After 17 years of leading the track and field team at CESJDS, cross country head coach and former track and field head coach Jason Belinkie is stepping down from his position for the 2024-2025 winter track season. Former track and field assistant coach, girls junior varsity volleyball head coach and lower school physical education specialist Shayna Held has taken over as head coach for the winter and spring track seasons, with Belinkie acting as an assistant coach. Belinkie will remain head coach for the cross country team in the fall season.
Belinkie said that several factors led to this switch, both for the benefit of the team and for personal reasons. Held has a high level of expertise in track and field; Belinkie having described her as “the full package in terms of having her own experience and competing in different events.” Before coming to JDS, Held coached track and field at Utica University and Vassar College. This shift aims to enhance the sprinting program by expanding and investing more in it.
On a more personal level, Belinkie said that he thinks it is best for the team and himself to scale back his commitment, considering his stage in life and his personal responsibilities. He will shift to a narrower focus in his coaching where he believes he can make the most positive impact – coaching distance running.
“It felt like it was a good time to have a new leader in the track program, particularly someone like Coach Shayna [Held], who has a tremendous amount of experience and passion,” Belinkie said. “… [She] knows everything there is to know about track. I felt like she would be the perfect candidate to be the next leader of the team.”
Held joined Belinkie and the JDS track and field team last year for the winter and spring track seasons. She was a collegiate athlete at State University of New York College at Geneseo, competing in events from all areas of track and field from sprinting to jumping to throwing to hurdling.
While Belinkie will still be part of the coaching team, Held has shifted to be the primary voice the team hears and has gained more administrative responsibilities. She will address the team at the beginning of practice, answer questions that student runners and parents have and make decisions for the team.
“It’s kind of nerve-wracking taking over a program that’s been led with such passion for the past 20 years by the same person,” Held said. “But knowing that that person [Belinkie] is still around, I feel as though I have great people in my corner who are supporting me in this position. So it does make me excited. I never thought that I would be a head coach.”
Held said she does not plan to make any big changes to the team and track and field program. She said that the team already has a good energy, atmosphere and community thanks to Belinkie, so she will continue to lead it in the same direction. However, she will simultaneously work on growing areas on the team that have not historically been emphasize, such as the sprinting, jumping and throwing programs. Student runners have already noticed these changes in the implementation of a new warm-up routine.
Sophomore Gillian Krauthamer said she has no concerns with the change in leadership and anticipates a smooth transition. While she does not know what will change, she’s “optimistic” for the season.
“[Held] was a coach last [winter and] spring track season so she knows the dynamic of the team,” Krauthamer said. “She knows the team, so I think she’s prepared.”
While the winter track season is mainly a training season, Held will continue in the same role as head coach during the spring track season and in future years. She is excited to build a “good foundation” for the team, getting down to the basics and building strength, in preparation for performing well in competitions during the spring track season.
“She can do it all,” Belinkie said. “I feel very fortunate, the whole team feels really fortunate to have her as a head coach.”
