Ed Boardman took a step back from the outdoor season in 2022 after leading the Herd through a hugely successful 15 years, but remains the Head Coach for Indoor Track & Field. As the outdoor 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)
Many State Medalists, and Many on to continue at Division I schools such as Penn State, University of Pittsburgh, University of Pennsylvania, Duquesne, University of Delaware, Liberty, University of South Carolina, Alabama, Duke, Miami, UNC, UNC-Wilmington, UMBC, Mount St. Mary’s, Oregon, BYU, University of Washington, Syracuse, VMI, American, William & Mary, and West Point.
DJ Rodkey, who took over as the Head Coach of the Thundering Herd for Boys and Girls Outdoor Track & Field in the 2023 season, returns to the indoor track & field staff as a varsity assistant coach. Coach Rodkey is the Information Technology Teacher at Carlisle High School, entering his fifth year on the Thundering Herd coaching staff and his seventh year as a track & field coach. 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. Rodkey has worked with multiple state qualifiers and medalists at Saltsburg and Carlisle, including 2018 state medalist Jenna Beitel. His most recent state medalist was 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. 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. Rodkey specializes in jumps at Carlisle and has experience coaching sprints and distance. Rodkey is also the founding advisor of Carlisle Esports where he serves as the General Manager. Additionally, he serves Carlisle as an Assistant Varsity Cross Country Coach and is also a volunteer 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. It is our goal as a coaching staff to help Carlisle student-athletes improve to go as far as they desire in athletics, academics, and life.
Tyler Baitinger returns to the indoor track staff this seaason. Coach Baitinger volunteered his first two outdoor seasons and helped out mostly with the sprinters at the high school level. He has been on the middle school coaching staff for the last 2 years. Originally from South Jersey, Baitinger was a part of Clearview Regional's High School Track and Field program for 4 years (graduated in 2016). He went to West Chester University where he studied Sociology and Youth Empowerment (graduated 2020). During his last two years of college, he coached Track & Field for West Chester East High School. He has lived and coached in Carlisle ever since. He was part of the inaugural Carlisle Middle School Track and Field coaching staff last year. He is excited to continue coaching Middle School as we develop a stronger middle school program while still helping when he can for the High School Program.
Coach Baitinger teaches math for the Carlisle Area School District. He has been married to his wife, Jillian, for a little over 4 years. They have two kids (2-year-old boy & 3-month-old girl) and 2 dogs (Nala and Maisey).