Hopewell Track and Field
Get To Know Hopewell Track and Field Head Coach Jeff Brunton
This week HSN caught up with Jeff Brunton, who’s entering his 10th year as Head Coach of the Hopewell High School Track and Field team.
Brunton started coaching Track and Field in 2010 at Hopewell as an assistant to Tim Monske. He was in charge of the long jump, triple jump, high jump, and pole vault and took over as the head coach in 2014 when Monske stepped down.
When we asked about his career path, Coach Brunton stated, “I didn’t coach track anywhere else. I had coached varsity football and junior high basketball at Hopewell before becoming Head Coach for Track and Field.”
HSN asked Brunton about any obstacles or challenges while building the track program. “I don’t think there were any obstacles in our way to success, my main goal was and is to continually raise expectations of what Hopewell kids and coaches are capable of, and what can be achieved with consistent, smart training.”
“It’s absolutely vital to have great coaches, especially the way Track and Field teams operate. Throwers, sprinters, runners, jumpers, vaulters, and hurdlers all have unique challenges to prepare for, and thus have their own groups and coaches with very different processes. You have to have dedicated coaches who can manage the culture of their group within the team and provide them with the training and techniques required for their individual events.”
When asked about off season training and coaching, Brunton informed HSN, “We provide a lot of training and competitive opportunities in the offseason. We have voluntary workouts all winter from November through February and compete in several indoor meets to prepare for the spring outdoor season. We also continue practicing in the summer through June and July for the athletes who want to extend their outdoor seasons and their progress. There are several Junior Olympic meets in the summer that we compete in as well.”
Finally, HSN wanted to know Coach Brunton’s outlook for this season. “Our theme for the season is “Level Up”. We graduated a very accomplished class of seniors last year, but we have an awesome group of returners who have been working hard and developing, and are ready to take the program to the next level. We want to continue our 6-year streak of winning our section, making the team playoffs, and breaking one or more school records. We want to level up our expectations from qualifying for states to medaling at states.”
“The long-term goal is for our program to be a blessing to the school and the community. To give more kids the opportunities to excel and reap the benefits of their hard work. To give more kids the opportunity to compete on a national level, and grow the pride and reputation so that people recognize that any athlete with Hopewell on their chest is going to be tough to beat.”
And judging from Wednesday’s Quad Meet results, Coach Brunton has the team in a great position. Here were the results for both the boys and girls.
Girls:
Hopewell 117 Aliquippa 6
Hopewell 83 OLSH 56
Hopewell 99 South Side Beaver 36
Boys:
Hopewell 109 Aliquippa 27
Hopewell 113 OLSH 24
Hopewell 90 South Side Beaver 51
