Thiessen Hired as Assistant Coach by Charleston Southern University

Greenville Track Club-ELITE's Karl Thiessen has been hired by Charleston Southern University for the position of ​assistant track & field/cross country coach to work primarily with the women's distance runners.

"We are excited to add Karl to our staff," said Charleston Southern Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Jim Stintzi." I believe his experience as a high-level runner at Tennessee and on the professional level will help our student-athletes and our track and cross country teams rise to another level!"

Thiessen spent the past year as a member of Greenville Track Club-ELITE. One of the highlights of his year came in the USATF 10K championships in Northport, NY (Great Cow Harbor 10K), where he placed 11th overall in the star-studded field. Among the three Half Marathons that he competed in, he ran a personal best of 1:04:00 at the 2024 Aramco Houston Half Marathon in January. He also ran a new course record of 24:06 in winning the Sunrise 8K in Simpsonville, SC. 

While residing in Greenville he was employed by Joy Real Estate, as part of GTC-ELITE's "Adopt An Athlete" program. He also worked with Blue Collar Endurance Training where he wrote training schedules for up-and-coming athletes and oversaw the development of over 15 athletes per month.

GTC-ELITE Director/Coach Mike Caldwell commented, "From our program's beginning, our mission has been to develop young adult athletes not only in their running careers, but also in life development. Karl only spent a year in our program, but we have seen him develop and mature as a person and most importantly discover and define his career interests. He deeply cares about running and we look forward to seeing him continue to learn and apply his knowledge with his collegiate athletes." 

Karl (center) with teammates Jason Weitzel (left) and Jack Mastandrea (right) after Peachtree Road Race 10K in Atlanta

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Karl's Performaces with GTC-ELITE

Greenville Track Club-ELITE was established in 2012 and is in its second decade as a post-collegiate, Olympic-development program. The program developed and produced one participant for the 2024 Olympic Games marathon in Paris, four qualifiers for the 2016 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles, one qualifier/participant for the 2019 Pam American Games Marathon in. Lima, Peru, three qualifiers/two participants for the 2020 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta, GA, one qualifier and participant in the 2021 USATF Olympic Track & Field Trials in the 3000m Steeplechase and three qualifiers for the 2024 USA Olympic Trials Marathon in Orlando, FL. The program's runners set four South Carolina State road race records in 2020 (5K, 15K and Half Marathon--twice) and three (15K, 10-Mile and 20K) in 2021. GTC-ELITE also produced the South Carolina Men's 2020 Long Distance Runner of the Year. 

​The program is sponsored and supported by the 52-year-old Greenville Track Club, ASICS, Joy Real Estate (Adopt an Athlete partner), generous individual contributors and partnerships with Performance Therapy, Carolina Spine and Rehab, Roll Recovery products, FinalSurge (on-line training log), ElliptiGO, NormaTec Recovery Boots, Cocoa Elite recovery products, UCAN energy products, Coach Bob Williams Pace Calculator, the DorsiFlex (stretching device), the MOBO board (balance & mobility), On Pace Wellness (nutrition coaching) and LEVER Movement (treadmill body weight support). The club is a proud and active member of both the Road Runners Club of America and USATF.​