West Orange High cross country seeing success early

On the morning of the Early Hawk Invitational at Lake Minneola Saturday, Aug. 24, West Orange High cross country coach John Layton had the weirdest sensation.

After getting off the bus with his team and getting the tent set up, the first-year head coach took in the moment and that’s when it all sunk in for him.

“I just had this weird feeling inside of me — ‘Am I racing today?,’” Layton said. “I’m only one year out of my undergrad degree, and I felt like I should be racing … I had to come to realize, ‘No, I’m a coach now — I’m not racing anymore.’ I was really excited and a little sad too, because I love racing.”

There may have been some disappointment in the fact that he couldn’t be out there racing, but there wasn’t a letdown in how the Warriors did in their first meet of the season.

The Warriors would finish fourth overall in the standings, and were led by Reeves Oakman — who finished in seventh with a time of 17:30.33. Overall, it was a result that Layton somewhat expected, and for him, personally, it was a big moment in his young career.

“I was just so excited to be out there as a head coach finally,” Layton said. “I’m in control of everything — I’m doing their training program and stuff like that — but coming (in) I was a little nervous.”

THE IDEAL PROGRAM

Last season, Layton joined the team as an assistant working with the long-distance runners — his field of expertise — after finishing his undergraduate degree and moving back to Central Florida.

He was contacted by then-cross country/track head coach Lisa Montgomery — who now serves as the AD at Edgewater — about coming onboard. Layton jumped on the opportunity.

“I never thought that I’d be a coach for cross country, actually,” Layton said. “Last May, during that summer, I was actually like, ‘I want to coach this sport.’ The way it impacted my life, and the way these coaches have changed my life, I would just like to change the lives of other athletes in this sport.”

Right away, Layton went to work with a team loaded from top to bottom with talented runners like Cole Miller — who finished seventh at states and now runs at Georgia Tech — and Colton Berquist and Russell Robinson.

Then there was the nationally ranked 4x100 team, which dominated and had one of the fastest times in the state before a baton drop in regionals prevented the team from going to states. Luckily all four members return for this new season.

While Layton will miss having runners like Miller and Robinson on the team, the talent coming back is just as universally strong for both the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams.

Berquist and Oakman both return, alongside a roster loaded with talent, including a trio of freshmen — Christian Koppe, Nathan Shafer and Mathew Bradshaw — who Layton believes can really add to the team.

“Those are three freshmen that are in our top seven right now who are all running pretty well right now for the first race of the season,” Layton said. 

Even though the season just got underway — the Warriors have three meets after the Winter Springs Invitational was cancelled last weekend due to weather — it’s worth noting that all but one of his top-seven runners will be returning next year.

To be able to have that kind of runner consistency in his first few years is a big help to Layton, and it also allows him to continue to build the Warriors’ program going into the future. 

“I think cross country is one of the hardest sports — mentally and physically,” Layton said. “I think if they can do a  season of cross country, they can become mentally strong and take that into any other sport they can do, and (also) into life.”