Warren, Mich. -- De La Salle Collegiate has found its replacement for longtime cross country head coach Sandy Buchanan, tabbing Paul Barr to be the next leader of the program.

Barr comes to De La Salle after spending the last decade as the head coach of both the boys and girls varsity cross country and track programs at Marine City Cardinal Mooney.

“I’m extremely excited for Coach Barr to take over leadership of the cross country program. I view his experience with both cross country and track as a major plus for De La Salle,” DLS Athletic Director Dan Rohn said. “He has some big shoes to fill, replacing Sandy. But, I think he’s more than up for the challenge. I look forward to him getting started this fall.”   

Barr is very excited about the opportunity he has to coach the Pilots.

"For me, at my age, coaching at De La Salle is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Barr said. “I already have a Catholic League background, so I know how hard it is to win in this league. And, I’m a competitor. So, I’m just really, really excited to be here.”

Staying true to his principles as a coach, Barr plans on instilling the importance of hard work with his runners at De La Salle.

“Nothing replaces hard work and dedication,” Barr said. “I’m pretty open with my student-athletes about my expectations for them. I’m an ‘open-book.’ I lay the expectations out, and attract kids that seem to want to do the hard work. It’s a part of my job as a coach, pushing them as hard as I can, so that they perform at their highest possible level.”

Speaking of expectations, Barr has big ones for the program, going into his first year on the job with the Pilots.

“Well, I was doing some preliminary stuff the other day, and I think we should legitimately have a shot at taking the team to the state finals this year. And, if not that, we at least have a solid chance at getting a few kids individually to the state finals,” Barr said. “At Mooney, in my first year, we didn’t get anybody there. But, after that, we always got people to the state finals. And, I want to make sure my coaching staff and I do that here at De La Salle.”