What is your favorite thing about coaching at Augustine?

My favorite thing about coaching at Augustine is the privilege and joy of verbally and thoughtfully including Christ and His fruits in our physical and mental disciplines, while the students learn to suffer for a good purpose and grow because of it.

What do you hope students on the elementary Cross Country team will learn from this Cross Country season?

I hope the kids feel triumphant and victorious in their perseverance through hard work in hot weather on a consistent basis. I deeply hope the satisfaction they feel from doing something good but difficult outweighs the dread of putting in the hard work. The ability to sacrifice comfort to gain strength will bless so many areas of their lives.

What is your philosophy regarding team practice and personal training?

The more you run, the better you adapt to it. Psalm 119:32 struck me a few years ago, and it has become our team verse: “I will run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.” I was a very timid kid, as well as a perfectionist. If I was not sure I could do something excellently, I would not do it. If
I messed up or struggled, I would be unjustly distraught with myself. That limited my opportunities and my courage, which quenched God’s glory in me and with what He could do through me. Because of Christ, we are free to grow; and growth requires trying new things for a good purpose, and then fumbling through a process of imperfection to make adaptations toward progress. We live in a very busy culture, and a lot of times kids are just along for the fast ride, so I like to make the most of times they can learn to take ownership for something that makes them proud. The ability to develop an individual discipline is the fuel of confidence, and our littlest brothers and sisters in Christ should be equipped with that for the good works ahead as they live the rest of their lives.

Final Thoughts?

Sincerely, I have been so very grateful for running for decades, and this reality that God now lets me coach children in my favorite activity -- in a place where we can acknowledge that in Him we live, and move, and have our being -- feels like a very personally selected gift the Lord curated for silly little Nicoll. Not everyone coaching this level of running feels so happy about it, but it is the dream job I didn’t realize I wanted. Children are my favorite people because they are innocent and free of so many things that we adults are ridiculously bound by. It’s all just a huge cycle of goodness -- I coach them... and they inspire me. And the Lord grows us all. Thank you, Augustine School!