Plattsburgh State Athletics

Sarah Bechtel enters her fourth season as the assistant men's and women's track and field coach at Plattsburgh State in 2020-21. In addition, she serves as Plattsburgh State's assistant cross country coach.

As the assistant track and field coach, she oversees the team's training and development in the jumping and multi events in addition to assisting with recruiting.

During Bechtel's time at Plattsburgh State, she helped Tori Whimple qualify for the NCAA Championships twice in the triple jump and Janyll Barber once in the 400-meter hurdles and the 4x400-meter relay. Whimple also earned All-America honors in the triple jump, placing seventh at the 2019 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Student-athletes have earned four school records under Bechtel's guidance, while Anthony Ciccarelli won the heptathlon at the 2018 All-Atlantic Region Track & Field Conference (AARTFC) Indoor Championships.

Prior to Plattsburgh State, she worked as the assistant track and field and assistant cross country coach at Ohio Wesleyan University for two seasons. At Ohio Wesleyan, Bechtel planned and implemented training for pole vaulters and combined-event athletes. She also assisted with coaching the sprints and the remaining jumps. During her time there, Bechtel coached two All-Americans and nine conference champions. In addition, she designed a strength and conditioning program for all sprints, jumps, hurdles and distance athletes and helped develop an additional six All-Americans and one national champion. Bechtel designed strength training for the Battling Bishops' cross country teams, too, helping two runners achieve All-America honors.
 
Prior to her position at Ohio Wesleyan, Bechtel spent the 2014-15 academic year as the assistant track and field coach and recruiting coordinator for NCAA Division II Ursuline College. At Ursuline, she planned and implemented training for all jumps events and coached her student-athletes to five program records.
 
Bechtel starred as an undergraduate student-athlete at Ohio Wesleyan from 2010-14, qualifying for the NCAA Division III Championships on four occasions and earning All-America honors in the pole vault at the 2013 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She also holds Ohio Wesleyan's indoor and outdoor program records in the pole vault.
  
She earned her Bachelor of Arts in health and human kinetics from Ohio Wesleyan in 2014 and her Master of Education in higher education administration from Tiffin University in 2017.