Gaines steps down as Bob Jones Track coach
For the first time in over a decade, Bob Jones will have a new coach leading both the cross country team and the track and field team.
Gaines
Earlier this month, Robin Gaines announced he was giving up his coaching responsibilities but is remaining at the school as a teacher.
The two sports span the entire school year with cross country a fall sport and track and field a spring sport. Gaines coached both for 10 years at Bob Jones and decided to take a break from coaching after a total of 31 years at several different high schools since he graduated from Auburn University.
“I needed a mental and physical break,” Gaines said. “It was a good time to cut off and spend more time with the family. We went 34 out of 36 school weeks last year and that is a long haul. I may get back in it but not next year.”
Gaines has turned the running sports at Bob Jones into top flight marquee programs with athletes competing for both state titles and college scholarships.
Gaines helped plan and push for the building of a state-of-the-art track facility at Bob Jones that now hosts the AHSAA regional track meet each spring.
“We took kids from other sports that got cut and some of them ended up making all state,” Gaines said.
Two of the early athletes to have success were Erica Akins who went to Auburn on a track and field scholarship and Erin Clymer who went to Troy. This year, cross country runner Kaycee Martin signed a scholarship with Gardner Webb University. Martin placed first in the Class 6A, Section 5 cross country meet.
One of Gaines’ top success stories was Nick Beavers who graduated this year. Beavers was a two-time state champion in the 110 Hurdles as a freshman and a sophomore and is going to the U. S. Military Academy at West Point on a track scholarship.
“Nick is our most accomplished male track athlete,” Gaines said.
Gaines also won his share of awards as coach. He was named the Huntsville Times 2010 Elite Track/Field Coach of the Year.
“I’m also proud of the reach of the program because when I got here track was irrelevant. It was just something kids did because they had some talent and time. We turned it into a program where we now have over 150 kids participating at some level,” Gaines said.
Gaines mentioned parent support as one of the strong points of the track program.
Gaines was also instrumental in developing the cross-country course behind the high school where the team hosts the Bob Jones Invitational and the 6A Sectional to determine seeding for the state cross country meet at the Jesse Owens Running Park.
“A lot of kids came out that wouldn’t have done another sport and had success.”
Principal Robbie Parker said that the job is just one of several coaching openings that he and Athletic Director John Wilson are working to fill.
