Coach Rittenburg? Yes, the boys indoor track team is now under the direction of Athletics Director Peter Rittenburg. This is Rittenburg’s first coaching gig during his tenure as Athletics Director.

Rittenburg took over for longtime running coach and winner of numerous state championships, Michael Glennon. Glennon, typically a three season coach, had coached for many years. Under his tenure, the boy’s running squad has won multiple cross-country and track and field championships.

One of the runners Glennon formerly coached, Jonathon Riley, went to the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. Glennon was honored as the United States Association of Track and Field of New England’s Volunteer of the Year in late 2010.

“We had a very late resignation from Coach Glennon, not a lot of time to fill the job and based on the time frames that we had and a little bit of uncertainty about what was going to be going on with Coach Glennon in the future, it just seemed like the right answer,” said Rittenberg.

The decision has left many athletes wondering about the future of the program.

Rittenburg says Glennon, who declined to comment for this story, is expected to return for the upcoming fall cross-country season.

“Beyond that, it is really very up in the air,” said Rittenberg.

Rittenburg has brought his own vision and experience to the team.  He ran track for Reading Memorial High School and on the Harvard University varsity team.  In fact, Rittenburg holds the record for the decathlon at Harvard to this day.

“I’ve competed in and coached every event area.  I feel like I’ve been exposed to it all over a lifetime,” said Rittenberg. “Some coaches are more specialized, but I feel like with myself in the mix, that I hope every kid gets coverage in their event.”

At Harvard, Rittenburg won three consecutive Track and Field Association-USA National Indoor Pentathlon Championships, among other competitions.

After college, Rittenburg returned to his high school in Reading and served as the assistant track coach there.  He later came to Brookline and worked as a track coach before taking over as Athletics Director.

Some athletes find it strange to be running without Glennon.  Senior Mike Katzeff has run 11 seasons of track and cross-country, but this is his first without Glennon as his coach.

“It is definitely different.  There is this aspect about Glennon that is different. He is a hard coach. He yells at you to get you motivated, but once you get used to it, it is really encouraging,” said Katzeff.

Katzeff feels that Rittenburg brings his own style to the table.  He pushes the newest and weakest athletes just as hard as the most talented. Rittenburg emphasizes the importance of every second and third place finish.

These finishes, which contribute heavily to the team score, make for a burden of winning that is shouldered by all team members, according to Katzeff.

Junior Chernet Sissay, one of the team’s top distance runners, really notices Glennon’s absence.

“Something is kind of missing to me, maybe some people don’t see it, but Glennon is very enthusiastic guy and in races he is pretty much yelling and screaming at you even though you are doing good,” said Sissay.  Sissay views this as a positive form of encouragement.

Yet, despite the change, Sissay was happy to know Rittenburg was the one taking over the coaching job.

“I know he is a track guy and I don’t want anybody coming and taking Glennon’s spot [as cross-country coach]”, Sissay said.

In fact, Glennon, while not an everyday presence at practice, still stays in touch with athletes, follows results and volunteers at meets.

And as for Rittenburg, he wants balance. “There’s a team score kept. I’d like to see it made a team,” he said, advocating all around strength.

From his years as a Harvard athlete, Rittenburg maintains devoted to the ethos of diversification of strength.  In a Harvard Crimson article written in February 1983, Rittenburg noted how “Variety keeps me motivated.” The author, Becky Hartman, even described him as a “Renaissance Athlete.”

Twenty-eight years later, Rittenburg holds onto this devotion to universal strength and focus, and seeks to bring it to the track squad.