Coach Jon Griffith Interview

Jon Griffith is the head coach of the boys track/boys & girls cross country programs at Bridgeport Senior High, located in north central West Virginia. BHS is one of six Harrison County schools and is home to 725 students in grades 9-12 and 72 staff members. Coach Griffith has helped guide the boys cross country team to two state titles (2013, 2014) and the boys & girls track to one each in 2014. I spoke to him about his running accolades and his experiences coaching.

Coach McMillion – First of all congratulations on winning back-to-back state championships in cross country, the first titles in that sport in school history.

Jon Griffith - Thanks, the kids have worked really hard to accomplish this and deserve all the credit. They are the first titles in XC in school history, but we have only had XC since the mid 90’s. As most people know, Bridgeport is a football town. I pushed to get the team started, but I wasn’t able to coach it since I was coaching freshmen football at the time. The program struggled with low numbers for years as all of the previous coaches were not teachers or weren't in the building. Now with numbers and interest growing we are seeing much more successful results from the team. Bridgeport is still a football town, but XC is growing and making some headway regardless.

CM - Why did you choose to start coaching, and how long have you been coaching distance runners?

JG - I graduated from WVU with a degree in Chemistry, but decided I didn’t want to sit in a lab all day, every day. So I sat down and thought about what I really wanted to do with my life. I was watching TV one night and saw one of those “The More You Know” public service announcements on NBC about teaching and realized that teaching and coaching were what I really wanted to do. I had two outstanding coaches at South Charleston Jr. High and High School in Walt Hillenbrand and Dick Dunlap who had been such a positive influence on me growing up and wanted to be able to give back in similar fashion. In order to teach I had to go back to school for a year at Fairmont State and while I was there I did my student teaching at Bridgeport High School. While student teaching, I volunteered to work with the track team and have been there 27 years now.

I guess I have been coaching distance runners since 1989 when I student taught, but as a sprinter and discus thrower I knew almost nothing about distance running. So I wouldn’t really call it coaching. In fact, if you look at Bridgeport’s history in distance running, success stories were very few and far between. I took a couple of years off after retiring from coaching football, but then the kids asked if I would help with XC. I had never been to a XC meet in my life when I started volunteering with the team in 2007. I was immediately impressed with the sport and the people involved in it. After coaching T&F for over 20 years, I realized that I was way out of my league in XC. I started reading as much information as I could, began attending as many clinics as possible and talking to lots of other coaches to get caught up. I am making some progress, but I still have a lot to learn. I took over as the head coach of the BHS XC team in 2012. So really, I am relatively new to coaching distance runners.

CM - What is your favorite part about coaching high school distance runners?

JG – The kids are phenomenal. They are a little (some are a lot, i.e. “The Potato Gang”) quirky sometimes, but they are great fun to be around. What they do, day in and day out, is impressive to me. As a former sprinter/thrower, I can’t imagine doing the things I make them do. And in large part, what they do is not as appreciated as it should be by the general public. I don’t believe that most people really understand what they do to train and prepare for these events.

CM – Which sport do you like coaching more, track or cross country, why?

JG - That’s a tricky question to answer. I have been the head boys T&F coach at BHS for 27 years and the head XC coach at BHS for 3 years. Both sports have their positives and negatives, but in both cases the positives far, far outweigh the very few negatives. I do a lot more coaching with XC now. In T&F, we have a large staff and I do more supervision than direct hands on coaching. There is much more to the strategy and personnel placement in T&F because of the 18 events, versus the simplicity of XC’s one event. Both have that family atmosphere surrounding them, especially XC. I can honestly say, I would never want to coach any other sport again.

CM - What did you do to build both programs into contenders at not only a local level, but a statewide level as well?

JG – When I came to Bridgeport in 1989, there were only two trophies in the trophy case for T&F. We had a State Champion Pole Vaulter in 1970, Steve Frome and we had won one Harrison County Boys T&F Championship in 1971, I think. The track was one and a half lanes of dirt around the football field. When I volunteered to coach I had no idea what I was getting into. At my first practice we had 8 boys. Coming from the Kanawha Valley, needless to say I was in shock. I established two personal goals for the program. Goal one was to increase the numbers. Goal two was to get a decent facility. As a young teacher in the building it wasn’t too hard to get the numbers up. We went from 8 to 24 boys in just 2 years. By year four, I was up to 40+ boys each year. I was also fortunate to have some very supportive parents in that first group. They contacted the National Guard and arranged to have their engineers and road crew construct a 6 lane cinder track with fly ash from the local power plant. Meeting those two goals moved us up to being locally competitive. The next big jump occurred with the “Track to the Future” project in 2000-2002. It was a community driven fundraising project that allowed us to finally construct a real rubberized track, field event areas and new concession stand. Now we were in a position to practice properly and I feel that has helped us become much more competitive. Additionally, the development of our Cross Country program over the past 7 years has provided our program with much better balance, which proved to be crucial in winning our first state titles in T&F in 2014.

CM - When did you win your first title as a coach at Bridgeport Senior High in track and in cross country?

JG – We won our first Harrison County Boys T&F title in 1991 (only the second in the history of the school). It was the first of 22 over the last 25 years. Our first Boys T&F BIG 10 title was in 1996 in a string of 19 consecutive that was snapped this year by Buckhannon-Upshur. We have won 8 Boys T&F Regional titles from 1999 through this past year, and the State Championship in 2014.

In Cross Country, since I began with the program, we have had the girls win six straight Harrison County championships, one Big 10 title and one Regional title, both in 2011. On the boys side, we have won eight straight Harrison County titles, two consecutive Big 10, Regional and State Championships in 2013 and 2014.

CM – What did it mean to you to be named the first-ever winner of the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Cross Country Coach of the Year?

JG – Then Philip Barbour coach, Missy Kaiser, congratulated me and I didn’t know for what. She had to show me the online site that it was announced. At first, I thought is was a joke. Then I was in shock. There are way too many talented and dedicated cross country coaches in this state, so I thought it must be a mistake. I am still kind of in awe. I still consider myself to be a rookie coach in the Cross Country world. It is a great honor, but one that was earned by and deserved for my athletes. They make me look pretty good sometimes.

CM – Who or what do you contribute your success too?

JG – As I alluded to earlier, I was blessed to be coached by two outstanding T&F coaches, Walt Hillenbrand and Dick Dunlap. What they taught me goes far beyond the technique and mechanics of our sport. They coach and coached from the heart with a true passion for the sport and the kids. I have learned a lot from our local college coaches as well. Jesse Skiles (WV Wesleyan College), Jesse Weiner (Alderson Broaddus University), and Sean Cleary (WVU) have all been models for me in different ways. Each has their strengths that I try to incorporate those into my coaching and our program. My assistant coaches deserve a lot of praise as well. Nathaniel Lutyens and Gina Lutyens work with me in XC season and do a fantastic job. In the spring, Emilee Stout, our girls head coach, and I combine the boys and girls programs, allowing us to organize our practices a little better. Jeff Weimer, Grant Burton, Ali Curry, Steve Hastings, and Steve Sellas along with Nathaniel and Gina Lutyens make up what I consider to be the best high school T&F coaching staff anywhere. Finally the athletes, parents of my athletes and the entire community of Bridgeport deserves a tremendous amount of credit as well. There are few places that can compare in the amount of support and as well as the high level of expectations generated here.

CM – What is your proudest coaching moment?

JG – That is very hard to narrow down. Three State Championships would be obvious choices and are indeed huge highlights, but I can think of some others that at least tie for the top. Having my two of my sons share in two of the State Championship teams was big for me. Jonathan was on the 2013 XC State Championship team and Jacob was on the 2014 T&F State Championship team. Jacob’s was even more special by the fact that his 3rd place in the discus was an upset that gave us much needed points secure the victory. Another highlight would be the athletic careers of Meghan Krohe (http://www.connect-bridgeport.com/connect.cfm?func=view&section=Blogs&item=ToquiNotes-A-Thank-You-from-the-Krohes-and-Behind-the-Scenes-Tales-on-BHSs-Most-Popular-Student---Queen-Megan-Krohe5360) and Nathan Dye (http://www.connect-bridgeport.com/connect.cfm?func=view&section=Sports-Blog&item=From-the-Bench-Recalling-the-Tale-of-The-Magic-1514918). Both throwers for the T&F team, Meghan has Down’s Syndrome and Nathan is severely autistic. The dedication they showed to their event and the team was astonishing. Both athletes improved dramatically over their time with the team and won the hearts of every athlete, coach, parent and spectator they encountered. Finally, in Cross Country, last year Katy Weber (http://www.connect-bridgeport.com/connect.cfm?func=view&section=City-Faces&item=City-Faces-in-Different-Places10389) showed up for practice. Katy was a shot putter for us in T&F, so I was surprised to see her out for XC. Over the course of the season, Katy managed to lose almost 100 pounds and drop her 5K time from the mid 48’s to just under 40.

CM – It looks like you will be returning 4 of your top 7 runners from last year’s squad, where do you see this team come time for qualifying for states?

JG – I hope that this year’s group will be just as dedicated and determined as the last two years teams. Last year we had quite a battle between the boys to fill those final few spots in the top seven. Things are shaping up to be very similar on the team this year. Regional qualifying is always tough. This year is no different. Berkeley Springs is a team on the move. Their boys and girls are both going to be very strong this year. Philip Barbour, Frankfort and Keyser are always tough teams to contend with as well. With so many other good teams, we focus on our team. We can’t control anyone except ourselves. We will train hard, run our best and see what happens.

CM – Who do you see stepping up for you in the leadership role?

JG – Last year Michael Duez emerged at the team leader to the coaches’ surprise. Of course he did it carrying a potato. So, you never know. We anticipate leadership by committee, but we will have to wait and see what transpires. Someone my step up and “take the potato by the horns” as it were.

CM – What will be the key for this team 3-peating as state champions?

JG - I can’t even think about that. There are so many great teams out there. Like I said, we are just going to work hard and do our best. Beyond that, for any team to win, I guess number one is staying free of injuries. Second, they have to stay focused, be dedicated and work hard. No one is going to hand you anything. Finally, the team has to believe in themselves and each other.

CM – Finally, What advice would you give to somebody who wanted to become a coach?

JG - If you are going to become a coach, especially a successful one, make sure you have an understanding spouse and family. I am very fortunate that I do have just that. The amount of time and energy required is astounding. It isn’t something to undertake on a whim. You have to love the sport you coach and want to work with the kids through good and bad. Learn as much as you can and if at all possible become a certified official. That was a recommendation to me from former Liberty HS track coach and current T&F starter and official, Joe Gonzales, and it has helped me a lot more than I ever thought it would. Overall coaching, when done right, can be a very rewarding career.

CM - Thank you very much for your time Jon. Good luck with your CC team in 2015. Looking forward to seeing you at states!

JG - Thank you for all that you do for XC and Distance Running. I am serious about that book. You need to write one. I will buy the first copy. Good luck to you and your team as well. Hopefully we can make it to Cabell Midland again this year.

Coach Mike McMillion

e-mail: mgmcmillion@aol.com