Meet HVHS New Cross Country Coach

Coach Stewart with his sons and father, who was also his high school coach

Coach Stewart with his sons and father, who was also his high school coach

The 2022 Cross County season is off to a bang with the exciting addition of new Head Coach, Jonathan Stewart. 

Coach Stewart grew up running; his father was the cross-country coach at Northside for over 30 years. His specialty was the 800m. Stewart soon found that he loved that distance because he always felt like he could push through the pain to be successful in competitions. By the time he graduated high school he had the District Meet record in the 800m along with 4 straight district, 3 straight regional titles, and 2 all-state finishes. Stewart finished his high school career on a high note, when his 4x400m relay team set a new school record that is still standing today!  

“I loved watching my dad and his cross-country runners fly around the courses when I was growing up” (Coach Stewart).  

He quickly realized that he was pretty fast, capturing the school record in the 600-yard run in elementary school. In high school, Stewart’s motivation was to win races and run at the Division I level. After college, his motivation was to stay fit and enjoy time on the roads.  

Coach Stewart always dreamed of running at UVA; his father ran in college at UVA and held the school record there for the 800m for many years.  “However, I wasn’t quite fast enough to attract their attention, so I decided to continue my running career at Princeton University” (Coach Stewart).   

This year Coach Stewart is looking forward to seeing the team improve and support one another. He is also extremely competitive and would love to win competitions. However, he would find much greater joy in having his runners recognize the limits they put on themselves are artificial and they can achieve greater successes than they thought possible.  

“Whether it’s running a faster time, finding a strength that they didn’t know they had to pass someone at the end of a race, or even finishing a workout that they had doubts about, I want my athletes to find their own successes” (Coach Stewart).