The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT HAS only been a year since he’s been at the helm, but already former sprinter/agent Dominic Demeritte has racked up his first major accolade in his new venture as a coach.

As he gets set to complete his first year as the director of cross country and track at Life University, Demeritte was earlier this week named the 2022 Mid-South Conference Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year.

His Running Eagles men’s team captured their first championship crown at the James H Taylor II Stadium in Williamsburg, Kentucky on Monday with 177 points, while the women’s team repeated as champions with 167 points.

As he was awarded his coach’s title, Demeritte attributed it to a total team success.

“I never coached for personal goals, so it comes with the territory. It’s a blessing, not just for myself, but my coaches because it’s a coaches’ staff award, rather than a head coach’s award,” Demeritte said. “They do all the work. I just bring everything together.”

Demeritte, a former sprinter of St John’s College at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, saw senior Aniqua Darville make the transition to throwing, while Breanna Pratt and Venord Burrows both competed in the sprints.

There are a total of five men and two women on the team, but Demeritte said the others were ineligible to compete because of their academic requirements coming out of COVID-19.

Originally, Demeritte was hired to help resurge Life University’s cross country and track programmes in the fall of 2020, while also helping with the women’s programme. This spring, he stepped in to fill the spot as the interim head coach for the women through a successful outdoor season.

The women captured their first Mid-South Conference Outdoor Championships title while the team tallied 16 total All-Conference honours, including eight individual champions.

Entering the NAIA Outdoor Championships ranked 10th nationally, the team again had a strong performance, tying for 10th place while winning an individual title and earning All-American honours.

“It wasn’t all a straight line. I took some detours here and there, but I’m truly grateful for the opportunities along the way because it’s made me the coach that I am today,” Demeritte said.

“Like I always tell my athletes, I gladly failed because failure is the only way you can have true sucess and appreciate the success once you get there.”

This season, the 44-year-old Demeritte said his Running Rebels had to endure some injuries and ineligibilities, but he was able to work through it and is now on the verge of trying to get his team ready for the NAIA Championships, scheduled for May 25-27 in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

For Demeritte, the transition to coaching was one that he had prepared himself for during the time he competed, having worked with youth baseball players on their speed agility.

“A lot of people in my corner told me that I would be a great coach,” Demeritte said.

“So, it’s something that I originally wanted to do, and it turned out to be a perfect fit because I am doing what I love to do.

“I’m truly grateful because a lot of people go through life, and they don’t have a passion or love for what it is they are doing.

“I’m grateful to be at that stage in my life, even though it came later in life, where I can continue growing in the profession.”

As he continues to grow the programme at Life University, Demeritte said he hopes to make the Running Rebels a team that athletes would enjoy coming and competing for, even though they are not a division one college or university.

“It doesn’t matter where you’re at, even if it’s NAIA division II,” he said. “The only four meets that you won’t compete in with division one talent is our conference and nationals indoors and outdoors championship,” Demeritte said.

Demeritte said he’s also eager to get the chance to compete head-to-head against quarter-miler Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown, who is currently coaching at Clayton State Lakers, also in Georgia. Demeritte, you might recall, made history as the last champion of the World Athletics Indoor Championships when he won the gold in the 200m in 2004 in Budapest, Hungary. Since then, the event has since been removed from the programme for the championships.