The possibilities are endless with a brand new assistant coach on our school track team. Deb Lubas is bringing experience, passion, and, without a doubt, the determination to take the team far this season. 

“Coaching track and field is a passion of mine, but it is not always easy to do being part of a military family who moves every two years,” Lubas said.

Lubas has used her constant travel to her advantage. Lubas has experience working with multiple age groups and in numerous different locations. 

“I have coached middle and high school cross country and track in Hawaii, Washington, Kentucky and now Virginia,” Lubas said. 

This experience is helpful because Lubas knows what does and does not work to motivate runners and improve their performance. On top of this, she has personal experience in the sport as well. 

“I ran cross country and track throughout high school and college. I competed at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY.” Lubas said. 

This personal connection feeds into her hopes for this season. While track is a team sport, it often relies on the performance of specific individuals in order to gain points. The team trains together and has become a close-knit community by doing so. Lubas believes the best way to build this community is to focus on individuality. 

“My hopes for the season are for all of our W-L runners to meet and exceed their personal goals and to be proud of their progress,” Lubas said. 

Runners need to dedicate themselves to the sport. The expectations have not been high in the past, but this year, the coaches have really stressed the importance of showing up and trying your best. 

“My expectations for all our W-L runners are to show up, work hard, provide encouragement to each other as well as to respect each other,” Lubas said. 

Lubas’ qualifications as a coach are enough as is. However, she hopes her dedication and deep love for the sport and community as a whole that she hopes motivates her runners. 

“I hope my love of running motivates our W-L runners to do their best daily, to work hard to meet their personal goals, and to have fun!” Lubas said. 

Not only is our new coaching staff making a difference this season. The team also welcomed a talented new runner, Jackson Fowler, a sophomore who moved to Arlington from Singapore this year. He has already completed one cross-country season and had many goals for the winter track season. 

“I hope to go to state in the 4×800 meter relay and also probably break 4:30 in the mile,” Fowler said. 

In a single cross-country season, he is already the fifth-fastest sophomore in our region. He attributed this accomplishment to his training this year. However, lots of hard work has gone into the sport over the years. Fowler started running in fifth grade but has stepped it up since moving here. 

“The tough workouts here [were a] big step up from Singapore,” Fowler said, “In terms of the distance I was running, I was running probably twenty-five miles a week, but here I’m running closer to forty miles on top of the hard workouts.”

As far as the technical improvements seen in his performances, Fowler’s times speak for themselves. His personal record for the 5k before moving to Arlington was 17:08. Now, it is  15:53. Fowler credits much of his improvement to the preparation from our coaches and the community he is now a part of. 

“I love [the coaches], especially McNiell,” Fowler said, “They create a strong sense of community, especially within the distance group.”