Saul Banashak begins his 11th year as an assistant women's track and field coach at UW-La Crosse in 2021-22. Prior to coaching at UWL, Banashak was an assistant coach working with the throwers at La Crosse (Wis.) Logan High School from 2009-12.
Skye Digman earned three National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III All-America honors at the 2021 outdoor championships, placing second in the hammer throw, third in the shot put and seventh in the discus throw. She has earned five career All-America accolades at the national championships under Banashak, placing fifth in the indoor shot put and seventh in the outdoor shot put in 2019. Digman set a school record (184-10) in the hammer throw at the 2021 UWL Final Qualifier.
Pamela Gramer earned her first career All-America honor at the 2021 NCAA III Outdoor Championships with a sixth-place finish in the hammer throw.
Other All-America honors earned while Banashak has coached at UWL includes Autumn Miller and Kendra Antony in the shot put. Miller was fifth at the 2016 indoor championships and sixth outdoors while Antony finished third indoors and sixth outdoors in 2017.
Digman also earned 2020 NCAA Division III All-America honors in the shot put and weight throw. Brianna Schyvinck was an All-America in the weight throw in 2020. The 2020 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) awarded All-America honors with all student-athletes declared and initially accepted into their event earning the recognition.
Banashak, a graduate of UWL, was an NCAA Division III All-America in the hammer throw in 1995 (fourth-place). He won Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) titles in the weight throw (1994, 1995) and hammer throw (1995).
Banashak currently teaches special education at Logan High School. Prior to teaching at Logan, he taught for nine years at De Soto (Wis.) High School where he also served as the head track and field coach.
