By Divit Gupta and Vivaan Krishna Ponugoti, Staff Reporters
Cross-country coach and math teacher Rick Hawkins received the Daily Local News’ Girls Cross Country Coach of the Year award for the 2024-2025 season. He won the award because of the girls’ cross-country team’s performance during the season. Under his coaching, the team placed fifth at the 2024 PIAA Cross Country Championships this year.
“I think it’s a reflection of the team, not just of the coach,” Hawkins said. “The fact that I was able to get that award is the result of the entire team and the coaching staff.”
Hawkins has been coaching cross-country at Conestoga for 21 years after coaching for four years at Watkins Mill High School. Hawkins works to improve the cross-country team constantly, which consists of runners with diverse skill levels.
“There’s over 100 kids on the team with all varying levels of ability and training background, so coming up with different training plans for each individual is very challenging,” Hawkins said. “Coming up with the appropriate training for (the team) is probably the biggest part of my preparation process.”
Every year, he enjoys coaching his students, not only because of their dedication to cross-country, but for the discipline and character they display throughout the season. He has seen his students grow throughout their careers and believes they are great learners.
“They are great human beings. Not only that, they’re great students, and they learn very quickly,” Hawkins said. “They’ve studied those training programs for a couple years now, and so they know what’s expected of them and how they should prepare for each race.”
Junior Laura Traineau has been a member of the cross-country team since her freshman year. She appreciates Hawkins’ unique coaching style, which motivates team members to explore new areas and improve.
“He’s very good at challenging us and getting us out of our comfort zones, which is what helps make us so much faster and so much tougher,” Traineau said.
As a coach, Hawkins enjoys working with the team to reflect on previous games and discuss new strategies. While he hopes the team will place first in the state championship next season, Hawkins ultimately seeks to develop the runners into better individuals.
“I don’t want to be top five in the state. I want to be top in the state,” Hawkins said. “And I can’t wait to start training with them in May so we can move towards that goal.”
Divit Gupta can be reached at [email protected].
Vivaan Krishna Ponugoti can be reached at [email protected].
