Jake Powers, head coach of Cross Country and Track at Houston Christian High School, is entering his third year with the Greater Texas Track Club. Jake split his collegiate days running for the University of Texas-Arlington and Dallas Baptist University.
While at Dallas Baptist University, Jake was an All-Conference honoree in Cross Country and in-part a mentor to a young group of distance runners looking to change the culture of the program there. That mentor-ship translated into a Graduate Assistant position with the team the following year.
As a post-collegiate Jake’s running has really started to blossom. He debuted in the Greater Texas Track Club singlet in December of 2015 with a win and personal best in the mile at the inaugural Pitt State Crimson and Gold Invitational. Later that spring Jake broke 4:00 in the 1500 meters and 2:00 in the 800 meters for the first time. Jake is also a two-time winner of the Cowtown 5km and qualified for the 2016 USATF Club Championships in the 1500 meters.
Jake’s personal best times are as follows:
800 meters — 1:57
1500 meters — 3:58
3000 meters — 8:41
5000 meters — 15:22
10,000 meters — 32:11
I’ve been blessed to coach Jake for the past four years and love his passion for the sport. I believe that he’s still such a young runner, as he wasn’t really given an opportunity to shine until a post-graduate student, and so his excitement and enthusiasm for the sport is real and it’s fresh.
I’m excited to see what is in store for Jake in 2018 as he states that his goal is to “regain the form he had in 2016 and to become the dominant guy on the roads in Houston.”
Jake opens up tonight in the Mile at the Leonard Hilton Invite at the University of Houston.
Phillips Running 