Castleton

Spartans

John Werner served nine seasons as head coach of the Castleton men’s soccer team and led the Spartans to a winning record in eight of those years, compiling an overall mark of 105-69-12 (.597). In 2004, his first season at the helm, the Spartans went 15-5-2, winning the NAC regular season title with an 8-1 conference mark. Castleton did not allow a goal in winning the NAC Tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament, and Werner was named NAC Coach of the Year. He led the Spartans to NAC Tournament titles and NCAA Tournament berths in 2007 and 2008 and earned NAC Coach of the Year recognition in 2007 and 2010, when Castleton was a perfect 7-0 in regular season conference play. During his tenure, Werner coached two NAC Players of the Year (Ryan Hahn in 2007 and Josh Costa in 2010) and two NAC Defensive Players of the Year (Anthony Buehler in 2010 and Nick Johnas in 2011). Under Werner’s guidance, the Spartans received the NAC Team Sportsmanship Award in both 2005 and 2006, compiled a 55-15-5 (.767) record in NAC regular season play, and competed in two ECAC Tournaments. In the spring of 2009, he added to his duties by serving as head coach of the softball team, earning 46 wins over three seasons. After retiring from Castleton, Werner founded the southern Vermont branch of TOPSoccer, a program for children with disabilities. He has also turned his cancer diagnosis into a positive by creating LINAO (Losing Is Not An Option) bumper stickers to raise money to benefit the Southwest Vermont Regional Cancer Center.