Women's Cross Country | 10/15/2020 10:46:44 AM
Patrick Hager enters his seventh season as the Head Coach of the men's and women's Cross Country and Track & Field programs at Houghton College in 2020-21. Hager is the reigning Empire 8 Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year.
Hager has led both the Highlander men's and women's cross country teams to tremendous success over the last few seasons. In 2019, the Houghton women's cross country team won their first Empire 8 Championship in program history, while the men earned a strong third place finish. Shelby Langlois won the 2019 Empire 8 Individual Championship, while teammate Emily Blosdale was named the Empire 8 Woman of the Year. In total, five different women and five men earned 2019 All-Empire 8 honors.
Houghton track & field student-athletes have won 15 individual E8 titles, and 25 indoor/outdoor track & field school records over the last five years under Hager's guidance.
Hager competed at Messiah College in cross-country and track & field. He was captain his senior year for both squads, and recorded several first-team all conference performances. He later served for two years as a graduate assistant at his alma mater before arriving at Houghton.
Patrick Hager - Today's Leaders
Institution: Houghton College
Title: Head Men's and Women's Cross Country/Track & Field
Year at Current Institution: Entering his seventh season at Houghton
College Attended/Class Year: Messiah College '08
Playing Career (collegiate or professional): Competed for the Messiah College Cross Country and Track & Field Teams from 2005-08.
Favorite Professional Pro Team: Pittsburgh Steelers
Favorite Movie: Miracle
Favorite TV Show: Friends
Last TV Show You Binge Watched: The Office
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Cookie Dough
Recent Community Service Projects Your Team Has Completed: Our teams worked on unloading and packing food for meals that go to students in need at Fillmore Central School.
How Does The Empire 8 Stand Out Among Other Conferences: The Empire 8 has shown a great deal of creativity. In our sport, there’s a decent amount of subjectivity to how we structure our schedules and championships. I enjoy the annual calls we have and discussions with coaches at meets about how to make it more about quality and competitiveness.
Favorite Athletic Memory from Your Time as a Student-Athlete in College: The Cross Country Conference Championships my senior year. It was a monsoon, wet and muddy, and probably one of the best races of my life. I was more driven during that race to help my team try and win our first conference title, than any other race.
Favorite Memory as a Coach at Houghton: Winning the women’s Empire 8 Cross Country title in 2019, and nearly winning the men’s title. It was several years in the making, and very fun to see all the hard work of our staff and the team payoff. Even though the men didn’t win, it was a very fun year with a strong purpose. The ‘process’ for both teams was fun and meaningful.
Who Was Your Biggest Mentor and Why: My brother. He has also been a Cross Country/Track & Field coach for a long time. We love to talk about our experiences, and I learn a lot from him. We have different personalities and approaches, which is good, and challenges the way I do things, at times.
Most Rewarding Aspect of Being a Coach/Administrator: Seeing an athlete get a personal best time or mark. It’s so fun to see the pure joy in their face when they perform the best they ever have, and their teammates are almost more excited. Our sport is easy to measure. When an athlete crosses the line and has beaten their previous best, it’s a fantastic moment of achievement for them, the team, and me.
What Have You Learned About Yourself as a Leader and In Your Role: I’ve learned that I need to sit back more and be thankful for my team, no matter what. As a coach, it’s hard not to put our value in winning, let’s be honest. But every so often I’m reminded of how much I just enjoy coaching, and being around the team. I need to keep this at the forefront of my mind.
What Type of Leader Are You: I’m extremely relational. I like to know how my athletes tick. I like to be open, and get to know them, but be firm with them when it’s necessary. I like to challenge them when I feel they need it.
What Are Some Positive Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic You Have Experienced? Just being thankful to see them again this Fall. We only practice four days a week, and aren’t competing, but I’m really enjoying just getting to coach them, again. Also, from a training perspective, we were able to structure their training, during COVID, and the Summer, to gain some more aerobic benefits they may not otherwise have gotten.
How Have You Had to Adjust as a Coach to the Pandemic? In some ways I’ve had to adjust my expectations of our student-athletes. As being a successful athlete requires year round preparation, I understand that different athletes are motivated different ways. I’ve had to really work to understand which of them I could push harder now, and which of them need something different, until things get back to normal.
One Thing Most People Do Not Know About You: I like to eat kiwis whole.
Advice for First-Year Student-Athletes: If you’re tentative about being a student-athlete because of academic balance, please just give it a try. It’ll be worth it, and you’ll find the coaches will work with you so you can be successful at both.
Advice for Graduating Student-Athletes: Stay in touch with each other. Plan get-togethers, camping trips, etc. once a year to enjoy fellowship and discussing the ‘old days’. Don’t expect anything to be handed to you in the work world. It’s likely you won’t be at your dream job right away. Work hard to impress your boss and co-workers. Work equally as hard to be relational and ask about others. These relationships will be worthwhile, and create connections that could help you down the road.
The Empire 8 Conference's “Today’s Leaders Compete Here” Series features a coach or administrator from one of its member institutions who exemplifies leadership.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
EMPIRE 8 SOCIAL MEDIA
YouTube –
Facebook –
Twitter –
Instagram