Mount St. Mary’s Observe and Area: A sit-down with Coach Phillips

Nestled into the facet of the gorgeous Appalachian mountains lies a small Catholic college simply 20 miles from Frederick, Maryland. Regardless of a small inhabitants of round 2,000 college students, the group at Mount St. Mary’s is tight-knit and the Mountaineers monitor and area program is a pressure to be reckoned with within the NCAA Division I MAAC convention. Over final season, the lads’s staff completed second at each the indoor and out of doors championships, with the ladies not far behind ending fourth and third respectively.

On the helm of this system is a person who’s been part of Mount St. Mary’s for the higher a part of 20 years. A monitor and area alumnus, Jay Phillips is just not solely the Director (head coach) of Cross Nation and Observe & Area, but additionally the Assistant Director of Athletics for your entire athletics division at The Mount. Phillips persistently calls for and produces the very best from his athletes.

“I completely love this place, it’s my alma mater, it’s my spouse’s alma mater, it’s an incredible college and an honor to be the director,” says Phillips. “We really spend a variety of time cultivating who our athletes are…they’re resilient, they will endure, they’re selfless, they’re women and men of integrity.”

Persona is a pillar of Coach Phillips’ teaching philosophy to assist develop younger, maybe timid athletes into sturdy, assured opponents. “I really like with the ability to have monitor and area as type of the catalyst of that progress…striving for monitor and area excellence will help folks grow to be the 22-year-old they wish to be,” he says. “Seeing these gentle bulb moments, seeing folks put stuff collectively, seeing folks put in a bunch of labor and succeed…to assist these younger women and men develop into the folks they wish to be each single day, that’s what I’m doing.”

With the indoor season nonetheless a pair months away and a brand new recruitment class of sprinters and jumpers to educate, Phillips is making ready his athletes for a brand new stage of competitors. “To date, they’re a variety of enjoyable…as a basic rule, nonetheless, the very best factor about freshmen is that they grow to be sophomores. There’s simply a lot that it’s important to be taught from expertise, I can at all times inform them ‘this class is essential,’ however some received’t be taught till they fail a category, proper?” says Phillips. “Then it’s about how we’re there to make totally different choices, proper? Proper now, they’re working exhausting, they’re engaged they usually’re a variety of enjoyable. For us, it’s very essential that we each work exhausting, and have enjoyable.”

This idea of getting enjoyable whereas additionally working exhausting results in a powerful, victorious staff tradition. “I didn’t make this tradition. This tradition is 50 years previous, in all probability, given from our former head coach. However we have now a gaggle that is responding nicely to that and that’s been enjoyable over this primary month of pre-season,” expands Phillips. “The primary cycle of coaching is designed to get the utmost variety of folks to do roughly the identical coaching…there aren’t a ton of alternatives for 400-meter hurdlers to coach with pole vaulters or excessive jumpers, however on this cycle we do and coaching subsequent to folks bonds you.”

Extending past the monitor, the staff’s tradition and propensity to bond goes past the monitor with its student-athletes participating in different off-track actions collectively. “We had a staff barbecue that was a variety of enjoyable, we allow them to play some video games that had been enjoyable…we have now our media day subsequent week, in order that they’re all going to get a bunch of enjoyable photos from our sports activities info division. That’s at all times a variety of enjoyable,” says Phillips.

The college maintains its Catholic roots absolutely all through each its athletics and teachers. Past monitor and area, the college as a complete does its finest to help its college students with a 13:1 student-to-faculty ratio. “It appears to be a part of the charisma of this place – that it’s a spot the place the church and the world dialogues, the place we will be an authentically Catholic and have actual dialogue with the world….this place the place you women and men can come and depart simply being human beings. That’s simply what I really like about this place,” says Phillips.

The staff shall be opening their season this winter on the Navy Invitational on December seventh. For extra info on the staff and their successes, comply with alongside right here.  

Recruitment and scholarship alternatives at The Mount

As a non-public faculty, Mount St. Mary’s has an all-in (tuition, room, board) annual price of over $60,000 (USD). Nevertheless, student-athletes with sturdy athletic performances and/or GPAs over 3.0 popping out of highschool could qualify for vital athletic and/or educational scholarships, which may carry the price manner down, making The Mount a practical recruitment alternative for monitor and area/cross nation athletes searching for a spot on an NCAA Division I roster and, a level from a good college, and a ravishing campus to name residence.

Get recruited to Mount St. Mary’s for monitor and area/cross nation

To contact or be contacted by Coach Phillips, ensure you have a free Streamline Athletes Necessities account and an entire profile.

To seek out out for those who’re a match for Mount St. Mary’s, get perception on the very best faculty recruitment alternatives for you, and obtain an actionable plan to get recruited, ebook your personalised advising session right here or the banner under.