PREP FOOTBALL Saulnier named Warriors coach

The new coach was the defensive coordinator at Geneva College last season.
BELOIT -- Steve Saulnier will be the new football coach at West Branch High, pending approval by the board of education at a special meeting Friday morning.
Saulnier, 41, was defensive coordinator at Geneva College last season, helping the Golden Tornadoes to a 7-5 record and a win in the Victory Bowl, sponsored by the National Christian College Athletic Association.
"West Branch made a fine choice," Geneva College coach Geno DeMarco said.
"Coach Saulnier will carry on the tradition that Coach [Jim] Laut began there," DeMarco said. "It's going to be hard for me to see him go, but he is going to be a great, great fit at West Branch."
Swallow encouraged Saulnier
Geneva quarterback Ben Swallow, a 1999 graduate of West Branch, said he encouraged Saulnier to apply for the opening.
"I thought he would be a good fit for West Branch," said Swallow, who guided the Warriors to the Division III state semifinals as a senior. "He's a great motivator. He came in here [before the 2002 season] and got the kids to play for him. Once he gets the kids to believe in his system they'll play for him."
Swallow described Saulnier as "a student of the game."
"Overall, he's one of the better coaches I've ever got to play for," he said.
Saulnier (saun-YAY) also was head coach (1999-2001) and assistant coach (1993-98) at Malone College, helping to build that program from its inception.
The Pioneers won three Mid-States Football Association championships in that time.
As head coach, he guided Malone to a 10-21 record.
Other coaching stops
Previously, Saulnier served as a graduate assistant at New Mexico (1991-92), where he coached defensive backs and the offensive line. He was also coached at Kansas (1988-89) and Brown University (1990) and at Broughton High School in Raleigh, N.C.
Saulnier is a native of Jersey City, N.J., and played collegiately at North Carolina State, where he lettered three years (1981-83).
He is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
He graduated from North Carolina State with a bachelor of science degree in 1985 and earned his master's in physical education from New Mexico in 1993.
Saulnier and his wife, Dianna, are the parents of Jacob (7) and Hannah (4).