Cross Country, Track & Field
Favorite athlete: Carson Wentz
Favorite team: Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Competing in the 2017 outdoor state championships
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: At indoor states last year, two girls from another team convinced me to look for a can of creamed corn that they “lost.” It took me a while to figure out it did not exist.
Music on your mobile device: Rock
Future plans: Become an engineer and possibly run track professionally
Words to live by: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
One goal before turning 30: Invent something
One thing people don’t know about me: I like to play the viola and the guitar.
By Ed Morrone
Like most young elementary-school aged boys, Joshua Coleman’s first sports love affair came with football.
But as Coleman got closer to high school, there was only one problem with his future in the sport.
“He doesn’t really have the height or size for it,” Abington cross country and track head coach Bill Neely said. “But Josh has also been running pretty much most of his life. Running was always his strongest point.”
Coleman’s lack of a significant growth spurt became Neely’s gain, as the coach soon helped convince Coleman, a senior cross country and track and field star for Abington, that his biggest asset was indeed his speed, and that he needed to put it to use year-round on tracks and cross country courses rather than the football field.
After clinging to his football dreams through freshman year, Coleman soon dropped the sport entirely. By the spring, he was already running varsity outdoor track and became a member of the cross country team the following autumn. Once he committed to running year-round, Coleman instantly fell in love with the way it made him feel, as well as the way it changed the way he viewed the world around him.
Regarding hanging up his football cleats, there was never any doubt or regret.
“Like Coach said, I don’t have your traditional football player body,” Coleman said with a laugh. “But I also learned I didn’t really have a football personality, either, so the fun in it kind of started to dwindle.”
From there, a true love of competitive running took over, although Coleman was far from a newbie. His running days stretched back to grade school, but Coleman thinks his affinity for the activity goes back even farther than fifth or sixth grade.
“I used to run around the house a lot when I was a little kid, and that was always fun to me,” he said. “To tell you the truth I just started to like it more than football over time, and it helped that a lot of my friends ran track in elementary school. I always gelled with my track teammates more so than football, no matter how old I was. Once I got to high school, I just made a decision that working year-round and getting better in track sounded like more fun to me.”
Coleman reaped the benefits almost immediately. He’s a well-spoken, confident leader now, but as a freshman he suffered from debilitating shyness. Coleman’s elder teammates took him under their wings and immediately made him feel part of the team.
“Those guys mentored me and really pushed me during workouts,” he said. “They always made me feel like I was a part of it.”
From there, all that was left to do was run, and Coleman did that extremely well. Neely said Coleman truly blossomed as a junior, where he made tremendous strides in both the 400 and 800m races, with the latter being Coleman’s favorite. He’s also served as a leadoff man for Abington in both the 4x400 and 4x800 relays, becoming the model for consistency and reliability for his team.
Coleman checked off some individual and team goals as a junior. He hit his goal of running a 1:57 in the 800, and as a team, Abington finished fourth at outdoor states in the 4x400 relay. These highlights, among other things, contributed “to the most fun I’ve ever had in my life in track.”
As a senior this past fall, Coleman also made waves on the cross country team. Although he mainly uses cross country and indoor winter track as a tune-up to the main event of the outdoor spring season, he stepped up to be the leader of the team when Abington’s top runner went down with an illness.
“All of a sudden, Josh comes out of the woodwork to be our lead runner,” Neely said. “He came out in the Abington Invitational and finished fifth amongst some really talented runners. He elevated his game all around. He’s got good range, from the 400 up to the mile and works really hard in the weight room too.
“He’s a leader, a captain. He works hard, does everything he’s supposed to do in practice and he’s consistent in his training, which is the most important thing. He’s pretty much in charge of getting the team together; when the clock hits 3:15 and it’s time to warm up, all I have to do is say his name. He takes care of the rest.”
Before he graduates, Coleman said one of his remaining track goals at Abington is to qualify for states as an individual in the 800. But then immediately, true to his unselfish character, Coleman also said he wants to participate in the 4x400 and 4x800 at states with his teammates one more time, but this time he wants to win.
Despite all of the time he spends training year-round, Coleman also works tirelessly in the classroom. Neely said that Coleman is in the top-five percent of his class and is taking numerous advanced placement classes. The coach said his runner has both the talent to run and study at the Ivy League level, and Coleman himself said he hopes to one day become a mechanical engineer. One of his goals is to invent something by the time he is 30 years old.
“Early in life, my dad told me that the most important thing was that I tried my hardest in class,” he said. “Even if I was a C-student and was trying my hardest, he would be proud of me. So I put it on myself to get A’s, but wouldn’t sweat it if I got a B or less; that said, if I didn’t get an A, I’d always strive to bring it up to that level.”
Coleman said he’s scientifically-inclined more than anything else, but he’s also fascinated with literature and language, most notably the human psychology of a writer, as he would put himself in the scribe’s shoes and try to see what they were trying to communicate to readers from their point of view.
Coleman is a deep, analytical thinker, and while he admits he’s not as far along in the college application process as he’d like to be, he still tries to stay ahead of the curve as he narrows down his choices. The first requirement is the school must have a mechanical engineering program (he’s already turned down one Division I school because they didn’t offer it), and then he researches each prospective school’s track team. He also consults publications such as U.S. News & World Report to learn as much as he can about the pros and cons of certain universities. Coleman figures he’ll run in college, and he has no problem going to a rebuilding program with potential as opposed to one decorated with awards and championships, because “Coming in with room for improvement, that’s more important to me than any award.”
Coleman is also involved in the Abington community outside of his running endeavors, most notably in the community service field. He’s a member of the Abington Community Task Force at school, helping to organize goods drives for charity and organizing different community service projects within the student body.
He also loves music and plays the guitar, bass and, most interestingly, the viola. He expressed excitement about the upcoming winter concert for the school orchestra, and said he gravitates toward music because, like running, it allows him to unwind and blow off steam.
“I’ve always been interested in music, and the viola was the first instrument I learned to play when I was in third grade,” he said. “It’s a nice, fun time in school where you can step away from the AP physics and calculus classes and do something completely relaxing for a change. That’s the main reason I’ve stuck with it.”
Neely has greatly enjoyed the time he’s had Coleman in all three running programs at Abington, but he’s also beyond excited to see his pupil continue to spread his wings into college, adulthood and beyond.
“Josh will have no trouble succeeding athletically or academically,” Neely said. “He’s got an Ivy League mind, and if that’s where he ends up he’d have no trouble adjusting to the academic or athletic rigors of that level. I’m not saying he’ll go to the Olympics because academics will be his main focus, but running will certainly be a tool to help get him where he wants to go. He certainly won’t have any problems accomplishing his objectives in the work force.”
Coleman is excited for whatever comes next, just as he’s pumped to finish his senior year with a bang. He’ll miss the running and all of his teammates the most, because these things are the reasons he’s gone from a shy kid who was quieter than a church mouse to a strong, confident leader as an athlete, student and community ambassador.
“I think more than anything running has helped with my perseverance and my overall comfort in talking to people,” he said. “It’s helped me with time management, focus and mental fortitude. I’ll miss the relationships I have with my teammates. Last year was the most fun I’ve ever had, and that was because of how we all gelled together. I’ll still communicate with them but I know it won’t be the same as when I ran with them. It brought us all together, and that’s what I’ll miss about this time in my life the most.”
