Tag: Marcus Baker

Track teams prepare to compete beginning next week

by Marcus Baker

Back again with another year of the Red Devil track team. It doesn’t begin with medals or crowds; it starts with sweat, sore legs, and a belief that this year will be different. 

As JHS runners get back into their old routines, they have been having conditioning practice, such as weight lifting, practicing running on the track, jumping mats, pool workouts, and training their legs and form. They prepare before they head back to their actual practice, which began Feb. 9. 

Head coach Sam Mull oversees boys’ and girls’ track team members as they stretch to prepare for practice. Track meets for both teams begin in early March. Photo by Marcus Baker.

They use “Sports You” as an app to communicate with their coaches and check for any information that is needed for their athletes. 

There are five coaches on the track team. Sam Mull is the head coach. Klarissa Early is the new distance coach. Kim Zink is in charge of the throwers. Carlis Phillips is in charge of the sprinters. And Lucas Couron is the pole vault coach.

Mull’s goals for the season are to continue to grow and develop technical skill sets for his athletes and avoid injuries for their safety. He said his best way to handle a pressure situation is by setting rules and goals for each individual. The workouts vary in discipline, but they all follow the same basic outline, he said.

Early’s goals for this season are to help everyone become mentally tougher and more disciplined as the season goes on. She wants to learn how to use her strategies to help her long-distance athletes get better every day. 

Each event group has at least one leader who guides their team:  Long-distance group — senior Larry Lucio;  girls’ long-distance group — Keira Jackson; sprinter group, senior Elijah Cheeks;  girls’ sprinter group Emliy Perissi;  and throwers’ group, junior Jomall Owens. 

Athletic director A.J. Moye said he plans to help the team by “offering my presence” and being a “servant” for the coaching staff and athletes. 

Lucio is most excited to run the 4x800m relay and the open 800m. He is preparing in the off-season by eating well and staying fit for when the season comes. 

Lucio started running in middle school and did it for his friends, and when he moved to Indiana from Texas, he just naturally joined the team. He says motivated to keep going when practice gets hard by talking to his friends and teammates.  

He doesn’t like to tell himself anything before the start of the race, like instantly, he likes to clear his head and focus on the race while trying to bring his heart rate down. 

“Distance running isn’t a race to beat others, it’s about outlasting the voice in your head telling you to stop,” he said. 

Jackson is excited to start the 1600s as a new event in her last year of high school. Jackson has been training extra hard with savory fitness and running on her own to prepare for track season. Her parents inspired her to keep pushing, so she doesn’t give up on herself. 

Her goal is to “rock this 1600s because I will be good at it.” She said she always looks up at God, knowing that he puts her on this earth to run. “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard,” said Jackson.

Head coach Sam Mull meets with boys’ and girls’ track team members at practice, explaining procedures for the day’s after-school practice. Photo by Marcus Baker.

Junior Jayden Kelly is excited to compete in the 110 mh and 300mh. After his short last season, he is looking to improve and progress to be able to compete and possibly win the state. He’s been preparing by lifting weights and staying in shape during off season while working on improving his hurdle form. 

He ran track since elementary school, but the people who really inspired him are his coaches and teammates. His one goal is to compete at state. When practice gets hard, he reminds himself of his goals, and that will take a lot of work and dedication. 

Perissi is most excited for the 100s this season. Last year in her sectionals, she false-started and had a terrible moment, but this year she’s ready to make a comeback and prove people wrong. She goes to the gym three times a week and works out to get stronger. 

Nizaish Carr and Lyric Steele,  a former old trackmate, gave her a perspective to stay motivated through last year. Her goal is to stay focused on her health and push through longer and have her body ready for the end of her track season.

Sophomore Samy Carrlio is most excited for the 400 dash, 4×4, and 800s. She has been preparing herself by eating and sleeping well. She goes to the gym three times a week and gotten mentally strong. Her friend Lila from 6th grade was inspired by her to join the team. She loves it since then. One of her biggest goals is to make it to state or at least get a sub-minute in her 400 dash. She always tells herself that god has a plan and believes in her.

As the Red Devil track team starts, they will develop their skills and improve their capability for the season. 

“Every day brings a new challenge, and while we can’t always master those changes, we must have the will and desire to do our best and accept where we end up,” said Mull.

by jhshyphen

Pepa’s dedication to helping his athletes improve reveals the life of a swim coach

by Marcus Baker

Michael Pepa is the head coach of the boys’ and girls’ swimming and diving team, his second stint at JHS as a swim coach. For the second stint here, this is his tenth year as well. 

He coached for two or three years in the early ‘90s. He has also been a swim coach for 34 years altogether, including college and high school teams on both sides of the Ohio River, as well as club, masters, and age- group teams.

Head coach Michael Pepa watches his team swim during a recent practice. Photo by Marcus Baker.

His favorite aspect of coaching is that the interaction with the student-athletes is fun, and the biggest joy for him is helping other athletes reach their greatest potential, whether that’s at any level or their first year swimming, or whether they’re trying to win a state championship. 

Having that student-athlete reach their potential is very rewarding, Pepa said. “Swimming is inherently motivating because you get to see your personal time drop. You see that empirical objective improvement that comes from self-motivation.” 

He also said that he thinks it’s one of the joys of swimming. Regardless of what level an athlete is at, everyone’s goals are the same — trying to get a faster time. 

He hopes by the end of the season that his Red Devil team is going to certainly improve. He said that his girls’ team is in a bit of a rebuild this season, while his boys’ side has a little more depth than he had in the past. 

He expects his group of swimmers to train really hard and expects each one of them to get much much better position in February than they are in December.

Head dive and assistant swim coach Holden Henderson has been coaching for 10 years and has known Pepa since 2015.

Assistant coach Holden Henderson demonstrates correct form for a dive for JHS swimmers as a practice. Photo by Marcus Baker.

Henderson said that coach Pepa always encourages the swimmers to practice like they want to compete. He tries to motivate his team so they can give it their all at practice, so it can be easier at the meets.

Henderson also helps his team out by helping them and supporting them, and wants to help out as much as he can. 

Athletic director A.J. Moye met Pepa in the early summer of 2025, going to the Aquatic Center for swimming practice, and from then on, they have had a great relationship.  

Moye attends swim practice three times a week to observe and help out. He said he would help the swimming team in any way he could throughout the season.

They have also been building a new place just for the swimming team, which will be an Olympic-level pool just for them. 

Senior Litzy Rubio has been swimming since sixth grade and is now in her last year of swimming for JHS. 

Rubio describes how she really likes his motivation, and she loves how he’s always supportive and makes her feel good. She said that his coaching style has a great blend of both strict and fun. 

After she completes her final season she will miss her family on her team. Her teammates and her coach always supported her along and cheered whether she swam good or bad. 

“Always cherish your team; they’re the ones who have seen you at your worst and your best, so don’t take your moments with them for granted,” said Rubio.

Freshman Christian Miller has been swimming since he was 11 years old. He made it to clubs, national states, and other more. 

Miller said he likes how Pepa takes care of his swimmers and how much effort he puts into their training.

He said he helps him by breaking down his sets, which is what’s best for the swimmers. He also says his coaching style is unique and that he has a good way of coaching himself and his teammates. 

Pepa encourages his student-athletes to become better swimmers and have fun during their season.

“Our goal is the same,  to improve, get faster, and have fun.”

Junior Isaac Ramirez competes with Seymour swimmers to beat the competition. Photo by Malachi Conrad.
Junior Stella Siewert swims using the butterfly technique in the 200IM. Photo by Malachi Conrad.
by jhshyphen

Cross country teams benefit from new course

Athletic director A.J. Moye with the Jeff High cross country team at Tuesday’s meet at Scottsburg. The boys’ placed seventh and the girls’ placed third. Photo by Sam Mull.

by Isabella Stewart

This year’s cross country season has started with a lot of teamwork, running, and introducing new team members who are running their hearts out on the cross country courses. 

First, with the arrival of  new athletic director A.J. Moye has helped support the team. He has helped build and support Jeff’s own cross country course. 

Moye has driven through the course, making sure it’s safe for others, and has also just put a lot of time into making the course everything it needs to be. 

Moye has shown up to regionals with the track team and has attended cross country practices, showing his love and support for this year’s cross country team. 

Moye said he believes the most important part of his job is ¨to believe in the titles and the important roles that everyone plays¨ on their respective teams. He said pours himself into the kids and coaches lives and makes sure they know their value. 

Two years ago, the cross country team only had one female athlete; last year, there were four, and that shows how much the cross country team has grown over the past year. 

Senior runner Keira Jackson has made many friends and as she´s finishing her senior year one of the biggest things she wants people to know is “no matter how deep you’re in, there’s always an escape.”

Senior Keira Jackson runs to the finish line at the cross country meet in Scottsburg on Tuesday, Sept. 9. She placed 25th. Photo by Marcus Baker.

Jackson is currently striving to a 20-minute PR time. 

Jackson really speaks highly about how coach Sam Mull has supported the team every step of the way, just as Moye has talked about. 

Mull said he wants to “help improve each and every athlete on the team in their own ways.” 

The cross country team recently had a fundraiser, and they raised over $2,035 dollars for their whole team.

Sophomore runner Marcus Baker talked about how he went to 6-7 different neighborhoods going door to door to help out with the fundraiser as much as he could. 

The team has their first home meet Sept. 30 at their brand new cross country course.

This upcoming Thursday is XC Night at Bubba’s, in which a portion of purchases provides food, transportation, uniforms, awards, and gear for this year’s season.

Baker said,”We hope to see you there and Iḿ wishing this cross country season the best.”

by jhshyphen