School. Prior to joining Carlisle, Coach Rodkey was the Head Cross Country Coach at Blairsville High School and an Assistant Varsity Track & Field Coach at Saltsburg High School, both of which have now merged to become River Valley High School. In 2024, Rodkey won his first District 3 AAA title with the Carlisle boys team that would go on to set school records in all 3 relays and the 400m dash record at the state championships. Rodkey has worked with multiple state qualifiers and medalists at Saltsburg and Carlisle, including 2018 state medalist Jenna Beitel. Recent state medalists include Rhyan Mitchell, the 2022 District 3 Champion in the triple jump, who also placed 6th at the PIAA State Championships and the prestigious Penn Relays that year, and Parker Smith, the 2025 District 3 Silver Medalist in the 400m run with a new school record of 48.16 and placed 7th at states. He has also had the privilege to be around some of Indiana County's hall-of-fame athletes and coaches, including Angel Piccirillo and Rick Foust. Coach Rodkey has also had the privilege to work with several successful head coaches who became mentors to him, including Ed Boardman (Carlisle), Michael Gentile (Homer-Center), Melissa Milanak (River Valley), Chris Matava (United), and Matt Rodkey (Homer-Center), his father.
Coach Rodkey served as a PIAA Official for basketball, cross country, and track & field from 2015 to 2023. Rodkey is a 2015 graduate of United High School and a 2018 graduate of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems. Coach Rodkey also earned a Graduate Certificate in Sports Management from Liberty University in August 2022 and his USATF Level 1 Track & Field Coach Certification in March 2022. More recently he earned a Master of Science degree in Sport Management: Sport Administration. Rodkey's primary focus at Carlisle has been on jumps and sprints, and he also has experience coaching distance. Rodkey is also the founding advisor of Carlisle Esports, where he served as the General Manager. He also served Carlisle as an Assistant Varsity Cross Country and Indoor Track & Field Coach and has volunteered as a Young Life Leader at Carlisle for South Central PA Young Life.
Coach Rodkey’s coaching philosophy and the RODKEY Rules are derived from his experience with his coaches while a student-athlete as well as from leadership studies during his courses at Liberty University, which included leadership examples set by Vince Lombardi and John Wooden’s pyramid of greatness. Not every student-athlete may win, but everyone can improve. Our goal as a coaching staff is to help Carlisle student-athletes improve to go as far as they desire in athletics, academics, and life.
Rodkey by the numbers:
1 Bruce Dallas Team Title (Boys, 1st in program history)
1 Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division Title (2024 Boys)
1 Mid-Penn Meet Team Championship (2024 Boys)
1 District III Team Championship (2024 Boys, 1st post-COVID)
20 boys, 8 girls, and 28 combined state qualifiers in 2024 (program high)
School Records Set:
Boys: 400m (Parker Smith 2025), 4x1 (2024), 4x4 (2024), 4x8 (2024)
Girls: 2K Steeplechase (Emily Leatherman, 2024), 4x8 (2024)
Under Coach Rodkey's leadership, the Carlisle Track & Field program expanded in 2024 to include middle school track & field. In 2025, the Stan Morgan Invitational expanded to offer the Carlisle Middle School Championships on the Friday night before Stan Morgan each year. Coach Rodkey, in his role as Computer Systems Networking Teacher and with the assistance of Dr. Albert Parrillo, III, CTC Director, submitted and received funds for a Fully Automated Timing System (FAT) through the PA Supplemental Equipment Grant to be used by Herd Timing networking students at all home dual meets and the middle school invitational. Finally, the indoor track & field program was recognized and became "fully funded" in 2024.
Ed Boardman (2008 - 2022) took a step back in 2023 after leading the Herd through a hugely successful 15 years. As the Head Coach from 2008-2022 Coach Boardman added many years to the banners that hang in the High School Gymnasium. The banner that looms the largest being the Indoor Distance Medley Relay that won the NATIONAL Championship on March 10th, 2017. That night, at the Armory in New York City, Sam Affolder, Jared Griffie, Isaac Kole, and Noah Affolder broke the US National record for the event, last set in 2001; sixteen years prior. He also takes great pride in his milers’ dominance. For a HS boy to break into his top-5 at 1600, he would need to run 412 or faster. A HS girl would need to go 5:01 or faster. Many school records from around the state of PA would not even make his top-5. Not to mention that Noah Affolder’s 8:42.94 en route time is the fastest 3200 ever run in PA indoor history.
In his last stint as an Assistant Coach he spent 2004-2007 as the long distance coach at Shippensburg University during Spring Track seasons under the tutelage of Olympian and World Championships’ Bronze Medalist Steve Spence. During his four seasons of coaching at the collegiate level, his athletes claimed 22 PSAC places, including 5 individual Conference championships. He coached one All-American, Kelly Stewart, who placed 4th at NCAAs in the 10K and later qualified for the US Olympic Trials in 2008. Boardman attended Shippensburg University himself, was a varsity athlete throughout his four years of undergraduate study, and served as a team captain for both the cross country and track teams for the 1999-2000 season.
He works full-time for the Department of Defense in Mechanicsburg, Pa., where he is employed as a Financial Management Analyst. He also holds a Master's of Business Administration from Shippensburg University and used to even teach night classes at the University on the topics of Organizational Behavior and Strategic Business Management. He resides with his family in Shippensburg where his children are predominantly engaged in soccer, field hockey, and wrestling.
Boardman (Track & Field only) by the numbers:
7 Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division Team titles (3 Boys/4 Girls)
5 District III Team Championships (4 Boys/1 Girls)
1 State Team Championship-2017
2 State Team Runner’s-up-2014 (Outdoor) and 2017 (Indoor)
1 State 3rd place-2015
12- Individual/Event State Championships:
Ashley Corum at Triple Jump-2008, 2009, and 2010
Zach Brehm-800m in 2013, 1600m in 2014, and 3200m in 2015
-(Also the State Meet Record pre-Covid/new event order)
Deshawn Millington at Triple Jump in 2014
Isa Paschall at Triple Jump in 2015 (Indoor)
Isaac Kole at 1600 in 2017
Boys 4x800 in 2017 (Indoor)
Boys Distance Medley Relay-2017(Indoor)-Also the State Meet Record
Noah Affolder-Mile-2017 (Indoor)
Stan Morgan (1951)
The Dickinson College Invitational Track and Field Meet was held for the first time in 1968 at Dickinson's Biddle Field. The meet was the joint creation of Stan Morgan, a history teacher and head track coach in the Carlisle Schools, and the senior Dave Eavenson, then the Director of Athletics at Dickinson. In 1989, the meet was moved to Carlisle High School's Ken Millen Stadium and renamed the Stan Morgan Track and Field Invitational. In 2009 meet was temporarily hosted at Cumberland Valley High School but returned to Carlisle's resurfaced track in 2010. The event honors the memory of Stan Morgan, a remarkable personality who, for over a quarter of a century, touched the hearts and minds of students, parents, athletes, and fans. Stan's devotion to track reaches back to the late thirties at Lansford High School, where he was an outstanding sprinter and long jumper, winning the District 11 championships in those events. With World War II on the horizon, Stan enlisted in the Army Air Corps and served with distinction in the India-Burma campaigns. Following the war, he earned his degree from East Stroudsburg University, and in 1951, Morgan arrived in Carlisle to teach history, assist with football, and coach the Thundering Herd track team. Just before his unexpected death in May of 1981, the community of Carlisle expressed its appreciation for his achievements by presenting him with a Distinguished Service Award, and the following year, Coach Morgan was inducted posthumously into the South Central Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.