Coach Jeff Bodell takes the lead as the new coach of the cross-country team, guiding them through one of their best seasons in years. Last year at UMA, there wasn’t a high school cross-country team, but Coach Bodell made sure this was not a problem.
“It was challenging because last year there wasn’t a team, so I had to do a lot of recruiting. Luckily, I had some leads with a few distance runners from track, but it still took a lot of effort. Thankfully, it all paid off… coming off a year without a team and seeing them perform so well was incredible.”
Coach Bodell shared that his biggest accomplishment this year as the cross-country coach is “seeing two runners set school records. Additionally, having the boys’ team qualify for state was a huge achievement.” During the season, Coach Bodell emphasized academics and ensured everyone maintained their grades. Due to this effort, the cross-country team ended up with the highest GPA of the fall sports teams, adding to their achievements this year.
Coach Bodell first started running in junior high and has been running ever since. “I ran both cross-country and track in high school at Ben Lomond. In college, I didn’t join a team but kept running for fun. About eight years ago, I started my coaching career at East Hollywood, where I helped launch the sports program. I coached there for three years, then moved to American Preparatory Academy in West Valley, where I coached cross-country for two years and track for one. Last year, I took a break from cross-country and track but stayed involved by coaching basketball, which helped me get my foot in the door here. I returned to coach track last year with Coach Davies and now lead the cross-country team.”
During the cross-country season, Coach Bodell says his main focus for the team was “to build a strong foundation. We started a bit late, so we worked on building up miles to ensure the team had the endurance they needed before we focused on increasing speed. It was a very technical approach to training.”
To keep his team motivated, Coach Bodell adopted a unique approach. “Motivation is always a challenge, especially in running since it’s tough to make it fun. So, on Fridays, we’d have ‘treat runs’—either a doughnut, cookie, or popsicle run. We’d run over to Krispy Kreme or Crumble, or I’d grab popsicles for everyone after the workout. It was a nice way to bond and make training enjoyable.”
When asked why people should consider joining cross-country, Coach Bodell responds enthusiastically, “Because it’s fun! But beyond that, it’s incredibly rewarding. Cross-country pushes you to go beyond what you think you can do, and that feeling of accomplishment is unmatched. Running is hard, but it improves both your physical health and mental strength. It teaches resilience and that you can overcome challenges you thought were impossible.”
Coach Bodell is proud of the progress and accomplishments of his team this year. His leadership has inspired students to push themselves and set a new standard for the cross-country team.