JoLynne Hopkins’ passion for running is evident on the walls of her Yelm High School portable classroom.
She enjoys participating in fun runs, 5Ks and mud runs in her free time and has fliers from past events displayed in her classroom. This passion caught the eye of YHS boys cross country and track coach Alex McIntire, who offered Hopkins an opportunity to volunteer with the girls team prior to last season.
“He was like, ‘Dan Baker is retiring. Why don’t you come out and work with us? I know you like to run, and we’re going to need somebody after Baker retires.’ That sounded like a lot of fun,” Hopkins said.
Following Baker’s retirement after nearly 30 years of coaching, the school district hired Hopkins as the next girls cross country team coach. It is the former high school track athlete’s first opportunity to coach cross country. As a student teacher in Nebraska, Hopkins served as an assistant for the cross country team and also coached cheerleading.
Hopkins believes that her experience volunteering with the team last season prepared her to take over as coach, and it reignited her love of running.
“Coming off of COVID, teaching has been a challenge, but being with the team every day just put such a positive spin on the day that I carried into my classroom,” said Hopkins, who teaches business classes at YHS. “It was one of the best years I’ve had in a really long time, and I attributed it all to starting the year with cross country.”
The team also responded well to Hopkins’ presence on the team as a volunteer and her eventual promotion to head coach. She said that in sports, athletes sometimes leave when a previous coach retires, but the returners are excited and have bought into Hopkins’ vision.
“The girls that I’ve met already, they’re just good people. They encourage each other and they want to better themselves,” she said.
Hopkins’ first chance to lead the team came in Montana at McIntire’s annual summer camp. Typically, the camp is for the boys team to train and learn from coaches ahead of the season, but three girls attended as well. The girls and Hopkins shared a conversation that set the tone for the upcoming season.
“They talked about how they want to have their own individuality, their own identity and their own voice and not just be a sidekick of the boys team,” Hopkins said. “They want to do their own girls team morning runs like the boys. The student input is so important because this is for them, and it’s their memories.”
Hopkins’ philosophy is that running is a lifestyle and that personal records aren’t the end-all-be-all factor in what makes a successful meet in cross country.
“I want the girls to believe that running is a lifestyle. Everything you do, you take care of your body,” she said. “You fuel it with good nutrition, you get good sleep, you have to be organized, and you have to have good time management. I’m not going to focus on times. [Personal records] are great, but unless you’re on that course with the exact same conditions, it’s going to be different.
“I feel like success is going to be more like, ‘How do you feel? Can you run further? Do you feel stronger? How’s your team coming along?’ she added. “I’m just really happy to be part of this team.”
The first practice for the girls cross country team takes place on Monday, Aug. 21, and the first jamboree meet is on Sept. 5.
