Jayce Cicinelli is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Casteel High School for AZPreps365.com

Casteel High School struck gold as a new athletic director is set to take over the helm this summer.

Starting in July, Kraig Leuschner, 37, will take over as the new athletic director for the Casteel Colts.

He is the current Eastmark High School athletic director and assistant principal, and has almost two decades of experience in athletics and education in Arizona. He graduated from Arizona State University with a bachelor's degree of arts in education and a masters degree in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University.

Leuschner started his journey as an education teacher for both Williams Field and Perry High School in Gilbert, Ariz. He also had the opportunity to coach varsity baseball as well which started his athletics background.

He moved onto Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, Ariz. During his time at Saguaro, he was an athletic director and assistant principal at which the school had won team championships in football, track, and swimming. 

He also was named the 4A Conference Athletic Director of the Year by the Arizona Interscholastic Association. When he was the head of athletics, Saguaro saw a huge increase in students participating in sports which reflected back on Leuschner that he was all for the students and them competing in the sports. 

“I love leading and giving to people, especially to kids,” Leuschner said. “I think the world is very selfish and I want to give and provide as much as I can whether it’s sports or anything else to these kids.”

Leuschner in 2019 moved to Eastmark High School to take over as the athletic director and the assistant principal. Eastmark opened in July of 2019 and would become the new high school coming to the Queen Creek Unified School District.

He is finishing off his last couple months at Eastmark before officially making the move this summer to join Casteel. He is very excited for the new change of scenery and ready to meet new students and spend more time with his family. 

“A big reason in my decision to go to Casteel was to get back time for me to spend time with my family,” Leuschner said. “I live a lot closer to Casteel and so to have the opportunity to have my family on campus with me is very important to me.”

The Chandler Unified School District Athletic Director Shawn Rustad is happy to have Kraig Leuschner to join Casteel as their athletic director. He believes Leuschner will only make Casteel’s athletics and community stronger. 

“Mr. Lueschner demonstrated knowledge in all facets of a secondary school administrator,” Rustad said. “He is versed in staff evaluation, discipline, athletics and relationship building within the school community.”

Leuschner has already dealt with a high school of having grades 7-12. Like Eastmark, Casteel is also a high school with grades 7-12 which made him a perfect candidate for the job.  

“Mr. Lueschner brings a wealth of experience in 7-12 athletics,” Rustad said. “His work at both Saguaro High School and Eastmark have equipped him to lead Colt Nation Athletics in the future.”

Jayson Phillips, the Casteel principal, is excited to have a new athletic director after not having one this school year. Phillips knows Leuschner will be the perfect leader of athletics on their staff and one that could boost their athletics even more. 

“The key to any quality program is relationships and Kraig has already started to lay the foundation with our coaches, families, and athletes to ensure they have the support needed to succeed,” Phillips said. “Casteel is fortunate to have coaches who know the academic side of their sport as well as what it takes physically to win championships.”

Leuschner has a passion for sports and is ready to share what he has learned and carry that over into spreading that into the athletes at Casteel. Throughout his journey, he has had multiple interactions with numerous coaches over his years at the different high schools and can translate that over into his leadership role in athletics.

“I love sharing my experiences that I have learned through my mentors and coaches,” Leuschner said. “My goal is to always put people first and put myself second and be the best leader to these new students I will be around.”