Ryan Salem, MA, MAT

Head Girls and Boys Cross Country Coach

Assistant Track, Distance

Coach Salem is in his 1st year as the head coach at LSW.  Prior to the 2009 season, Coach Salem served as the Varsity Assistant to Dr. Ted Larson at Lincoln Southwest for six seasons.  While a high school runner under Dr. Larson in Lincoln, Coach Salem was part of two state championship teams finishing 18th and 11th overall as a junior and senior at the NE state meet.  His 1992 State championship team still holds the NE state record for lowest total points with 21. 

Coach Salem is a former NCAA Div. III All-American Cross Country runner (Nebraska Wesleyan Univ., 1997)  and has experience coaching at the college and high school levels.  Coach Salem is a founding member of Team Nebraska-Brooks and still competes in local and regional running events.  He has been married for eleven years to his wife, Lindsay and is the proud father of two children, Keira (4) and Grayson (2). 

Ryan Mahoney

Head Track & Field / Assistant Cross Country Coach
USA Track & Field Level II Coach
USA Track & Field Certified Official

Coach Mahoney has been the head track & field coach and an assistant cross country coach at Southwest since the school opened its doors in 2002. Before coming to Southwest he served as an assistant track & field and cross country coach at Lincoln Southeast High School. While Ryan was a member of the Southeast coaching staff, their teams won a combined six state titles in cross country and track & field. In addition to coaching at the high school level, Coach Mahoney has experience coaching middle school and youth sports. He has coached several athletes who have placed at the Junior Olympics. During the summer of 2000, Ryan spent three weeks coaching US track & field athletes in Europe. Ryan Mahoney is also the head coach for the Lincoln Youth Track Club. He served as the Youth Track & Field Sports Director for the Cornhusker State Games in 2003 and 2004. Additionally, Coach Mahoney co-teaches “Coaching Track & Field” at the University of Nebraska.

Ryan Mahoney has been certified by USA Track & Field as a Level II Coach in Endurance Events, Throwing Events, Sprints/Hurdles/Relays, and the Jumping Events. For each level II certification a coach must attend approximately 100 hours of instruction, pass a series of tests covering sport psychology, biomechanics, physiology, training theory, and event specific rules and instruction. Finally each candidate is required to present a annual workout plan for an athlete in the event area for which they wish to receive level II certification and defend it against a panel of instructors (usually Division I and Olympic coaches).