Softball, swimming, soccer and golf programs in Abilene ISD will be led by new coaches in the 2017-18 school year.
Abilene High softball: Longtime AISD teacher and coach Jim Reese returns to the field to take over the Lady Eagles. Before recently stepping away from coaching to teach at Woodson Center for Excellence, Reese’s coaching career included stops as a head baseball coach at three Class 6A schools – Cooper, Abilene High and Plugerville. Reese played football and baseball at AHS, and he also played football and coached at Abilene Christian University.
Abilene High/Cooper High swimming: Kelly McNamee takes over as the AISD swim coach for both the AHS and CHS programs. A Colleyville native and L.D. Bell High School graduate, McNamee graduated from McMurry University with a Multimedia and Graphic Design degree in 2016 and was a member of the War Hawk swim team.
Cooper High men’s golf: A familiar name to local sports fans, Mitch Aston, is new coach for the Cougars. Aston grew up in Abilene, played tennis and golf at Abilene High and was an All-American tennis player at Hardin-Simmons University. He has been a tennis coach for seven years at Mann Middle School and CHS, but he also has competed on the Tight Lies professional golf tour and multiple Web.com qualifiers. His wife, Terri, is the women’s basketball coach at AHS.
Abilene High men’s soccer: Kyle Riese, a McMurry University graduate and former War Hawk soccer player, has been promoted to the head coaching position for the Eagles. He started his teaching career at AHS last year and served as an assistant coach in soccer and football.
