Catching up with coach Ray Rodriguez in the heat of Tampa

This week’s column is dedicated to a former Cape coach who also competed in several Seashore Striders events while living in Delaware in the late 1990s.

This week in Tampa, I was able to reunite with former Cape Henlopen assistant coach Ray Rodriguez as he currently lives and coaches in the Tampa Bay area working with high school athletes in cross country and track and field.

Rodriguez, who was 24 at the time, coached cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field with Pat Pollock and George Pepper from fall 1997 through spring of 2000. Rodriguez, an outstanding runner himself, played a big part of the success of distance star Chris Jackson as well as many other distance runners wearing Vikings uniforms. Jackson won the 1,600 meters, 800 meters, and was a part of the winning 3,200-meter relay team at the state championships in track. The Cape boys’ track and field team won the state championship in 2000, while the Cape girls’ and boys’ cross country teams won state championships in 1999.

“Ray was a definite big part of winning those titles - a huge asset to the team,” said coach Pat Pollock.

In the fall of 2000 to spring of 2001 school year, Rodriguez went north to start the programs at St. Thomas More Academy in Magnolia, as he coached cross country in the fall and track and field in the spring.

It was time to move south again in the summer of 2001, when Rodriguez moved back to Tampa and accepted a job at his former alma mater Jesuit High School in the fall of 2001. Jesuit is a Catholic all-boys high school in Tampa. Rodriguez served as the assistant cross country and track and field coach at Jesuit from 2001 to 2005.

His first head coaching position came in 2005, when he took over the cross country position at Academy of Holy Names, a private all-girls high school, and he has just began his 11th season at the helm. In just 11 years, Rodriguez has won eight district team championships, one regional championship, and was fourth in the state championship meet last year, which was the highest finish in school history. In 2013, his team finished sixth at the state meet.

His first head track and field coaching position came in spring 2005; he remained for five years until 2009 at Jesuit High School in Tampa. During his time at Jesuit, his teams had two runner-up finishes at the state level, while individually he coached state champions in the 3,200-meter relay (three times), 1,600 meters (two times), 3,200 meters (two times), 400 meters, shot and discus.

“After the 2009 season, family life and Jesuit track got very busy, and I decided to step down for a bit. I continued coaching cross country at the academy,” said Rodriguez.

This past spring the Academy of Holy Names started track and field, naming Rodriguez as the head coach.

Last season, 2014, was one to remember for Rodriguez, as he was named Coach of the Year by the Tampa Bay Times for the area and in the Tampa Tribune for this past season in cross country where his team was fourth in the state. While at Jesuit, he was named Track Coach of the Year for the Tampa Bay Times in 2006 and 2009.

Rodriguez and Jesuit go way back, as he was a student at Jesuit High School, running cross country and track and field before graduating in 1991. He attended college at Florida State and the University of South Florida and received his master’s at the University of Delaware in 1998 in marine biology. Rodriguez is currently teaching biology and marine biology at Jesuit High School.

Side Note - Tiff Melendez ran for the Seashore Striders in elementary and middle school and ran for Cape under coach Rodriguez. Tiff also lives in Tampa, teaching elementary special education. Rodriguez occasionally grabs Melendez if he needs another timer at his local track meets. Gina D’Amico, another Striders runner from the past, is a lawyer in Tampa as well. Rodriguez had an assistant last year at the academy that graduated from Padua High School in Delaware six or seven years ago. Good luck to coach Rodriguez this season. Jesuit, the academy and the young runners of Tampa are lucky to have a motivated, knowledgeable and talented coach like Ray Rodriguez.

The 1999 varsity Cape Henlopen state championship cross country teams coached by Pat Pollock and assisted by Ray Rodriguez included: girls: Brittany Morris, Jen Hicks, Tiffany Melendez, Cole Pavlik, Tess Shoup, Beth Redden and Arshar Smith; and boys: Matt Jackson, Chris Jackson, Matt Riggin, Dean Popovich, Rob Walsh, Brian Kniepp and Brendan Streett.

Upcoming Races

Saturday, Aug. 22 - 2nd BreastFest 5K, 8 a.m., Dewey Beach, www.races2run.com.

Sunday, Aug. 23 - Inaugural RBVFC Fire Fightin’ 5K Run/Walk, 8 a.m., Station 82, Rehoboth Beach, www.seashorestriders.com.

Saturday, Aug. 29 - 7th Ed Dean 4-Mile Trail Run & 1 mile walk, 8 a.m., Magnolia’s Restaurant, Ocean View, www.seashorestriders.com.

Sunday, Aug. 30 - 6th Sundance Racing Festival Land & Sea Biathlon, 8 a.m., Rehoboth Bandstand, www.seashorestriders.com.