2011 Academy Speakers (2012 speakers will be finalized in April)

Virginia Tech Coach Ben Thomas ~ Ben Thomas has been Virginia Tech's head cross country coach since 2001 and now has 13 years of collegiate coaching experience. During eight seasons of coaching at Tech, the Hokies have emerged as contenders in not only the Atlantic Coast Conferen  ce and the NCAA Southeast Region but in the entire nation. Thomas is familiar with the Hokie program, having competed in cross country and middle distance for Tech from 1988 to 1992. Under Thomas' tutelage in 2008, Tasmin Fanning put together one of the best seasons ever for a Tech cross country runner. The Charlottesville, Va., native won the NCAA Southeast Regional, a Hokie first, placed second at the ACC Championships and secured Tech's highest individual finish ever at the NCAA Championships with a third-place showing. Thomas also helped the men's squad to a third-place effort at the ACC Championships, the best finish for the Tech men since joining the ACC. The Hokie women took fifth at the meet, and both squads placed seventh at the NCAA Southeast Regional. Coach Thomas coaching history is full of All Americans, ACC Champions, and even national champions.

• Virginia Tech (2001-Present)
  • 11 NCAA All-Americans (cross country, 2003, 2007, 2008; 1,500m, 2004; DMR, 2007; 5,000m, 2008, 2010; mile, 2009, 2011)
  • 5th Place men’s team finish at 2011 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
  • 18th-place women's team finish at 2006 NCAA Cross Country Championships
  • Eleven NCAA Championships cross country participants
  • Eighteen NCAA All-Region cross country runners
  • Eight All-ACC cross country runners
  • One All-BIG EAST cross country runner
  • Twelve ACC Champions (track)
  • One BIG EAST Champion (track)
  • Twenty-three school records (track)

• Brevard College (1999-01)
  • One three-time NAIA National Champion
  • One two-time Olympian
  • Two Cross Country World Championship qualifiers
  • 2000 NAIA Region XII men's and women's team champions
  • 1999 NAIA Region XII Coach of the Year
  • 1999 NAIA Region XII men's team champion

• Appalachian State (1995-99)
  • One two-time NCAA National Champion
  • 1996, 98 & 99 North Carolina Collegiate team champion
  • 1996 Southern Conference champion
  • 1996 Southern Conference Coach of the Year      

Virginia Military Institute Coach Paul Spangler ~ Paul Spangler is currently in his eighth season as Head Cross Country Coach and Assistant Track & Field Coach at VMI. He comes off a 2009 Cross Country season which saw him earn his first Coach of the Year honor, the Women's Big South COTY honor, on the strength of a runner-up finish for the Keydet women that was sparked by individual champion Hannah Granger. During the year, the VMI men's team earned its second-ever regional ranking (2005), both of which have been achieved under Spangler's tutleage. In addition, the second-place finish for the women's team was the best-ever Championship result for the program, and Granger's Runner of the Year along with Jenna Moye's Freshman of the Year awards were the first such honors for members of the VMI squad.

In Spangler's time in Lexington, his athletes have broken 18 different school records.  In 2009, Spangler coached VMI’s Donnie Cowart to All-American status in the 3000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA Championships, as Cowart also earned a trip to the USA Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon. In 2007-08, Spangler recruited and coached two of the top freshmen in VMI’s illustrious track and field history.  Felix Kitur finished the season as the top-ranked freshman in the nation at 800 meters (1:46.75) after finishing ninth at the National Championships, while Granger established seven new school records in her first year on post.

Individually, Spangler has coached 15 All-IC4A/ECAC Performers, three All-IC4A Relay teams, 40 IC4A/ECAC Championship qualifiers and 45 All-Big South performers.  Additionally, his athletes have earned five Big South Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards, while he has coached four NCAA Regional qualifiers, two National Championship qualifiers, one NCAA All-American and even a Rhodes Scholarship recipient.


University of Virginia Assistant Coach Mary Jayne Reeves A six-time All-American in outdoor track at Appalachian State, Reeves won two NCAA 1500m titles and was named the 2001 NCAA Woman of the Year for the state of North Carolina.

Reeves comes to Virginia as a professional distance runner who spent eight years representing Nike, Inc. and the last two Brooks. During her professional career, she was coached and guided primarily by her college coach, Ben Thomas of Virginia Tech. She also trained in Knoxville, Tenn., with JJ Clark, in addition to the Oregon Track Club and Frank Gagliano. Throughout her professional career, Reeves advanced to the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympic Trials and earned silver medals in the 1500m for the United States at the 2003 and 2007 PanAm Games. Holding the ninth-fastest mile time in the world in 2003, Reeves was a silver medalist in the 800m and 1500m at the 2002 USA Indoor Championships and won the gold medal for Team USA in both events at the 2007 NACAC Championships in El Salvador.

In 2002, Reeves was inducted into the North Carolina Hall of Fame and was named the Female Amateur Athlete of the Year.  

Dr. Kathleen Poole ~ Kathleen Poole has been a faculty member in the Department of Exercise, Sport, and Health Education at Radford University for the past 6 years.  Prior to teaching at Radford, she taught in the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise at Virginia Tech for 7 years.  Dr. Poole has expertise in the areas of exercise physiology, health promotion, body composition, and sports nutrition.  She currently teaches a course called Exercise, Performance, and Nutrition at Radford University.  For the past 15 years, Dr. Poole and her colleagues have worked with NFL officials to enhance their health and officiating performance.  As a past collegiate runner at Virginia Tech, she has been an avid runner for the past 30 years and has completed 15 marathons including 5 Boston Marathons.  She also completed the Florida Ironman in 2005.  She is currently training for a fall marathon and plans to run Boston again in 2011.  

High Point University Coach Mike Esposito ~ The High Point University cross country and track & field teams continue to prosper under the guidance of head coach Mike Esposito, entering his fifth season at HPU in 2009-10. On the track, HPU records have been set in 24 events on the women's side and 16 events on the men's side since 2006. In cross country, HPU is a contender for both the men's and women's Big South titles, and HPU had its second Big South individual champion, Zsannet Kis, on the women's side in 2008.

In Esposito's first four seasons as head coach, High Point never finished lower than third in the Big South Championship in men's cross country, and HPU runners earned seven All-Big South honors. In women's cross country, HPU runners earned All-Big South honors six times over the past four seasons, and High Point finished third at the Big South Championship each time.

High Point has shown consistent improvement for both men's and women's track & field over the past four years, with perhaps their most successful season in 2008-09. In women's outdoor track & field, HPU posted its highest finish ever in 2009, placing third with five individual champions. Kis was Big South outdoor champ in the 5,000-meter and 3,000-meter steeplechase. In men's track & field, HPU placed third at the Big South indoor title meet and fifth at the outdoor meet. The Panthers were particularly strong in the middle distance and distance events, with Jesse Cherry leading the way with two individual indoor titles (3,000 and 5,000-meter) and one outdoor victory (10,000-meter).   During his stint at Mount Tabor, Esposito coached four national champions, four national runner-ups, three footlocker finalists, over 52 individual and relay state champions, and eleven team state champions. Esposito was honored for his success on the track by having been named conference Coach of the Year 22 times and N.C. Coach of the Year eight times. Mount Tabor’s men’s cross country teams have not lost a dual meet since 1994 and the women’s team was nationally ranked in 2000 and 2001.  

Phil Latter – Coach and Freelance Writer

• Athletics Experience 2009 – 2011 Assistant Track and Cross Country Coach, Fort Collins High School, Fort Collins, Colo.
  • Assisted head coach in all phases of program development, contributing particularly in the areas of strength and conditioning, workouts implementation and middle distance training
  • Helped lead boys team to 2010 Colorado 5A Cross Country title and fourth place finish at Nike Cross Nationals (NXN)
  • Assisted with girls squad that won multiple 5A Cross Country titles (2009, 2010) and placed third and sixth at NXN   
  • 2005 – 2008 Cross Country and Assistant Track Coach, Radford University, Radford, Va.
  • Responsible for all actions and duties of an NCAA Division I coach, including but not limited to recruiting, designing training programs, ensuring NCAA compliance, making travel arrangements, and directing team in NCAA competition.
  • Led men and women to their highest combined finish in 12 years at the 2007 Big South Conference Cross Country Championships (fourth place on each side)
  • Radford distance runners recorded seven All-Conference performances and four school records 
• Non-Coaching Experience 2009 – Present      Freelance Writer
  • Frequent contributor to Running Times, including cover stories in March 2011, June 2011, and July/August 2011 issues
  • Have had over 20 articles published in Running Times Online, ESPN Rise, The MileSplit Network, and DyeStat.com

Roanoke College Coach Dr. Finn Pincus ~ Dr. Finn Pincus is in his 19th year as head coach of the Roanoke College cross country and track and field programs. He has developed both programs during the course of his tenure, and has established himself as one of the top coaches in the ODAC. Pincus has earned his share of accolades while at Roanoke.  His latest accomplishment was being named the NCAA Southeast Region Women’s Coach of the Year for Indoor Track.  Only eight coaches are recognized nationwide.  Earlier he was named the ODAC Women’s Coach of the Year for Indoor Track after the team scored the most points ever totaled by a team at the championships in 2008.  He has won COY honors between cross country and track a combined 13 times and twice shared the award.  Under his guidance, 15 Maroon teams have won ODAC titles:  1998 and 2003 in men’s cross country, women’s cross country in 2002, women’s outdoor track & field in 1997, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 and women’s indoor in 1997, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2007, and 2008.

LCA High School Sprint Coach Jacob Swinton ~ Jacob was an NCAA Div I All American in the 100 meters and World and Nationally ranked in the 55m, 100 m, 200m, 4x100 and 4x400 relay. Swinton ran 10.40 in high school for Deerfield Beach High in Florida.  

All Conference and Other Awards:

• • All-American 100 meters.
  • USA Olympic Festival Team Bronze medals 100 meters & 4x100 relay.
  • World and National Rank 55m,100m, 200m, 4x100relay, 4x400relay.
  • All-East Coast Honors and Athlete of the Week.
  • Big South Conference First All-American.
  • Completed in USA Track and Field Championship.
  • Invitational Champion: Florida State Relays, Mobile Inv, Clemson Inv, Duke Inv, Liberty Inv more.
  • I.C.4.A Conference Champion: 55m,100m, 200m, 4x100 relay.    

Rob Tupper, D.P.M. Coach Tupper is a foot doctor (podiatrist) that will be assisting with biomechanics, proper shoe fittings and will also speak at the academy this year. Some of the lectures Dr. Tupper has done include lectures on heel pain, common foot problems, and orthotic control of abnormal biomechanical foot functions. Dr. Tupper also coaches cross country and is a runner himself.  

Coach and Academy Director: James DeMarco ~ Owner of RunAbout Sports, Blacksburg High School XC and Track Coach and the Director of the High Performance Distance Academy. In high school was a member of five state championship teams for Bartlett High School in Alaska. Was a cross country All American for South Dakota State University and a member of the 1996 NCAA div II National Championship squad.   Started coaching at Bartlett H.S. in Alaska prior to Blacksburg, VA. The hard working athletes under DeMarco’s guidance have earned:

• Thirteen state championship girls’ teams (four in cross country, five in indoor and four in outdoor) plus four runner-up teams (three for girls cross country and indoor track)
• Three state championship boys team (3xXC) plus five runner-up (2xXC, 1xIndoor, 2xOutdoor track)
• Sixteen athletes have received college scholarships.
• Distance Medley Relay (DMR) girls broke national high school record in 2010.
• Two Relay National Champions (4xmile boys NIN, DMR girls NBN)
• Penn Relay DMR Champions of America girls race champions and set meet record at time of performance.
• Nine relay teams have earned All American Honors (4xNIN, 2xNON, 1xNBON, 2xNBIN)
• Three 2 mile All Americans (NSIC, NIN)
• Four One Mile All Americans (NIN, NBIN)
• Four freshman All American (NIN, NBIN, NBON)
• 2009 Girls Team Nike Cross Nationals qualifiers (finished 6th)
• One Nike Cross Nationals Qualifier (2008)
• Nike Southeast XC Champion, went on to finish 2nd at NXN
• 17 state champion relay teams
• 12 individual state champions for a total of 36 state titles
• Eight VA state meet records broken
• Virginia state All Time fastest girls DMR (11:31.26)
• Virginia state All Time fastest girls indoor 4xmile (20:24.07)
• AA Virginia All Time fastest two times in boys 4x800 (7:44.19, 7:45.21)
• AA Virginia All Time fastest girls 4x800 (top seven times ever run: 9:09.39)
• 13 girls have broken 5:10 led by Kathleen Stevens’ 4:45.69 1600 meters (3 under 4:50)
• 5 boys have broken 4:25 led by Peter Dorrell’s 4:11.62
• 2010 VHSCA Boys Indoor Coach of the Year
• 2009 VHSCA Girls Indoor Coach of the Year
• River Ridge District Coach of the Year 33 times
• 2008 and 2005 Girls XC Timesland Coach of the Year
• 2009, 2010 Boys XC Timesland Coach of the Year
• Girls XC team named Virginia Team of the Year in 2008 by Milestat.com
• 2006 Virginia Girls XC Coach of the Year by Milestat.com