{"id":5233,"date":"2023-10-10T19:48:56","date_gmt":"2023-10-10T19:48:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/?p=5233"},"modified":"2025-02-10T13:37:12","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T18:37:12","slug":"going-the-distance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/2023\/10\/10\/going-the-distance\/","title":{"rendered":"Going The Distance"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kadence-column5233_1ffbd8-29 > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);}.kadence-column5233_1ffbd8-29 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column5233_1ffbd8-29 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column5233_1ffbd8-29 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column5233_1ffbd8-29 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column5233_1ffbd8-29 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column5233_1ffbd8-29 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column5233_1ffbd8-29{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column5233_1ffbd8-29 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kadence-column5233_1ffbd8-29 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column5233_1ffbd8-29 dynamic-main-col\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"keith-jones-is-the-universitys-longesttenured-coach-as-well-as-one-of-the-most-successful\"><strong>Keith Jones<\/strong>is the University\u2019s longest-tenured coach, as well as one of the most successful.&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Given all the signs in his back story, it\u2019s surprising that it took <strong>Keith Jones<\/strong> so long to arrive at Wilmington University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To start with, says the school\u2019s longtime cross country coach, \u201cI\u2019m about as local as you can get.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>True. He grew up in New Castle \u2014 Penn Acres, to be exact \u2014 and his mother still lives just a couple of streets south of the WilmU campus. \u201cSometimes I invite recruits to her house for dinner,\u201d Jones says. \u201cWe get a big laugh out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What\u2019s more, long before Keith was born, his late father, Ken, was a bellhop in the early-1960s at the Tour Inn Motor Court on DuPont Highway \u2014 which would become the original location of Wilmington College in 1968.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jones\u2019 pre-WilmU r\u00e9sum\u00e9 also includes stints as track and cross country coach at several Delaware high schools, including Ursuline Academy, where he coached indoor track along with Stefanie Scalessa \u2014 the future <strong>Dr. Stefanie Whitby<\/strong>, WilmU\u2019s current director of Athletics.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it wasn\u2019t until 1996 that Jones himself arrived on campus \u2014 as an adjunct instructor. A 1985 graduate of St. Mark\u2019s High School, where he was a four-year letterman in outdoor track and cross country, he held a bachelor\u2019s in Psychology and a master\u2019s in Physical Education with a concentration in Sport Psychology from the University of Delaware.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was his belief in the role of psychology in athletics that brought him to WilmU. In 1995, he designed a course on the subject and pitched it to the University\u2019s administration. It was approved, and Jones taught the course every spring for 25 years. Among his first students were Associate Athletic Director <strong>Erin Harvey<\/strong> and Vice President of Student Affairs&nbsp;and Alumni Relations <strong>Dr. Tina Barksdale<\/strong> (then Tina Scott).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few years later, the hyper-energetic Jones \u2014 who was competing in road races in Wilmington and Philadelphia \u2014 took a look at WilmU\u2019s sports programs and noticed that cross country was not among them. So he suggested that the University sponsor a team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jones reasoned that cross country is a relatively inexpensive sport, and the school\u2019s booming enrollment might include some promising runners. Plus, he wanted to coach the team. \u201cI took a shot,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In May of 2001, the Athletic Department added a cross country program, to begin that fall. \u201cSo I only had that summer to recruit a team,\u201d Jones says. When describing that period, he sometimes resorts to humorous hyperbole: \u201cI would go around campus and if people were walking without a limp I\u2019d tap them on shoulder and say, \u2018Hey, would you like to run?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI got five guys and two girls that first year,\u201d he says. \u201cTwo of the guys were ex-Salesianum football players who had no intention of running. But we got through that first season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Twenty-two years later and counting, he is the University\u2019s longest-tenured coach, as well as one of the most successful. His men\u2019s teams won the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) championship in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019, and he was named CACC Men\u2019s Coach of the Year in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019, and Women\u2019s Coach of the Year in 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His athletes have also excelled individually. WilmU has turned out 80 All-Conference runners (50 men, 30 women), nine CACC Rookies of the Year, eight Conference runners-up, seven Conference Champions, 14 All-Regional runners, and three National qualifiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His teams have included student-athletes from as far away as Georgia, Arizona, and Texas, but his usual recruiting area is Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the Wildcats\u2019 winning record helps attract runners, Jones also assures prospects that \u201cthey will have time to train, time for academics, and time for themselves.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Distance running, Jones points out, is not for the weak. \u201cCross country takes discipline, and they become experts at dealing with pain. I think it leads to doing well in the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He and his assistant, <strong>Megan Buranen<\/strong>, take a personal interest in each team member. \u201cWe\u2019re very involved with them,\u201d he says. \u201cWe reach out to them all the time, checking in often and being encouraging and letting them know we\u2019re here to help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cWe reach out to [the athletes] all the time, checking in often and being encouraging and letting them know we\u2019re here to help.\u201d <em>\u2014 Keith Jones<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Both Jones and Buranen regularly join the women\u2019s team on their weekday afternoon and weekend morning training runs. \u201cRunning with them, they can see how fired up you are and how passionate you are for the sport,\u201d Jones says. \u201cAnd in this sport, that\u2019s the key. If you\u2019re not hungry for it, it can quickly fade.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe talk about everything,\u201d says <strong>Alexa Crowell<\/strong>, last year\u2019s CACC women\u2019s 5K champion. \u201cClasses, what running shoes to get, life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now studying for her MBA, Crowell finished her eligibility last year. \u201cI\u2019ve loved every minute of being on the team,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m very sad that it\u2019s all over. The coaches have supported me academically and in my sport. I absolutely love Coach Jones. He\u2019s one of the best coaches I\u2019ve ever had. He\u2019s more than willing to listen to any concern you may have. He supports you, and he challenges you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of all his teams, there\u2019s one that Jones is most proud of. \u201cIn 2013, we had a men\u2019s squad that was phenomenal,\u201d he says. \u201cWe swept the entire conference that year. The team finished one, two, three, four, five, and got a perfect score of 15. That was never done before or since. We went to the Regionals in Boston, with 30-plus teams. We finished third, qualifying for the National Championships \u2014 the only time in the history of the conference that any team has taken a full squad to Nationals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reflecting on his more than two decades at WilmU, Jones is most impressed with the school\u2019s tremendous growth, both in academics and athletics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEnrollment has exploded,\u201d he says. \u201cThe faculty, especially on the adjunct side, has increased a ton. The Pratt Student Center used to be our gym; now we have a beautiful athletic complex on Route 40 in Bear, and we have a turf field there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>The coaches have supported me academically and in my sport. I absolutely love Coach Jones.\u201d <em>\u2014 <strong>Alexa Crowell<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd our sports teams have really taken off. The number of teams has probably doubled. Talent-wise, it\u2019s amazing how well we do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He points out that for the 13th time in the last 14 seasons, WilmU won the CACC\u2019s Alfred R. Restaino Sr. Cup for overall excellence in male sports. The Restaino Cup is awarded annually to a conference member for men\u2019s sports and for women\u2019s sports. The Wildcat men first captured the trophy in the 2009\u201310 academic year and never relinquished it, winning it 11 straight years before Concordia captured it in 2020\u201321 \u2014 only because WilmU athletics were suspended that season due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jones, who has taught Phys Ed and Health at Mt. Pleasant High School since 2004, lives in Newark with his wife, Michelle. He says he has no plans to retire from either teaching or coaching in the near future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re poised to do really well this year,\u201d he says. Then, using one of his favorite terms, he adds, \u201cI\u2019m still fired up. And I want to get back to the Nationals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u2014 Bob Yearick<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Keith Jonesis the University\u2019s longest-tenured coach, as well as one of the most successful.&nbsp; Given all the signs in his back story, it\u2019s surprising that&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5234,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[135,143],"tags":[98,518,498,446,14],"class_list":["post-5233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-magazine","category-sports","tag-athletics","tag-cross-country","tag-magazine-fall-2023","tag-sports","tag-wilmington-university"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":135,"label":"MAGAZINE"},{"value":143,"label":"SPORTS"}],"post_tag":[{"value":98,"label":"Athletics"},{"value":518,"label":"Cross Country"},{"value":498,"label":"Magazine Fall 2023"},{"value":446,"label":"Sports"},{"value":14,"label":"Wilmington University"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/keith-fall-2023-mag-feature-480x480.jpg",480,480,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Mckayla Imperatrice","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/author\/mckayla\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":135,"name":"MAGAZINE","slug":"magazine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":692,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":431,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":135,"category_count":431,"category_description":"","cat_name":"MAGAZINE","category_nicename":"magazine","category_parent":0},{"term_id":143,"name":"SPORTS","slug":"sports","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":700,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":36,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":143,"category_count":36,"category_description":"","cat_name":"SPORTS","category_nicename":"sports","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":98,"name":"Athletics","slug":"athletics","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":655,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":10,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":518,"name":"Cross Country","slug":"cross-country","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1075,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":498,"name":"Magazine Fall 2023","slug":"magazine-fall-2023","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1055,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":27,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":446,"name":"Sports","slug":"sports","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1003,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":14,"name":"Wilmington University","slug":"wilmington-university","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":571,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":357,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5233"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15612,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5233\/revisions\/15612"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}