Brant Evans has been named Area Coach of the Year for cross country. This is his first season as head coach of the team after serving as an assistant coach for the past four years.
"Coach Evans accepted the role as head Coach knowing the challenges and opportunities with hard work, great organization, and the ability to embrace and build upon the relationships with his student-athletes," said Athletic Director Eddie Guth. "He did a great job and I cannot wait to see what he will do in the future.”
"This is a wonderful honor, but I want to make sure people understand that I think this truly reflects the hard work this team and this coaching staff put in during the off season and each day this season," said Evans. "I could not have asked to work with a better group of young men and women. The few returners we had showed great leadership and the new members bought into this team from day one. The coaching staff walked me through this first year as head coach and were instrumental in our training, our culture, and supporting our athletes in reaching team and individual goals, not to mention helping us run the Darlington Festival with more than 1,000 runners over the course of a day, while maintaining a safe environment during a pandemic. I also want to thank my wife, Ashley, who was a huge help in being a soundboard for my thoughts and concerns and for her continued support at home and at the meets."
Evans came to Darlington in 2008 and teaches AP government courses in addition to his role as dean of student life. He holds a B.A. in History and an M.Ed. in Social Sciences from the University of Georgia. His and Ashley, who teaches Spanish in the Pre-K to 8 division, have one son, Sam ('34).
"I am so proud when I think back to keeping up with our kids' training via Strava during the summer, holding and winning our first high school race on our trails behind the school in years (The "GOAT"), watching our boys win region, and seeing the excitement in their eyes after finishing ninth at state and thinking about what could be over the next two to three years for these young runners if they continue to work," said Evans. "For those who don't know, five of our top seven were freshmen and one was a sophomore this year. I think, more than anything, I enjoyed seeing the kids be kids again after almost six months of quarantine. Joking around at practice and laughing with each other over a pre-race pasta dinner (outdoor and socially distanced of course) made me feel like things were back to normal, if only for a couple of hours a day."
Click here for more information about Darlington's cross country program.
