1-23-13 —   Wayne County Schools Cross Country Coach Kevin Jones has been named  Area 8 “Coach of the Year” in cross  

country

    This was the first time for the former cross country runner to  achieve this honor during the eight years he has been coaching Wayne  

County runners. He is very worthy of this award and his runners and  

their parents are especially delighted to see him recognized in this  

way.

    His team sees him as an encourager and appreciates his honesty in  

coaching them. Besides earning the respect of the middle and high  

school girls’ and boys’ runners, he established an elementary cross  

country program which now feeds into the varsity level.

    This was a great year for the program, as the team won the 2A Region  

5 championship and experienced success at the state meet. It was the  

first regional title since 1971, while Wayne County High School  

junior Trevor Shearer won overall champion, joining an elite list of  

Wayne County championship runners that included Daniel Roberts and  

Tommy Nelson. At the state competition at the Kentucky Horse Park,  

the boys’ team placed 12th overall, while the girls’ team placed 25th.

    In addition, post season awards went to Shearer for being named 2nd  

Team All-State and freshman Sadie Martin being named Honorable  

Mention All-State.

    So, it was a very memorable season and should provide the basis for  

moving the program to an even higher level, under Jones’ guidance in  

the future.

    On behalf of the Wayne County School runners, Trevor Shearer said  

their amazing season was due to Coach Jones’ ability to keep them  

focused on their goal of winning region from the very beginning.  

“Every practice, Coach kept our focus on that one race. Some days  

were not as good as others, but he told us it would all be worth it  

after that Saturday in November when we won.”

    And indeed, Coach Jones words rang true for his runners as they  

advanced to state, making impressive strides on the course. Another  

big benefit for the local runners is calling Cave Run Lake Park their  

home base, since it is such an excellent place to showcase their  

sport and invite other schools to participate in competitions.

    But the most important ingredient to these teams’ successes has been  

the respect between the coach and the runners. “It’s almost like we  

are a family. Coach tells us what to do and we try to please him. He  

sets goals for us. He gets upset when we don’t meet them, but he  

tells us to keep doing good and keep our heads up—he’s an  

encourager,” said Shearer. “He has been my coach since I was in  

seventh grade in 2008. After our first practice, coach told me if I  

stuck with it, he thought I’d be pretty good,” grinned Shearer.

    Outside of cross country, he likes to joke around with the students.  

But during practice or competitions it is about taking care of business.

    “He’s completely honest. If we have a bad race he gets in our faces  

and tells us we did badly, but we know it’s for motivational  

purposes. He’s not trying to put us down. It’s a big honor to have  

him as our coach,” explained Shearer.

    Jones received the special award while attending the annual Kentucky  

Track and Cross Country Association’s annual banquet and clinic in  

Lexington on the weekend of January 4-5. There are a total of eight  

Cross Country Areas in the state. Area 8 consists of approximately 40  

schools. (In basketball terms, it encompasses Regions 12 and 13, half  

of Region 4 and 5.)

    Jones said the award “is really just a reflection of our runner’s  

effort, time, and mileage that they have put in throughout the year.  

So, I have to give them a lot of the credit for this award.”

    Now, the goal for next season is to repeat their win as regional  

champions; but the main goal will now be to win state individually,  

and as a team, according to Shearer.