The clinic is geared toward high school distance coaches who want to expand their knowledge about training theory and building team culture.
The clinic is the brainchild of coaches Chris McAfee of Mill Valley, Levi Huseman of Olathe North, Aaron Davidson of Shawnee Mission North and Justin Wrigley of St. Thomas Aquinas. It will be held at St. Thomas Aquinas High School (11411 Pflumm Road in Overland Park).
Those four coaches announced this week that they have added another high profile coach to the list of conference speakers. Greg Coplen of Valor Christian High School, located near Colorado Springs, will be on hand to share some of his coaching secrets. Coplen is the coach of Cole Sprout, who just two weeks ago set the American record for a sophomore when he clocked 8:49.46 at the Brooks PR Invitational near Seattle.
Other coaches slated to speak have not only established strong distance running traditions in their home states, but also on the national scene. They include:
* Scott Christensen from Stillwater High School in Stillwater, Minnesota, who has been coaching for 37 years and whose teams have been ranked in the top 20 in the nation nine times.
* Jonathan Dalby from Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, a 14-year coaching veteran who has won six state championships and whose teams have finished third (boys) and sixth (girls) at Nike nationals;
* Timothy Ives from Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, who has been coaching for 11 years and whose boys teams have won four state titles and are the only Iowa team ever to qualify for Nike nationals; and
* Jason Druten of West Torrance High School in Torrance, California, a 25-year coaching veteran whose team won the California D3 state championship in 2017, and the CIF Southern Section three times.
"Our speaking coaches will each present one session specific to cross country training and a second session on a training topic of their choosing," Wrigley said. "We'll wrap up the clinic with a Q&A session including all coaches."
A full clinic schedule, speaker bios, registration, hotels, and more information is available online at www.heartlanddistancesummit.com.