New Coach Provides Fresh Outlook for Crusader Track Program

You could say Arron Prather is a quick turnaround artist.

How else can you describe a coach who took over Tampa Catholic High School’s track program six weeks ago, with the season underway, and helped many of its members quickly achieve personal best times and increased confidence?

All while coaching both the boys and girls teams.

Prather, a New Jersey native who trained at the University of South Florida for the 1996 Olympics for the 200-meter dash until tearing a hamstring, was initially brought in to increase the speed of Tampa Catholic’s football team. When the track team suddenly needed a coach this spring, Prather was asked to lend a hand. He quickly undertook the task with vigor, making an immediate impression on his new charges. 

“He instills confidence and teamwork,” said junior Danny Fasani, who runs the 400 meters. “He helps us to become better people, not just better athletes.”

Prather said his athletic experiences, which include being ranked third in the world in the 60-meter dash in the Masters Division in 2006, lends an added dimension to his coaching. 

“I’m able to share things with the kids maybe some other coaches didn’t go through, like running in front of 65,000 people or lining up next to Maurice Greene or Carl Lewis,” Prather said. “I watched those guys and saw how they prepared and what they did to succeed and win championships.”

In addition to preaching pride and integrity on and off the track, Prather is achieving strong results with his young team of mostly freshmen and sophomores. They can also look at Spoto High, where Prather’s work as an assistant coach last year helped the boys’ team qualify for the state tournament for the first time in school history.

“He helped me cut four seconds off my time from last year,” TC sophomore Angel Mielke said. “I never thought I would be running a 1:02.86 in the 400.”

Freshmen Justin Motlow said Prather’s experience allows him to see the finish line when explaining how to train.

“He’s been there. He’s been to where we want to be and knows how to help us get there,” said Motlow, who runs the 400-meters.

Prather said it was a shock when he was approached to coach the TC track team. But helping kids get faster has become his trademark.

“It’s exciting to me,” said Prather, who teaches behavior management at Sligh Middle School. “A lot of times they have potential but they don’t know how to prepare going into a race. They don’t think about rest or eating, they don’t know how to breathe or do the fundamentals that will help them succeed.

”I’m so proud of this team because we got runner-up at the Berkeley Invitational, we won the Indian Rocks Invitational, and they are working hard preparing for the districts.”

With the Class 3A-District 10 meet at Berkeley Prep today, Prather said his 4x400 relay team of junior Ken Mention, Motlow, Fasani and junior Tyree Holder has the best chance of qualifying for the state meet. In the field events, Prather said freshman Zack Benjamin could make a strong showing in the high jump (personal best of 5-feet-10 inches) and triple jump (43 feet in practice).

“I don’t train to come in second, but there are some tough schools in the district, like Robinson,” Prather said. “But with so many freshmen and sophomores on the team this is a great building situation for a new coach. I’m blessed to be here.”