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Billings, Mont. – Montana State Billings women's soccer coaches took time out of their busy schedule to speak with the students at Castle Rock Middle School on Friday, Dec. 7. Head coach
Wojtek Krakowiak and assistant coach Eric Lona enlightened students on the specifics of coaching and being a collegiate student-athlete.
Eighth grade student Briana Rudolph wrote a letter to coach Krakowiak asking him to speak to them regarding their careers and how they decided to choose their professions. Rudolph, a member of the World of Work class, is active in sports and is interested in being a professional soccer player. Teacher, Kelly Smith arranged the event and gave the platform for coach Lona and Krakowiak to interact with the students.
Coach Krakowiak has just finished his third year with MSUB, second as the head women's team coach. His current overall record is 24-9-5 and Great Northwest Athletic Conference record is 16-7-5. This past season he led the Yellowjackets to an appearance in the inaugural GNAC Championship Tournament finals.
“It's great anytime we can get out in the community and connect with middle and high school students to give guidance and potentially make a difference on when they choose a career” stated Krakowiak. “We love helping out the local youth, the class was awesome and very involved.”
MSUB finished with 11 GNAC All-Academic selections, seven All-GNAC selections, four NSCAA All-West Region honorees, three Daktronics selections and one CoSIDA All-Academic honoree.
“They asked a lot of questions, and I would like to thank Briana, Mrs. Smith and the students for inviting us and giving us the opportunity to speak,” Krakowiak said. “Hopefully we will see them next season at our home soccer games supporting Yellowjackets' soccer.”
Lona has recently finished his first season as the assistant coach for the Jackets women's team. With his strong background in goal keeping he helped the defensive unit record one of the best seasons in the program's history. The back line and freshman goal keeper
Aiko Johnson finished with 10 shutouts, 70 saves and only allowed 17 total goals on the year. They also forced opponents to a .441 shot on goal percentage.
“It was a very bright and engaging group, so you can obviously tell that Mrs. Smith has done a tremendous job educating her students,” stated Lona. “They had some great questions for us and hopefully we did a good job giving them all the information needed to possibly decide if this might be a route they want to go in the future. One thing's for sure, these students will all go pro in some field and their teacher Mrs. Smith is giving them a great foundation for success.”
MSU Billings Intercollegiate Athletics Department would like to thank Castle Rock Middle School, Mrs. Smith and the eighth grade World of Work class for inviting two of our coaches to speak with them and remain active in the Billings community.
