Editor’s note: This article contains sensitive language about suicide and accounts of emotional abuse.
Lexi Westley comes from a family of coaches and athletes. But it took what she calls a “terrifying” experience with a coach at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to motivate her to pursue coaching herself.
A little more than three years after coach Mackenzie Wartenberger resigned from her position as head coach of the UW-Madison women’s cross country team, Westley and four of her teammates are coming forward about what they call abusive behavior by Wartenberger. They allege their coach’s leadership fragmented the team and created a toxic environment, leading to mental health problems. The athletes brought up patterns of emotional abuse, body shaming and dismissing injury concerns…