Coaching Staff

Coach MooreDave Moore enters his first season with the Carlisle coaching staff as the inaugural Head Middle School Track and Field Coach. Prior to joining the Thundering Herd, Coach Moore spent 5 years (2015-2019) mentoring athletes in the middle- and long-distance events as an assistant coach for the men’s and women’s track & field and cross country teams at Penn State Harrisburg, working alongside then head coach Danielle Lynch to help take the track program off the ground through its inaugural NCAA seasons. While there, he was also a full-time faculty member in the college’s undergraduate Kinesiology program from 2016-2021. Many of his athletes achieved new personal bests, and his men’s squad continues to hold the top times for middle distance events in the program’s record books.  Notable accolades also include coaching 800-meter runner, Joe Phifer, to become the program’s first indoor and outdoor ECAC DIII track and field championships qualifier and outdoor ECAC DIII medalist, with a qualifying and personal-best time of 1:53.00.  

Before joining the PSU-Harrisburg coaching staff, Coach Moore served 4 years (2011-2014) as an assistant with the boys’ cross-country program at State College Area High School.  While at State College, he, alongside then head coach Dave Felice and fellow assistant coach Rusty McCrea, helped guide the Little Lions to two (2013, 2014) PIAA District VI team victories, a Mid-Penn Conference tournament team championship (2013), as well as 4th (2013) and 11th (2014) place boys AAA team finishes at the PIAA state cross country championships. 

Moore is a two-time graduate of Penn State University, earning his B.S. in Biology in 2007 and his Ph.D. in Physiology in 2014. While attending Penn State, he was member of the Triathlon Club before running his final 2 years with the cross country and track & field teams under the guidance and mentorship of the late, hall of fame coach, Harry Groves.

Coach HannahHannah Cotton has lived in Carlisle the past four years working with Club Beyond, a military youth ministry, at the Carlisle Barracks. She ran Cross Country for a year at Covenant College before transferring to Messiah College where she graduated from in 2020. She loves running and is currently training for an ultra and is excited to be volunteering with the Track and Field Team. Other than running, Hannah loves all things outdoors, reading, and walking alongside students through her work and volunteering with Young Life.





Coach KaiKaila Sawyer is entering her third year on the Thundering Herd coaching staff and her first as an assistant at the middle school level. Coach Kai is a 2012 Mechanicsburg alumni who participated in both track & field and basketball. She was a district and state qualifier who then attended Shippensburg for a year and was a member of their track & field team. Coach Kai coaches pole vault, assists with jumps and sprints, and also serves as the head 9th grade girls basketball coach at Carlisle.