Neenah High School will have two new varsity golf coaches for the upcoming school year as Chad Berken will coach the girls team and Isaac Quella takes over the boys program.
Berken, a science teacher at Shattuck Middle School, replaces Cory Lardinois, who resigned after 17 seasons with the Rockets. Lardinois coached Neenah to four Fox Valley Association championships and a fourth place finish at state in 2009.
Berken has been teaching middle school science in Neenah since 2000. An avid golfer, the position is Berken’s first high school coaching job. He has been an assistant coach with the Neenah fishing team. Berken played high school golf at Kaukauna and played in college at Lawrence University.
“My goal is to get more girls golfing and to enjoy a lifelong sport,” Berken said. “We’ve made some recent strides and I hope to continue to improve the program and bring energy and enthusiasm every day.”
Quella is a 2014 graduate of Neenah High School and recently graduated from UW-Stout in three and a half years with a 4.0 GPA. He is currently working as a financial planner in Appleton. Quella replaces Tony White, who coached eight seasons and led the Rockets to four state tournament appearances. He also led Neenah to an FVA title in 2011 – the school’s first since 1996.
Quella was a second-team all-Fox Valley Association selection in golf as a senior and was the team’s top individual finisher at the state tournament two straight years, placing 37th as a senior and 55th as a junior. He was also a member of the Rockets’ state runner-up basketball team in 2014 and competed on the varsity golf team at UW-Stout.
A member at Neenah’s home course, Ridgeway Country Club, Quella has been working at the club since he was 15 and has coached in the club’s junior golf program for the past three years, helping kids from ages 5-15.
“I’ve enjoyed helping kids with their swings and I have a true passion for coaching,” said the 22-year-old. “I’m fortunate that Coach White is still around and I have plenty of great coaches in Neenah surrounding me.”
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