Sartell Coach Making Wheels On The Bus Go Round & Round

SARTELL (WJON News) -- A Sartell-St. Stephen High School coach is going the extra mile to get his team to their events. Greg Henning is entering his 5th season as the Sabres Cross Country Coach and he recently earned his Commercial Driver's License (CDL) with a bus endorsement.

Having his CDL allows Henning to drive one of the team's buses to meets. Henning says there is a lot of added responsibility with driving the team bus:

"At face value, this is going to be a piece of cake it's just driving but then I also every time realize I've got 40, 60 souls on board and everyone wants to get home safe and so there is a lot of responsibility behind just driving a bus that again I have a new found respect for those who do that day in and day out."

With over 100 kids on the Cross Country Team from grades 6 - 12, Henning says they often need three buses to get the team where it is going so he jumped at the chance to ensure they would have the drivers they need. He says the kids were surprised to see him in the driver's seat on the first trip:

"At first, I never really told them I was going to drive and so when they first saw me in the driver's seat they kind of freaked out in a silly way saying oh my gosh we're going to crash and all that kind of stuff but at this point now that I have been doing it for awhile it's nothing flashy or special but I enjoy driving and I think they enjoy having me drive."

Henning says now, even after he has been driving for a while the kids will still tease him from time to time:

"The first time we hit a curb they really let me have it but luckily I think as long as I have no big stories, no life-changing events on a bus, I'll be a happy camper."

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Henning says he tries to have fun too by playing upbeat music the kids like while driving. He says he drives the cross country team to about 11 events a season and the track team to around 15 meets in the spring. He will also drive about 5-6 times in the winter for various teams as needed.

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