The Joy Is in the Work: Coaching Year Two

What a season, what a year!

I just finished my second year coaching high school cross country and track & field at J.R. Tucker High School in Henrico, Virginia (just outside of Richmond). And what a year it was. Our team had a successful season—especially our distance runners. I just want to take a moment to reflect on how well our student-athletes and coaches performed. As they say, the proof is in the pudding!

Really, I just want to brag about them. (And isn’t that part of my job as a coach?) So, without going too far into the weeds:

Cross Country

Our boys cross country team qualified for its first state meet in 19 years.
As a team, we finished 9th at the state meet and third in our region.
One of our athletes finished 7th overall, earning All-State honors (and in cross country, that’s tough!).
Collectively, our girls and boys re-wrote 12% of our Top 10 lists in one season (we track the top 10 all-time 5K times, by grade and overall).

Something I’d love to see? Both our girls and boys qualifying for the state meet in the same year. Both teams have done it individually in the past two years—so, it’s possible!

Indoor Track

Together, the girls and boys added 65 new marks to our Top 10 lists—about 5% in one season.
New school records were set in the Girls’ Pole Vault and Boys’ 4x400m Relay.
A different boy warned All-State honors
Seven grade-level records were broken, including:
- Freshman Girls’ 1,000m
- Sophomore Boys’ 1,600m and 3,200m
- Junior Boys’ Pole Vault and 1,000m
- Junior Girls’ Pole Vault (which also set the school record)
Our Boys’ 4x800m relay qualified for the state meet, running one of the fastest times in school history. Despite an injury to our anchor leg, they scored points at states.
And our pole vaulter? She won the state championship! (Details on Instagram.)

Outdoor Track

Our girls and boys added 74 new marks to our Top 10 lists—again, about 5% in one season. (There are more events in outdoor track, which helps.)
Our pole vaulter qualified for nationals, set a new school record, won her second state championship (and third regional title), and set a new junior class record. (Again, more on Instagram!)
We had three new sophomore records: in the 100m, 200m, and 3,200m.
Our 4×8 and 4×1 relays both qualified for the state meet—and our Boys’ 4×8 ran one of the fastest times in school history, breaking 8:00 for the first time.
One of our distance runners placed second in the state in the 800m and qualified for New Balance Nationals in both the 1,600m and 800m.
Eight of our boys ran 5:01 or better for the 1,600m.

Our boys’ distance crew is one of the best returning squads in the entire state next year—and that has me especially excited for cross country.

That’s a lot of progress in one year. The credit goes to our student-athletes, their families, and our fantastic coaching staff (of which I’m just one part).

What we did really well—particularly with our distance runners—was increasing training volume, ensuring easy runs stayed easy (no faster than Zone 2, and often in upper Zone 1), and emphasizing that “easy” is a feeling, not a pace.

Are there things we can do better? Of course. But that’s a topic for another day. The bottom line is this team executed beautifully—and they were a joy to coach, across the board.

Things I Can Take Credit For:

Our team website, www.tuckertrack.com, which I built. Other coaches and parents have complimented it, and it’s become a vital resource for forms, school records, meet info, and more.
Our Instagram, @JRTXCTF, which has gotten a ridiculous amount of views as I’ve improved my Canva skills. In May alone, one of our other amazing coaches told me we hit over 80,000 views in a single month. At least 20 posts had over 1,000 views, and one cracked 8,000. I’m not sure that’s “viral,” but it’s not bad for a high school sports team.

What’s Next?

Next season, we just need to keep focusing on what we can control: making it fun, effective, and positive. I think we’ll grow our numbers and continue developing well-rounded student-athletes. If we do those things, the team will stay consistent, improve, and grow. And really, that’s all I can ask of them.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy coaching when I first agreed to do it. But I’m happy I took the leap. It’s not just fun—it’s been good for me. My own running is enjoying a resurgence, and that’s good for my health and well-being, too.

We’re building something here. One meet, one mile, one season at a time.