Faster, Higher, Stronger…….those are the words of the Olympic Motto.
 
For Lincoln Memorial Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Rochelle Black, that pretty much sums up his daily life.
 
Black, who is in his second year as the director of the fledgling LMU track & field program, is charged with getting over 50 athletes to run faster, jump higher and be stronger.  The veteran coach, along with Distance Coach Jeremy Donahue, has already made people stand up and take notice of the LMU program.
 
The road to LMU started at Kempsville High School in Virginia Beach where Black began running track.  He moved on to his collegiate career at Radford University and began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Troy University.  A six-year stint as an assistant coach at Shorter University, where he worked with current LMU Athletic Director Matt Green, and a couple of years at Murray State preceded his arrival in Harrogate.
 
"I started running track in eighth grade and that was because a cute girl across the street was doing it and I had a crush on her," recalled Black.  "She was running and she was scared so I told her it couldn't be that hard and did it with her.  I was a half-miler, then became a 400-meter runner, then went to college as a high jumper, which I picked up my sophomore year in high school, and again a girl was involved."
 
Once at Radford, Black honed his high jumping skills and also ran the 400 meter hurdles.  His experience at Radford, where he earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Exercise, Sport and Health Education in 2005, paved the way for his start in coaching.  He picked up his Masters in Leadership from Shorter in 2014.
 
"Berry Shumpert, who is now a coach at University of Tennessee, recruited me to Radford," said Black.  "He left before I started my freshman year to coach at another school but we still keep in touch to this day.  Glen Terry was my coach at Radford along with Pat Connolly, who was an Olympian in the Pentathlon, and Ramona Pagel was my jump coach.  They all had an influence on me and how I coach today.  I also am friends with Mike Halloway, who is the coach at University of Florida.  Seeing his workouts and how his athletes respond to him is something I try to emulate.
 
"Coach Shumpert was someone that I related to when he was recruiting me.  Just seeing his passion for the sport and the way the other guys on the team related to him.  I just knew that this was a guy that knows his stuff and someone that I know will make me better as an athlete," added Black.  "Coach Terry was a tough love kind of guy.  We goofed off a lot but I got a lot of life lessons from him.  Grades were a big thing with him and are something I gripe to my student-athletes about.  It doesn't matter how fast you are or how good you are as an athlete eventually you have to get a job.  If you don't have a degree you will have a problem."
 
As if coaching all the different disciplines that encompass track & field isn't a big enough challenge, Black is working to build the program at LMU.  Prior to his arrival Donahue had built a strong cross country program, but there was very little happening in the sport's other disciplines.
 
"The program actually existed before I got here but it wasn't recognized," commented Black.  "I think last year was our coming out.  It sure helped having Oluwatosin Balogun go to nationals last year.  Everyone on campus sees us because we practice all over campus since we don't have a track.  When I'm in the library I introduce myself as the track coach and let people know that we are having study hall.  It's track, track, track.  Lots of kids are doing things on campus, work study, working at basketball and other events.  I make sure they are wearing our shirts that say track and cross country.  Track is the new baby here and I am just trying to get people to know that we exist."
 
Black has worked hard at recruiting and building to a full roster, making representation at invitational meets very respectable.  LMU track has over 50 student-athletes from all over the U.S. in the program.  He also recruits internationally.
 
"It's a little easier with international athletes because we can look online and see their times from a sanctioned meet," pointed out Black.  "We can see the official time.  Video helps, but getting to talk to them on the phone or on Skype gives us a better idea of who they are.  There is a lot of talking before we ask them to come here.  There was a show on ESPN called 'Numbers Don't Lie", that's the thing about track, what you run, what you throw, what you jump, that's what you do.  In track if you are fast, you are fast.  My job as a coach is to keep you there or get you faster.
 
"We do recruit all around the world.  You could be the fastest person across the street or across the country and I'll call you up and talk about LMU," continued Black.  "We are trying to get a United Nations team.  We have a woman from Austria, a woman from Spain, we have someone on the team from Kenya.  We are working on getting people from all over.  Coach Donahue sent me an email talking about a gentleman from England and another from Sweden.  Fast is fast wherever you are from."
 
Since the program is in its infancy there are no set standards for the athletes to challenge.  Establishing records and setting standards is an ongoing process with each meet.
 
"I try not to tell a kid that you have to run a certain time to be on the team," noted Black.  "I generally don't tell anyone no.  Track is the type of sport where you usually end up cutting yourself.  If you run your personal best that's great.  But if you are around teammates and you see that you are not at their level you pretty much cut yourself.  The gift of track and field is if you run a personal best, it is the best that you could have done.  Hopefully if you keep improving on that personal best it gets recognized on a conference level and then on a national level.
 
"Standards, because the program is still so young, every week we have a school record or a personal best," said Black.  "In a few more years we will have a bigger sample size to show what the people on our team can do.  When we have prospective student-athletes interested I tell them to look online to see the times we have established and see where you fit in."
 
The different disciplines and specialties in a track and field program keep a small coaching staff busy.  Unlike the major Division I program coaches, Black and Donahue have to be versed in all the different events.
 
"Typically we have practices throughout the day here," Black pointed out with a laugh.  "I try to split them up considering class schedule and also by group.  Early mornings I'll have my two sprint hurdlers out so I can focus on them and not worry about them getting in anyone's way.  Monday, Wednesday and Friday I have my two 800 meter runners come in.  Throughout the day, depending on your group, I'll have them in Tex Turner Arena working out.
 
"What's crazy is that with the sprints at some schools you have a short sprints coach and a separate intermediate and long sprints coach," he continued.  "Go to the bigger schools and they have a staff of six or seven people working with the runners, throwers and jumpers."
 
With just Coaches Black and Donahue overseeing the entire team and coaching up all the different disciplines, saying they are busy would be understating the fact.  No idle hands here.
 
Faster, Higher, Stronger.