On Tuesday, an online job listing began circulating through Carson High School (CHS) Cross Country athletes and their families: a position for a new cross country coach. Following their outcries for Head Coach Russ Munyan’s dismissal, they initially believed that this was the notice the coach had either resigned, or been let go.
However, a few hours later, they received letters from CHS administrators and Munyan himself stating that he would be continuing as coach for the foreseeable future.
Contained within:
- Former Douglas parent says students were ‘targeted’ if they pushed back, described coaching as ‘a mess’
- Munyan placed on leave three months into position as principal following a physical altercation with multiple students in California
- Despite public allegations, formal investigation, coach never pulled while awaiting results
- Students told to make their own run club if they want to – and many are now considering it
After Carson Now reached out to the district (though they have not responded to our request for clarification on the job listing), the posting has since been altered, clarifying that the position is for an assistant coach, not the head coach.
Parents told Carson Now they are unaware which of their assistant cross country coaches — who they told Carson Now were shielding their students from Munyan for a majority of the year — is no longer on the team.
Munyan recently faced allegations of inappropriate behavior, particularly toward freshman female athletes, levied by a majority of the CHS cross country athletes and their parents during a May 2026 school board meeting.
Following the school board meeting, a formal investigation — one the district had already claimed took place — occurred, and families have been waiting to hear the official results.
On Tuesday afternoon, parents and athletes told Carson Now they were shocked and disappointed by the decision.
Madison Hager, a recent graduate and student-athlete provided the following statement:
“I am very disheartened and disappointed by the outcome of this conflict. Our coach has horrifically mistreated us, and our concerns were completely ignored up until they were taken to the school board and made public.
Despite having an incredible amount of incriminating evidence and instances in which we were mistreated, the school has chosen to allow our head coach to keep his position with only the expectation (as it is clear to us) that he write an apology to athletes and their parents…
Read her full statement here
On paper, an apology seems nice and is certainly deserved. But it seems to me that it is a lazy cover up that avoids having to actually handle the situation through disciplinary action. It has only provided the head coach and admin with leverage to further disregard new concerns and/or dismiss the old ones by saying, “well, he apologized!”
The coach was fully aware that he had been mistreating us. He was fully aware that we had concerns. And he was fully aware that we knew he had no interest in changing how he was behaving. He did nothing to make amends until his job and public image was being threatened. Apologies are empty when they come from fear and a lack of a clear moral code.
I am proud of my teammates for sticking up for themselves, but I do not condone the school’s decision to keep this coach nor would I encourage any athletes or parents to blindly accept his apology.
In the off chance a lesson is legitimately learned from this, I hope the team will be able to recover their severed relationship with the coach. But I will not be encouraging anyone to join or be apart of this team until a real change is made. My teammates deserves better.”
Nate Freed, another recent graduate and student-athlete, had a similar statement:
I am appalled by the decision made by our school district. This man not only treated us horribly but he also took advantage of us. We as students are told to advocate for ourselves by the very people who aren’t listening to us.
I’m sure the apology was the perfect thing the school wanted to hear, it proves Munyan was in the wrong and he’s “sorry” but it’s much deep than that. You can’t fix the mental health of the athletes, you can’t fix the scars created by this man. You can’t fix anything with an apology, it’s merely a way out. This apology doesn’t make a difference in the way he treated us, and the way he’ll continue to treat this team…
Read his full statement here
I don’t know what else the school wants to hear, terrible accusations have been brought against this man and nothing was done. It took our school district less than a month to come to the conclusion to keep him as the coach. This absolutely isn’t fair to our team. Our school is supposed to protect us, listen when we need it. There needs to have bias for the schools students, the school needs to needs to listen to the students and take their side until proven otherwise in a situation like this.
This man isn’t ruining the sport, he’s ruining lives, friendships, and the wellbeing of the community created by this wonderful sport. He is tearing us apart, putting kids in situations nobody that age deserves to be put it, making them decide between a sport they love and mental stability. The kids shouldn’t have to worry about “what’s going to happen today?”
I am so proud of my teammates for sticking up for what is right even when it certainly isn’t easy. Kids shouldn’t have to go toe to toe with an elder, am I’m beyond impressed they didn’t hesitate to fight for what’s right. Munyan doesn’t deserve this position as a coach, and it breaks my heart that the school is too blind to see it.
A parent of a current student-athlete also provided the following statement (they chose to remain anonymous out of concern of their student being targeted):
“I am incredibly disappointed by this decision, but even more disappointed by the message it sends to the students who came forward.
Twenty-four athletes signed a seven-page grievance. Students met with administrators, shared specific concerns, and some even stood in front of the School Board and publicly attached their names to those concerns. My son was one of them.
See their full statement below.
What I continue to struggle with is that the district is asking students and families to move forward, yet has provided no meaningful explanation of what accountability, oversight, or safeguards will exist going forward. If the expectation is that students should trust the adults responsible for their safety and well-being, then those adults need to demonstrate why that trust is warranted.
Students should not be responsible for providing growth opportunities to adults in positions of authority. They should be able to raise concerns and know those concerns will be taken seriously, investigated thoroughly, and addressed appropriately.
Right now, I am not confident that the district has done enough to rebuild that trust.”
Coaches and administrators have not responded to a request for comment, other than a statement from the district stating: The district and its employees adhere strictly to the law, proper school governance and sound employment practices. Consistent with policy and legal requirements, the district and its employees do not comment on personnel-related matters.
Parents who spoke during a Carson City School District board meeting said administrators defended him by citing his coaching record, and saying he could succeed if “given a chance” as he had a long track record of success, without the issues students described.
But former Douglas High School athletes and families, along with former co-workers from Munyan’s prior school in California, described a different pattern.
Former Douglas parent says students were ‘targeted’ if they pushed back, described coaching as ‘a mess’
Speaking anonymously, a former DHS cross country parent told Carson Now that athletes faced extreme expectations and that Munyan showed a “lack of understanding about mileage.” Another former DHS parent and athlete confirmed the account speaking off the record.
The parent said Munyan showed favoritism toward female athletes, and that it was a common joke that Munyan would be nowhere to be found only when the boys were racing.
“We always thought it was odd and a little creepy, but we never saw anything of him touching girls or massaging girls — he was just very focused on them,” they said. “Parents would always say, ‘Oh, has anyone seen him? Did he disappear again?’ It was very bizarre. Any parent will tell you that he had far more interest in the girls’ program.”
The parent said their larger concern was overtraining. They said students were pushed to run as much as 65 miles a week, which they called “absurd and impossible” for developing teenagers. In one case, they said, a freshman girl who had recently switched from soccer became one of Munyan’s “favorites.” Older athletes warned he was “going to hurt her,” the parent said, and within four weeks she suffered double stress fractures in her legs.
Athletes who pushed back on mileage or raised health concerns were labeled “problematic,” the parent said: “Munyan would hold it against the students if they tried to speak out. They would become targets.”
DHS families were told by both Munyan and the district he had a long history of coaching. CHS parents and students were told the same, and any push back was attributed to upperclassmen unhappy with the coaching pick, or assistant coaches upset about not getting his job.
However, former teachers, students and parents of Munyan’s previous school in California say this is not how they remember the former principal, who held his position for only three months before a physical altercation with students landed him on administrative leave.
Munyan placed on leave three months into position as principal following a physical altercation with multiple students in California
This was Munyan’s first year at Carson High, both as the head coach and as an English teacher following the former coach’s retirement. Before taking on a position at Rite of Passage, he resigned his position as a school principal of Lucerne Valley High School in California after being placed on leave only three months into the position following an alleged physical altercation with multiple students.
According to a November 2010 news article, “grievances have been filed by more than one parent, most of them concerning a confrontation between Munyan and more than one student … While deputies were en route, there was a confrontation involving Munyan. [Superintendent Mike] Noga confirmed Monday that there was more than one student involved.”
As reported in several public news articles throughout 2010 and 2011, and confirmed by an individual who investigated the October 20, 2010 incident at the time, the situation involved a student who was allegedly in possession of what was presumed to be a cannabis pipe. According to the individual, they recalled Munyan had “taken matters into his own hands” while awaiting sheriff’s deputies and “was totally out of control.” This allegedly included “getting rough with the kid” who was found in possession of the pipe. Other students became involved before a security guard intervened. Munyan was placed on leave following formal complaints being made by multiple parents, and resigned shortly after.
Cindy Lattin-Oliveira worked at the Lucerne Valley High School for 33 years and was on Munyan’s hiring committee. She described his short tenure as chaotic, and that he had only been hired because “he was the best choice of what we had, so that tells you that we had a bunch of crap to choose from.”
She said he “started out okay” but soon after he began having “outbursts of anger – he would yell and scream and embarrass himself … he didn’t get along well with the kids, or the staff. He could go along to get along, but then once something pissed him off, he was hotheaded and his mouth would just run.”
She said there had been other incidents, but the October 20 incident was “crazy; he blew off the handle.”
She said she was able to bring the first child Munyan had “put his hands on” into an office to try and calm him down as he was “so worked up” after the encounter. However, she said Munyan was “screaming ridiculously” outside the office that “‘the inmates will not run the asylum, I will run the asylum.’ He had no leadership skills whatsoever.”
The quote Lattin-Oliveira mentioned is one that was repeated by several others who spoke with Carson Now about what they remembered of the incident, former students and parents alike. She said after the incident occurred, he was removed and replaced soon after.
According to a Victorville Daily Press article from February 2011, “Munyan was placed on paid administrative leave in November 2010 — less than three months into the school year — as he was investigated for a confrontation with students. Munyan resigned early last month, with the resignation becoming effective Jan. 30.”
According to parents, the district, school administrators and athletic department at Carson High School are well aware of Munyan’s prior incident.
Cross Country parent N.C., who asked only to be identified by initials out of concern for their student being targeted, said they asked Vice Principal Rodney Wade why Munyan had been hired despite this incident.
N.C. said they were told the district did a “thorough background check and nothing came back.” N.C. said Wade told them that some documentation existed stating Munyan had been wrongly accused, and/or that the altercation was not as stated. However, N.C. said they did not see the document directly, and they have not been able to find it anywhere else.
However, Munyan was never reinstated. He resigned from his position in December 2010, and there is no indication a suit for wrongful actions was ever filed against the Lucerne Valley School District.
Despite public allegations, formal investigation, coach never pulled while awaiting results
Despite the formal investigation taking place after students and parents went to the school board meeting two weeks ago, they report that Munyan has never been pulled from the classroom or from his coaching duties. He has also been assigned to teach summer school, according to parents.
This included a mandatory meeting for runners to kick off pre-season training (which are not allowed to be made mandatory, per policy) held earlier this week, in which the students who had spoken out publicly against Munyan were then forced to attend practice with him, or else face potential negative ramifications that could impact their positions on the team.
Renee Plain said her son Darren Plain did attend the practice, although he initially had been reluctant to do so. “I know it’s putting them in an uncomfortable spot, and we are not happy about the fact that he hasn’t even been removed while this investigation is taking place,” she said. “But I do not want there to be any reason to remove them from the team as a form of retaliation for speaking out. I said, you stood up and spoke out not just for yourself but for those who are coming up after you, and you need to continue being a leader and looking out for them. Once he realized the importance of it, that showing up for others is more important than taking an individual stand, he understood.”
However, not every student attended, despite the mandatory requirement. While several athletes have summer jobs or prior appointments that made it impossible to attend, others have stated they still are not sure whether or not they will be returning to the team if Munyan is not removed. They, and their parents, have said they find it inappropriate that he is still able to message them and lead them in practice while facing allegations as serious as the ones being levied against him.
Students and parents said that in talks with students both private and in groups, administrators have repeatedly given them the message that if they are unhappy with Munyan’s coaching, they are free to quit the team and start their own student running club.
Students told to make their own run club if they want to – and many are now considering it
Except students can’t enter state competitions – which for serious runners is not only the measurement of their hard work all year, but a way to secure scholarships for college – unless they are registered with the school’s official team. They also cannot transfer schools to run for a different team without taking a year off in between due to a state law to prevent schools “poaching” prospective students to improve their scores.
Tegun Borrowman, who is entering his senior year as a distance runner, is currently struggling with that choice. Earlier in May, Borrowman personally delivered the seven-page grievance letter signed by 24 varsity and junior varsity athletes to Assistant Principal Wade’s office.
According to Borrowman, the one-on-one meeting was highly dismissive. He said Wade scanned the document and “had a comeback for everything” which Borrowman said was upsetting considering how much students had risked to sign the complaint for administration.
However, Borrowman said that before concluding the meeting, Wade expressed surprise at the who was bringing the complaints forward, rather than their content. “He said, ‘Wow, this is a group I’ve never really had in my office… this is just so unusual. The cross country team’s pretty easygoing’,” Borrowman said.
Similar to other students, Borrowman said Wade told him at the end of the meeting that if he and the rest of the cross country team were unhappy with Munyan’s leadership, they were “free to join outside running clubs instead.”
Borrowman publicly criticized this response at the school board meeting, noting that students should not have to abandon their own school to be heard.
“Respectfully, we do not believe student-athletes should feel pushed away from their school program in order to find support, communication, or a healthy training environment,” Borrowman told trustees. “High school athletics should encourage student growth, retention, mentorship, and trust, not create conditions where athletes feel the need to quit entirely.”
Instead of addressing the specific allegations of misconduct and safety failures outlined in the grievance, Borrowman said Wade claimed it was actually the assistant coaches who had created a “hostile environment” for Munyan, and repeated what others had been told throughout the season: that pushback and dissatisfaction from upperclassmen are normal reactions to a coaching transition.
This has been repeated to other students and families as well, but those who spoke with Carson Now, as well as those who provided public comment during the school board meeting, say the assistant coaches were the only ones protecting the athletes from Munyan during the fall cross-country season by acting as “buffers” and keeping him away from the team.
Now-graduated student-athlete Nate Freed told trustees and Carson Now that Munyan never took the time to get to know the team. Instead, he said Munyan acted as though he “owned the team,” and whenever athletes tried to offer input or raise concerns, Munyan shut them down with an “I know best or just get it done” attitude.
He said that during the cross-country season, the assistant coaches constantly had to step in to talk Munyan down from bad daily run ideas to prevent injuries, but during the track season, the athletes had no assistant coaches to shield them – which is why the flurry of complaints ramped up after the spring season began.
N.C. told Carson Now that after following up with Reymer and Wade, it is his understanding that district administrators had already decided they were going to keep Munyan even before the formal investigation had been completed.
They said they asked Wade directly: “’Are you willing to back him? You’re willing to put your name behind him, the school’s name behind him?’ And he said yes.”
N.C. challenged him by asking, “Then when an athlete is assaulted, are you still willing to put your name behind him?”
They said Wade became defensive and replied, “Well, that’s not what I said.”
“But I told him, “No, that’s exactly what you said, because you’ve already been presented everything. I told you that I have concerns over the safety, physical, mental, for these kids. And you said that you were willing to back him.”
When asked what follow ups or next steps they had planned, if any, following the school board meeting, the students and parents said they want to know what the school board, and the superintendent, intends to do.
“I just don’t understand why they – why anyone – is so determined to keep him,” one parent said. “He’s probationary. They don’t have any reason to keep him. It doesn’t make any sense to us.”
All families who spoke with Carson Now stated they did not want their students running next season if Munyan is still the coach, but many said ultimately it was their student’s decision.
Some students were still opting to run, citing concerns over their futures and potential scholarship losses if they did not. However, the majority of students who spoke both at the school board meeting, as well as those who spoke with Carson Now, said if the school does not remove Munyan, they will not be returning. They said it was not due to wanting to cause trouble, or hurt the program, but out of their loyalty to one another. They said that if nothing changes, “all these people are going to quit because they just want to stick together.” Several athletes, including award-winning runners, had already quit the program to protect their physical and mental health as stated during the school board meeting.
In a request for comment from the district, they stated: the district and its employees adhere strictly to the law, proper school governance and sound employment practices. Consistent with policy and legal requirements, the district and its employees do not comment on personnel-related matters.
