Photo: St. Bonaventure Athletics
BY GAVIN WATSON, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
“Our kids are pretty bright. I’m not afraid to say that,” said Bob Macfarlane, head coach of St. Bonaventure’s track and cross country teams since 2010.
Macfarlane’s time as a high school track coach and social studies teacher in the Bradford Area School District has impacted how he recruits.
Macfarlane tells recruits, “What we need you to understand is that you are coming here because of the academics at St. Bonaventure.”
Macfarlane’s runners understand where his priorities lie as a coach.
“He very much has an ‘academics first’ mindset that is echoed throughout the recruiting process, which is very helpful in winning over parents,” said freshman Meghan Lex.
Freshman Alyssa Young agrees with Lex.
“Coach Mac stresses the student-athlete balance all the time. He gives us plenty of grace to miss practice for a class or an exam,” Macfarlane said. “We want you to be very athletic, we want you to do well, but if practice interferes with class, class takes precedence,” said Young.
Macfarlane feels track stands as a sport uniquely equipped to allow student-athletes to maintain that balance.
“Our sport is more conducive to that because they can go on the run on their own,” said Macfarlane. “They understand that.”
Macfarlane expresses how goal orientated his teams are.
“Not only do we set goals in running for each sport be it cross country or indoor and outdoor track,” said Macfarlane. “They have personal and team goals, not only in competition but also in academics.”
Macfarlane said that Bonaventure’s athletes have many advantages, which come from the support they receive both athletically and academically.
“We have two full-time academic advisors and one graduate assistant,” said Macaflane. “We want to keep tabs on them because we don’t want them to fall in the cracks.”
Macfarlane said his coaching has changed at the collegiate level.
“Running isn’t just telling the kids to go out and run,” said Macfarlane. “There’s a lot more behind it. We use the science of running.”
Macfarlane believe the details matter when gauging the pace of his runners
“When I was a high school coach we would say go run at a conversational pace,” said Macfarlane. “We’re a little bit more data driven and detailed here. We say your heart rate should be in the 140s.”
Macfarlane utilizes the modern technology, such as Garmin watches, that the runners wear to give them a daily spreadsheet of their grades.
“Every day they come, it’s a class basically,” said Macfarlane. “And are you improving or not improving?” Runners must keep their GPA above 2.0 to stay active on the team. However, each year, the team sets its own GPA requirement of 3.5, which Macfarlane says, “9.9 times out of 10 we make that, and they have a 3.5 GPA.”
Macfarlane said his students want to achieve things academically and push themselves to get better on and off the track.
“I have kids that will visit with their academic advisor and they say they want a tutor even when they’re getting an A or B in the class and they say, ‘I want a higher grade,’” said Macfarlane.
The track team will be in action at the Buffalo Alumni Invite on Saturday, April 20, at 11 a.m.
watsongr23@bonaventure.edu
