“As great an athlete as she was, she is without a doubt an even better person.”

Espanola native, Track North Club product and ten-time national triple jump champion Caroline Ehrhardt is not the first to have this uttered of their athletic legacy.

But in her case in particular, it just rings so, so true.

And it is Caroline Ehrhardt, the person, that Caroline Ehrhardt, newly anointed head coach of the vaunted Western University Track & Field program will lean upon most heavily as she undertakes this wonderfully new chapter for the well-spoken pride of northern Ontario.

“It was interesting that in preparing myself for this potential opportunity, I found that so much of my preparation for the interview process was centered around trying to learn more about healthy team culture and improving relationships and better communication and better listening - essentially everything that is not pure sport,” noted the 33 year-old Canadian record holder.

To those who know her well, this is authentically and genuinely Caroline.

It is also the reason why no one doubts her ability to thrive in her new post, one that she embraces not all that long after kicking off her coaching career as a jumps coach at her alma mater - and even less time after hanging up her cleats, once and for all.

Her pathway to success, lined with more challenges than most, physical and emotional, provides the anchor, the centerpiece at the very core of this incredibly strong young woman who has learned so much about the importance of human connection, across so many different levels.

“My experience and background in sport dictates that it was always more than just a sport to me, that my coaches were more than just coaches to me; they were family,” said Ehrhardt. “I would like to give every single athlete that I work with a very positive and uplifting hour and a half of their day.”“That’s really what drives me, knowing the role that sport played for me.”

While her knowledge of the jumps is beyond reproach, Ehrhardt cites a few reasons why tackling the mantle of overseer of all things track at a school coming off a sweep of both the men’s and women’s aggregate banners at the U Sport indoor championships last winter is not terribly frightful.

“Even in my volunteer role (as assistant coach), there were other event groups that needed support in their speed work or their plyometrics,” noted Ehrhardt. “I’ve been helping in all event groups over the years. Now, I would like to expand my knowledge in the more niche events that I do not have background in.”

To be sure, there is work to be done there. And yet, this is not where the student-athlete-coach who overcame the loss of both of her parents, far younger than most, sees her priorities laying.

“It’s interesting because in my first few years of coaching, I was deep into the sport-specific textbooks and strength and conditioning and speed training,” said Ehrhardt. “I don’t think I have touched a book like that in a year. I’ve been focused on how I can be the best leader and mentor that I can be.”

“I feel that is even more important than the sport-specific knowledge, especially in the role of a head coach.”

Where some might feel overwhelmed following in the footsteps of Vickie Crowley, legendary head coach at Western and McMaster Hall of Fame inductee as an athlete, Ehrhardt possesses the kind of internal fortitude necessary to take all of this in stride.

“I am stepping into a program in a very unique situation in that it is coming off its most successful year in program history,” she acknowledged. “I don’t necessarily see this as having big shoes to fill. I see it as an opportunity for me to grow and continue with the success and momentum that we gained last year.”

“I am not stepping into a team that needs to be rebuilt or needs to be taken in a different direction,” Ehrhardt added. “But at the same time, that does not mean that I am not motivated to bring in some new ideas and try out some new things.”

Like most, Ehrhardt will find the ingredients to her vision of what is to come pulled from her past. “It’s a function of drawing on my own personal experiences,” she said. “That’s where it comes through, wanting to have positive relationships with everybody that I work with.”

It’s where she started; it’s where she has been; and it’s most definitely where Caroline Ehrhardt wants to go as she begins the process of creating a coaching legacy of her own with the Mustangs.