BY JOBY FAWCETT
Times-Shamrock Writer

Mountain View made wholesale changes in its athletic program.
At Monday’s school board meeting, new coaches were hired for three sports. Spencer Lunger was named the boys basketball coach, Tom Rudzinski will be the new girls basketball coach and Dan Phillips was appointed the girls volleyball coach.

Lunger will be taking over for Dave Bell, who had been with the Eagles since the 2011-12 season.

“I am thrilled,” Lunger, 25, said. “It’s a great school. The sports teams there are all competitive and the soccer team won a state title. I am hoping to build on the tradition of the basketball program and progress each and every year.”

A standout scorer at Tunkhannock, Lunger went on to be a four-year starter at Keystone College. He has spent the last three years climbing the coaching ladder at his alma mater and was an assistant varsity coach last season.

Mountain View won back-to-back Lackawanna League Division III titles in 2006 and 2007. However, Lunger will be the fifth head coach for the program since the 2006-07 season.

“It’s a huge step for me,” said Lunger, who is the assistant golf professional at Pocono Manor. “They are in a summer league right now. I will have to get to know the kids and have some open gyms. It’s tough getting a coach in the summer, I know that, but we will work together and work hard.”

Rudzinski is already familiar with the athletes at Mountain View. He coached the softball team in the spring and is returning to be a head coach in girls basketball for the first time since guiding Mid Valley in the late 1970s with his final season being 1980-81.

His last basketball coaching job was as a junior high girls coach at Lakeland in 2001, while also spending time as an assistant at various schools.

“I got to know the girls at Mountain View during softball and when I heard that there would be a vacancy, I wanted to apply,” said Rudzinski, who replaces Jason Nese. “I have always loved basketball, played basketball and refereed. I enjoyed working with these girls in the spring. I think I can still get them to have that desire to play and to win.

“We want to do what we did in softball and earn the respect of our opponents. We want to have a competitive team and a solid team that can contend with anybody.”

Phillips, who is a 1992 graduate of Mountain View, takes over for Abby Barrett, who resigned. He was the head coach of the boys volleyball team at Abington Heights for 16 years and coached the girls program since 2003, leaving those positions following the 2010-11 school year.

“It is pretty cool,” said Phillips, who was a volunteer assistant for Barrett at Mountain View last season. “I was happy being an assistant at my alma mater. Me and Abby really coached together. I am really excited. I didn’t know if I would ever be a head coach at Mountain View. That’s what I am most looking forward to is coming home.”