Josh Trahan enjoys a moment with his state champion 4x400 team this spring. Contributed photo.
Tell us a little about your background in track and field, both high school and college...
I went to Mesa Ridge High School and triple jumped 45-6 and long jumped 21-7. I only think I jumped over 21 feet that one time. I finished fourth at state twice in the triple jump. I ended up finishing last in the long jump my senior year--didn't jump well. I always joke that I finished higher at nationals in the long jump than I did at high school state. I went to Adams State on a small football scholarship and walked on to the track team.
Before my time was up at Adams I had totally fallen in love with track and field. I love that it was all on me, I couldn't blame anyone if I didn't achieve my goals. My first day meeting my track coach John Wallin (who became the biggest mentor in my life and the voice in my head... I cannot say enough good things about him), I walked in the office he looked at me and said, well you aren't a triple jumper, but you will be a 24 or 25 foot long jumper if you work hard and listen. I responded, "I suck at long jump, I am a triple jumper."
Obviously, he was right. I lettered in both football and track and decided after my third year of doing both sports something had to give, so I stopped playing football. While at ASC I was a nine-time all RMAC track and field athlete and went to nationals twice in the long jump, finishing as high as 10th I believe. All I know is top eight were All-American, and I never was top eight--that ended up kind of being a driving force for me during my time there, my PR in college was 24-3.5 in the long jump. I ended up being an academic All American and after graduation coached a Adams for a short time, where I had the chance to coach over 30 All-Americans and two national champions. I must give a lot of credit to John Wallin for helping me to become the athlete, person, and coach I am today.
How long ago did you take on the Palmer Ridge program? And how was it you ended up at Palmer Ridge?
I took over the program in 2007 when the school was built. I was first at Lewis-Palmer for the year before and jumped at the chance to take over a new program when PR was built. I remember people telling me, "Well, you might have some pretty good girl's teams if you can get the soccer and volleyball players out, but your guys team will never win a state championship." As you now know, my personality I took that as sort of a challenge.
The word is that you are now leaving Palmer Ridge. Can you tell us what's up next for Josh Trahan?
Sadly, I am leaving PR. Building the program at PR and working with the people on staff such as Larry Rudnicki, Amanda Tivnan, Kelly Christensen, Bob Meeker, and Brett Hinkhouse have been some of the best years of my life. It truly was something special. Those kids will always have a place in my heart, it was a very difficult decision but I decided to accept a position at Alamosa High School as their AD/AP. Alamosa has a great tradition of athletic excellence and I am very excited about the opportunity to work there and contribute to that tradition.
Was being an AD something that was always in the long-term plan, or is it just one of those opportunities that came up and was too enticing not to pursue?
Honestly, a little of both, when I received my admin license my goal was to be an AD at some point. But, with our third child on the way and some other factors I started to search for AD jobs sooner than I originally planned. Also, I truly love all sports and believe I have a lot to give athletics in general, not just track and field or football. Hopefully I get to coach track again at some level, but for now I'm sure I will have my hands full as an AD/AP.
As you look back on a few short years at Palmer Ridge, what are the things that give you the greatest satisfaction about your time there as a coach?
Like I said before being at PR for seven years is something that I will never forget. I really love those kids, and appreciate the hard work and sacrifices they made for the team. Here are some things that I rank as highlights of my time there:
- coaching Hunter Warwick to the state championship in the 110H, 300H and also taking him to USA Junior Nationals in Oregon was a great experience.
- being the first team in PR history to win a team state title for the school is a great accomplishment for the program and something I will always cherish.
- winning five out of six league championships on the girls side is something that most people don't know, and is also a great accomplishment for those girls and the school.
- I have always believed the 4x4 might be the best event in track and field, and when I opened PR my goal was to create a team around a great 4x4, so coaching the boys 4x4 to 3:15.51 and a state record will might be number 1, but I believe the moment our program took the step to being a title contender and really changing the mindset of the program was the year before when we ran 3:18. Not a single one of those athletes made it in an individual event that year. At the moment they ran 3:18, I knew that I had a truly special group of young people that believed in each other, and believed what I told them as absolute truth.
- and, lastly, I couldn't have asked to end my career at PR any better than to take six athletes--Cole Pappas, Evan Malin, Marcus Garrison, Logan Malone, Thomas Busath, and Caleb Ojennes--to nationals and watch our 4x4 become All-Americans.
You're also heading up the track and field portion of the Rocky Mountain State Games this summer. How did that responsibility come to be? What kind of turnout are you expecting for that?
The guy who is in charge of the state games is a friend of mine. we were at a barbecue one day and he was asking about our track team and the meet we host, and just asked if I would be interested in being the commissioner for the RMSG. I am hoping for a great turnout, I would love to see some great times and distances at the meet this year.