Coach will take dad’s former job

Matt Craven, a math teacher and assistant track coach at Sisters High School for the past two years, will leave at the end of the school year to teach math and become the head track coach at Bend High School.

It’s not just a routine career step for Craven. In Bend, he will be taking a coaching position held by his father, Mick, from 1978 to 2003. A pole vaulter and sprinter, Matt was coached by his father in high school. He graduated from Bend High in 1993 and went on to Linfield College.

Before returning to Central Oregon, Craven taught for five years at Mara Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, California. He was an assistant in both the track and football programs there.

Craven said he liked southern California “but it got to the point where we couldn’t afford to live there.” He said the Bend area looked very attractive, partly because his parents still live there.

Craven, 30, and his wife, Eris, have an eight-month-old son.

In discussing his move with The Nugget, Craven offered high praise to Sisters High School Principal Bob Macauley: “He has just done an amazing job at that high school. He is a super-plus as principal and head football coach…I really appreciate the opportunities that he gave me… Hold on to him as tight as you can.”