Former Olympian Meb Keflezighi loves new job as Plant High School cross country coach

TAMPA, Fla. - The Plant High School cross country team is a program built on winning, and they've done it quite a bit. The Panthers have won 12 state titles. 

"I love to run," Plant High School junior Rylee Nelson said. 

The Panthers love to put in work even at the crack of dawn.

"We are up at 5:15 most mornings," Plant High School junior Ryan Pavliga said. "We are out here at 5:45 running five to six miles out on the track. You'll see us out on Bayshore. Being out here in the morning is something I value very much."

However, being up this early this season is a different experience for the team. 

"Having him out here is such a privilege we are all able to have out here," Pavliga said.

Impressive Resume:

That's because they are now being coached by an all-time great long-distance runner. The new head coach of the team is Meb Keflezighi, who earned a silver medal in the 2004 Olympic Games and won a couple of marathons, including the Boston Marathon the year after the event was bombed. 

"The Olympics are amazing," Keflezighi said. "That's hard. Then winning the New York City marathon, the Boston marathon, it's once in a lifetime opportunity, and it's exhilarating, but now I get a different benefit now to get them to be the best they can."

At the last minute, Plant High School needed a new head cross country coach. Keflezighi only applied for the job after he got his daughter Fiyori's blessing. She is a senior on the team.

It's a move that has worked out and had the runners fired up.

"It's unreal," Nelson said.

This is not the first time Keflezighi has coached at a school. He also spent time at a community college in San Diego in the 1990s but was unable to fully dedicate as much time to his runners back then as he was still competing at a high level. The opportunity at Plant scratches an itch he has had for decades. 

"To be able to be a coach now at the high school level is pretty exciting," Keflezighi said. "You get energy from the kids. We do a lot of morning workouts so the early rise, I didn't think I was ready for that one but other than that, it has been super fun to work with these young people."

With the guidance of a world champion, these young people are already seeing a difference in their times.

"His training is so tailored to us individually," Pavliga said. "He is such a great influence. Having Meb out here is such a great influence. He is such a great guy."

Seeing Results:

In fact, his influence has already led to several wins for the program including at the Todd Howsare Memorial Falcon Invitational back in August. 

"Over the few months, I feel like I have learned a lot from him," Nelson said. "He's taught me form, pacing, and to have a positive mindset when running."

That's what Keflezighi preaches - positivity.

"I tell them to visualize yourself getting to that finish line as strong as you can," Keflezighi said. "It doesn't have to be on the race but training the last 100 meters, the last 400 meters, just work on it. If you think positively then you are going to put yourself at the district, regionals and also state meet."

He believes those goals are certainly achievable for this pack of Panthers.

"The hope is to get them to the state meet, both of them and get in the Top 10, the Top 5 and see what we can do," Keflezighi said.

For the runners, just being around someone with the resume like Keflezighi's has them dreaming for so much more.

What they're saying:

"With just all the experience he has had in everything, he's made it so far in running so it gives all of us as athletes hope like, 'Wow, we can probably do something like that one day,'" Nelson said.

However, right now, all this world-renowned long-distance runner turned high school coach wants is for the kids to take it one day, and one race, at a time.

"I want to get them to fall in love with running because it is something that is special to distance run," Keflezighi said.