Glasgow’s Karst Inducted Into Coaches Hall Of Fame
Glasgow’s Rod Karst was honored at the annual Montana Coaches Association awards ceremony was held throughout Great Falls this week. Coaches from across the state, and even a select few outside of it, showed up to honor the exceptional coaches earning their accolades.
There were five Montana High School Hall of Fame inductees in this years class, including Karst and Mark Albert from Hamilton, Spencer Huls from Corvallis, Rod Paskey from Frenchtown and Jeff Thompson from Kalispell.
Karst joins coaches with ties to GHS in the Hall of Fame such as Mark Yoakam, Dan Freund, Clyde Carpenter, Bill Straugh, Chuck Harvey, Paul Barta and John Labonty.
Karst’s coaching tenure was 34 years, including six years as head track and field coach at Opheim High School and 28 years at Glasgow High School.
At Opheim, his Viking girls track and field teams won four district titles and three Eastern C Division championships.
As an assistant coach at Glasgow, Karst played a role in the success of the Scotties volleyball and softball programs. An assistant volleyball coach for 13 years, he was a part of 12 district and division championships and state championships in 1995 and 1996. During the four years he assisted with softball, the Scotties captured three division titles and a state third place trophy in 2011.
Six Scottie boys’ cross-country teams have earned trophies at the State Class B meet.
For the girls, nine top three finishes at the State Class B meet and seven state championships (2005, 2007, 2008, and four in a row from 2010 to 2013).
Karst has been nominated for the Montana Coaches Association Cross Country Coach of the Year 25 times, 14 times with the Glasgow girls’ teams and 11 times with the boys’ teams. He has been honored by the MCA as the Class B Girls Cross Country Coach of the Year seven times.
Karst was twice nominated for National High School Athletic Coaches Association National Girls Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2018. He was nominated for the 2022 National High School Athletic Coaches Association National Boys Cross Country Coach of the Year.
