Brett Davis, a history teacher at Mount Saint Joseph, was a Division I cross country runner at James Madison University, located in Harrisonburg, VA. He is now assistant coach of the JV and Varsity cross country teams at the Mount.
“The difference between college running and high school running is; in high school you stayed after school and ran for about an hour and a half, did your workout and then you went home.” Mr. Davis added, “in college, it was much more demanding and was more of a part-time job.” I then asked, “What is the difference between the meets in college and high school? What is the difference between the courses?” His response was, “In high school the races were mostly 5K (3.1 miles), but sometimes shorter and I never left the state of Maryland because I was in public school. But with college, it was 10K (6.2 miles) and I ran in about 5 or 6 different states all up and down the East Coast.”
I asked if he likes coaching at the Mount, and whether he thinks differently of his coaches now that he is in their shoes. His response was, “I like coaching here because there are a lot of dedicated and hard-working runners like our varsity team, because you guys are student-athletes and you are dedicated to the sport at the same time, ” he said. “I have a greater appreciation for my college and high school coaches because at first, I took them for granted when I was a teenager and I have used some of their coaching tips and the way they coached into the way I coach today.”
I’ve had Mr. Davis as my coach for the past two years and he’s helped not only with new runners but also experienced runners. He is very dedicated to the sport such as any coach should be to the sport they are coaching. He definitely gives off this “let’s go win and have mental toughness” kind of vibe to him which makes the team stronger. As coach, he’s helped the team win four meets so far this season and many more to come as assistant coach of the Mount Saint Joseph cross country team.
The Quill 