PONTE VEDRA CROSS COUNTRY

Coach Christian Skaret has been with PVXC since 2021. At Minnetonka High School (MN), he ran cross country, track and field and Nordic skied. He was the 2011 AA Minnesota State Champion in the 1600 and also won True Team state titles in the 1600 and 3200 on the track. He continued his distance running career at the University of Minnesota. While at Minnesota, he competed in 9 Big Ten meets between indoor track, outdoor track and cross country. During his senior season, he was 5th man on the Gopher cross country team that placed 19th in the nation. After graduating, he moved to Jacksonville and began his career with the PGA TOUR where he currently works as a Digital Product Manager. He met his fiancee, Marissa, in Tampa and they currently live in Jacksonville. Coach Skaret got into coaching because he loves the team component of distance running and being a part of something larger than himself. He owes his passion for cross country to his high school and college coaches and hopes to provide the same mentorship to young athletes that he was given. 

I joined the coaching staff for PV Cross Country in 2018 and for 3 years also coached distance track at PVHS. I ran track in high school in Ohio where my 4x800 meter team held the state record for over 20 years. I also competed in the open 800m placing 5^th in the state and in the 4x400m relay where my team was runner up in 1987. I attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for undergrad and then on to Emory University where I trained to be a Physician Assistant. I moved to Ponte Vedra in 2008 and raised my family in the Marsh Landing community. My husband, SP, is on the surgical staff at the Mayo Clinic. My son John graduated from the Naval Academy and is training to be a pilot and my daughter, Livi (PVHS class of 2020) is at Tulane University in their Architecture Program. John ran cross country and track at USNA and Livi ran all four years at PVHS for the cross country team. Running on a team was just as important to them as it was for me over 30 years ago. My goal as a coach is to encourage young people to develop a love for lifelong physical fitness and to learn life lessons of responsibility and accountability that you learn when on a team. I feel very fortunate to coach these incredible young people and to work with some of the best coaches in the community.

Stephanie has lived in Ponte Vedra since 2004. She ran Cross Country/Track and Field at Fort Caroline Junior High. She has danced since the age of 3, and continued with dancing and cheering all through Middle School, High School (Terry Parker), and college (JU), where she was a dance major. Stephanie's love for FSU took her away from dance after 2 1/2 years at JU. This is where running came back into the picture. She began the Early Childhood program at FSU and started running for exercise. Then she ran her first River Run and received her first of many top 10% finisher hats. After graduating from FSU, she taught Pre-Kindergarten at The Bolles School for 11 years and then took a break to stay home with the baby of the Family. The past 6 years Stephanie has been teaching Kindergarten at Ocean Palms Elementary School. In 2005, she ran her first marathon. Stephanie continues to run the River Run every year and she has completed many 1/2 marathons, but the Marathon is her favorite! Stephanie is happily married to her husband, Michael Seese. They have 4 children, Marley (UCF), Wyatt (Stetson), Rowan (PVHS), and Toby (Ocean Palms Elementary). This will be her 3rd year as a volunteer coach for PVXC. It is such a wonderful feeling to be able to do something you love and share that love with others. Stephanie will coach all season but come August she has to go back into her Kindergarten classroom, but we will get on those Saturday race day mornings.

In 2007 , my family moved to the US from France where I was born and raised . We first lived in New York for 6 years before deciding to move to Ponte Vedra Beach over a decade ago. I am married to my wife Sophie and we have 2 sons : Lucas (20, student athlete at FSU) and Arthur (15, cross country runner at PVHS).