Coach Mark Bierkan has dedicated 17 years to coaching cross country and track, with a distinguished career spanning various levels and schools. Currently in his 10th year as the Head Cross Country Coach and Assistant Track Coach at Lebanon High School, Coach Bierkan has previously held significant roles, including a year as the Head Junior High Cross Country and Track Coach at White Oak Middle School, and six years as the Head Cross Country and Track Coach at Colerain High School. He also served as an assistant coach at Colerain High School for one year.
A former standout athlete at Ohio Northern University, where he broke four school records and qualified nationally three times in cross country and track, Coach Bierkan continues to hold the 800m run school record at Colerain High School. His coaching achievements include guiding teams to multiple conference and district championships and state qualifications. His boys' teams earned conference championships in 2015, 2016, 2019, and 2020, with district titles in 2015, 2016, and 2020, and state qualifications in 2017 and 2019. His girls' teams also excelled, securing conference titles in 2015 and 2020, district championships in 2015, 2016, 2020, and 2022, and state qualifications in 2020 and 2021. Additionally, he has had at least one individual reach state every year he has coached.
Coach Bierkan has been recognized as the GWOC Coach of the Year and the ECC Coach of the Year. In addition to his coaching duties, he teaches high school math at Lebanon High School. Outside of his professional life, he enjoys running, biking, paddleboarding, spending time with his family, and watching sports. He is married to Meggie Bierkan, an art teacher at Lebanon High School, and they have two children, Chase (10) and Joey (8), who both attend Donovan Elementary.
Â
