Broken Arrow Head Cross Country Coach Aaron Partridge Interview
MS - You've coached some great athletes at Broken Arrow thus far, what athletic achievement from
any one of your athletes made you feel the most proud?
AP - I think people would usually point to state leading, championship, or record performances as to
the answer to this, but in all honesty I feel proud of my athletes the most when an athlete
achieves a personal best that they have been working for even when they felt like it may never
come.
To me accomplishing a goal an athlete sets for themselves is more important than any
record.
MS - What are the three biggest pieces of advice you have for a young athlete wanting to start up
in this sport?
AP - The advice I would give is first and foremost to have fun. Although not every moment will be
joyful if you aren't ever having any fun then you need to consider if you really want to do this, or
do you feel like you have to?
The second thing is to find something to motivate you to improve.
This sport is competitive and in order to really embrace it you need to find goals to keep yourself
on track to accomplishing those. This could be a personal best, placing at a competition, or
even something related to your physical and mental health that the sport can give you
opportunities to work on.
The last bit of advice I would give an athlete is to be consistent. Any
time you should be doing something in your training and you choose to skip it, it makes it more
likely that you will take shortcuts in other things in life instead of giving your full effort.
"This sport is competitive and in order to really embrace it you need to find goals to keep yourself on track to accomplishing those".
Aaron Partridge, Broken Arrow cross country head coach
MS - How do you lead by example?
AP - One thing I do is always try to be supportive to those that I can tell are trying. You may not
always be successful, but what is more important is that you are working towards it.
MS - Where did you run track in high school/college? And what was your favorite event?
AP - I ran track at Broken Arrow High School and Oklahoma Baptist University. My favorite event in
high school was the 4x400 and my favorite event in college was the 400 hurdles. I was a hurdler
and jumper in junior high and in high school only really ran the 400.
In college I was having
trouble finding ways to help the team and asked if I could try the long jump, high jump and
hurdles. After scoring in all 3 at conference I was able to do high jump and hurdles for my last
years of college which helped me stay motivated and have fun.
MS - How has your outlook on running/track and field changed from at first being an athlete, to
then moving up in the coaching world?
AP - The big thing that has had to change was that as an athlete I am more focused on my own
goals and how I can work to further achieve those.
As a coach my goal is to be a tool or servant
towards my athletes to achieve their goals and ultimately team success. Like I mentioned
before, I don't look to chase records or accolades because those aren't mine, they're things that
are a product of the hard work put in by those athletes and I was just something that helped in
that process.
MS - Advice for aspiring cross country or track coaches?
AP - Don't assume every athlete is the athlete that you were, or even wants to be. What I mean by
that is that oftentimes coaches try to copy and paste workouts they did in college or they treat
every athlete the way that they perceive their coach treated them.
Other workouts can be a
great starting point, however you need to adjust them according to the athletes you are working
with, otherwise you're setting yourself and your athletes up for failure.
Also not every kid
responds the same way: get to know your athletes and find out what types of reinforcement
works best for them.
"there are more track fans now due to the visibility of collegiate and professional track and field on tv and social media. This has been one of the factors to the level of competition raising in our state".
Aaron Partridge, Broken Arrow cross country head coach
MS - How has the Oklahoma high school running world changed from when you first started
coaching up until now?
AP - I think obviously there are more track fans now due to the visibility of collegiate and professional
track and field on tv and social media. This has been one of the factors to the level of
competition raising in our state.
Another thing that I think has led to better performances is the
quality of the track coaches has increased significantly. We have more athletes who competed
in the sport at a high level now coaching and while that's not a requirement to being a good
coach it helps give a perspective and baseline knowledge that can be really beneficial.
MS - 3 favorite movies, 3 favorite tv shows, and 3 favorite musicians/bands?
AP - My 3 favorite movies are The Joker, The Indian in the Cupboard and Gangs of New York. My 3
favorite tv shows would be How I Met Your Mother, One Piece, and Black Sails. My 3 favorite
musicians would be Kanye West, Mac Miller and Tyler the Creator.
MS - What was your favorite workout as an athlete?
AP - My favorite workout as an athlete would be 400's with hurdles. You can design it in different
ways depending on what you're wanting to work on specifically. You can go every other hurdle,
You can just have hurdles on straights or on curves, or you can focus on the first 3 and last 3
hurdles. Usually you'd only do 3-4 reps at anywhere from 70% to race pace.
As always, thank you for reading!
- Shawn Rutledge