KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan gymnastics program and head coach Penny Jernigan have announced the promotion of Al Scharns to the position of Associate Head Coach.
 
Scharns has been with the program for the past 11 seasons after joining in 2015. He is also a Western Michigan Alum that excelled on the men's gymnastics team from 1980-85 and was inducted into the WMU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023.
 
"I am thrilled to announce the promotion of Al Scharns, who has been an invaluable member of our coaching staff for the past 13 years," said Jernigan. "Throughout our time together, he has consistently demonstrated exceptional dedication, expertise, and a deep commitment to the development of our athletes. Al has played a crucial role in shaping our program's success and fostering a positive team culture. His ability to connect with our student-athletes and inspire them to reach their full potential has made a lasting impact on me and our team."
 
During his time here, he has helped the Broncos break the overall team score record and the team vault, bars, beam and floor records multiple times. With Scharns' assistance, the Broncos captured regular season MAC Championships in 2020 and 2023 and a MAC Tournament Championship in 2024. Individually, Broncos have claimed event titles on Vault (x3), Bars (x3), Beam (x2) and Floor (x4).
 
WMU has also made team appearances at the NCAA Tournament in 2021, 2022 and 2023, including posting the highest team score at a NCAA Regional in 2023 (196.175) at Pittsburgh.