James Porter, Derryfield School
Years coaching XC: 2
Track & Field: 9 seasons
Other coaching gigs, sports, schools: Manchester West HS, Manchester North U-6 soccer
Accrued accolades: USATF Level 1 Track and Field Certification, 5x USATF Mountain Goat, Varsity Lettermen U of Delaware Track n Field team, 1992/93
What got you into coaching? Started after college coaching my old HS Track team. Loved the sport and wanted to share my passion for running.
Where did you get your coaching philosophy? Dr. Jack Daniels, Arthur Lydiard, Bill Bowerman
Greatest coaching achievement: Coaching Casey Hecox to winning D-3 State Championship 2014 and PR at MOC’s
Biggest disappointment: Not increasing Casey’s flexibility to the point where she could touch her toes with straight legs.
Greatest coaching moment: When the Derryfield boys made the MOC’s for the first time ever in 2014
Strength of your program: Team’s commitment to push/inspire each other to work harder
Favorite workout: Beat Your Spot: On a grassy flat-ish loop, athletes run at tempo effort for 5 minutes and mark their spot. Walk back to the start. Then, run for 5 minutes and they have to “Beat Your Spot” (note: important to have the kids yell/cheer “Beat Your Spot” before they take off again). Repeat in 4/3/2/1 minute cycles.
Words of wisdom: Train, don’t strain & spend more time than you think on injury prevention
Three athletes you would love to have dinner with: Emil Zatopek, Peter Snell, and Roger Bannister
Coach you look up to: Mark Whetmore, University of Colorado, Mike Porter (my bro) Watching Hills HS, NJ
2 Responses
This guy has brought up the profile of Derryfield XC on the quick and they continually find themselves shooting for one of the top spots in D3 year after year. His guys just won the Gilford Early Bird for the second time in a row. Keep your eyes on these guys to climb the D3 rankings.
Derryfield boys made the Meet of Champions twice in the early 2000s. As Casey Stengel said, “you could look it up.”