Tribute To Mr. Jeff Potter

Something unusual occurred in the 2012 edition of the Indoor DVC Freshmen Invitational at Glenbard North High School. During the one mile run, the bell was rung one lap too early. Realizing that there had been a mistake, Mr. Jeff Potter exploded at the man designated to ring the bell. Assistant coach, Mr. Dave Christensen, even had to hold Mr. Potter back in order to avoid a confrontation. This occurrence was unusual because, in the words of senior Zack Ewoldt, Mr. Potter is “one of the happiest guys I have ever met in my entire life.”

In fact, Mr. Potter is so incredibly nice that a Falcon Weekly piece about “things nobody says at Wheaton North” featured an angry girl coming out of Mr. Potter’s classroom yelling about how mean Mr. Potter was.

Mr. Potter is so well liked that every morning, before school starts, 8-10 Wheaton North High School runners willingly come to Mr. Potter’s room just to hang out. He is the only teacher in the school that hangs out with his students before school even begins.

Mr. Jeffrey Potter is a beloved teacher, coach and mentor at Wheaton North High School. The passion that he coaches with comes from a lifelong love affair with the sport of running that started accidently before his junior year of high school.

Mr. Potter began his long and illustrious running career during his junior year at John Brown High School. Mr. Scott McLoughlin, the head cross country coach, invited Mr. Potter to join the cross country team. Although Mr. Potter participated in baseball and basketball, he decided to give running a shot as a logical way to get in shape for the other two sports.

Although the results weren’t fantastic, Mr. Potter’s first year of organized running proved to be extremely pivotal to his running career as a whole.  This first year, Mr. Potter caught the so called ‘running bug’ and realized that running was an activity that he would like to continue to pursue throughout the remainder of his life. He became so emotionally attached to the sport that when his school cut track and cross country his senior year, he continued training and racing as an unattached athlete.

Mr. Potter began to experience success during his senior year of high school. In cross country Mr. Potter placed 7th or 8th (he couldn’t remember the exact place) in the league meet earning him a spot at the sectional meet. He ended his high school years with respectable personal records of 4:55 in the mile and 10:30 in the two mile.

Mr. Potter’s lack of eye-opening high school performances left him devoid of college recruitment and athletic scholarships. Even from Hobart College in Geneva, New York, the college that Mr. Potter ended up attending, he “[doesn’t] even remember if that coach contacted me.” 

Mr. Potter really began to establish himself as a standout runner during his four year running career at Hobart College. Right away as a freshman he was the second best runner on the team and by sophomore year he was by far the fastest runner.

Although it ultimately ended in disappointing fashion with a 70th place finish at the Regional Championships, Mr. Potter had an exceptional junior cross country season highlighted by a 7th place finish at the league championships which qualified him for the NCAA Regional meet.    

The disappointing conclusion of his junior year of college intrinsically motivated Mr. Potter to do everything in his power to qualify for the nationals in his final year of college eligibility. “From then on my focus and training was on qualifying for the nationals [senior] year. Everything I did was gauged for the qualifying meet, even if it meant sacrificing during dual meets during the season.”

Mr. Potter’s senior year cross country campaign was extremely successful due to the extensive training he partook in during the offseason. He qualified for the NCAA Division 3 Nationals at Rotchester College with an impressive 9th place finish at the regional qualifying meet. In the snowy national meet, Mr. Potter placed 79th, approximately 30-40 seconds away from earning All-American honors. Like most aspects of his life, Mr. Potter took a positive approach when reflecting on this race. “It would have been nice to get that honor [all American] but making the top 100 was really my first goal. Being 79th doesn’t seem that impressive but when you think of the number of runners in the country it is nice to know you’re among the best.”

Mr. Potter transitioned his fall success right into the spring track season. He won both the1500 and 5000 meter races at his league championships. Unfortunately, Mr. Potter was never able to qualify for nationals in track and field. At the last legitimate qualifying race of the year, Mr. Potter ran the 5000. Two West Point runners urged Mr. Potter to start kicking it in with 800 meters to go. Mr. Potter did not go with these runners, and failed to qualify by only a few seconds. However, the West Point runners were able to qualify.

On May 18th, 1981, Mr. Potter received recognition for his athletic accomplishments when he was awarded the Babe Kraus Athlete of the Year Memorial trophy awarded to a senior that display “sportsmanship, leadership and scholarship during his undergraduate career.” He is one of four athletes to qualify for the national cross country championships from Hobart College.

During college, Mr. Potter met his future wife Mrs. Lynne Bergman Potter. They were married on July 19th, 1979. They have two kids, Mallory Potter who is a senior at Augustana College and Matthew Potter who is a freshman at Rose-Hulman College.

Unfortunately, an attempted professional running career ended prematurely for Mr. Potter. Although he was extremely fast and in the best shape of his life, he was unable to finish high enough in races to secure the necessary prize money to support his career. However, Mr. Potter ran his personal record mile run at the Penn Relays with a 4:09 performance while running professionally.

After the disappointing realization that he would not be able to continue competing professionally, Mr. Potter decided to attend Colorado State University in order to earn a teaching license.

After earning his teaching license, Mr. Potter taught and coached both cross country and track at the Colorado high schools of Aspen and Preuter. At Prueter High School, Mr. Potter enjoyed the privilege of working with Randy Yaussi whom Mr. Potter described as a lifetime mentor to him.

In 1999, Mr. Potter moved to Batavia, Illinois so that his wife could join the family business located in Montgomery, Illinois. He accepted an available teaching position at Wheaton North High School and currently teaches a medley of english and writing classes.

After a brief stint coaching the girls, Mr. Potter was invited by head cross country coach, Mr. Nate Roe, to be a part of the boys cross country program. Mr. Roe cited several important factors that contributed to his decision to invite Mr. Potter to be part of the boys cross country program. “He brings insight to more than just the nuts and bolts of training. [He contributes] great compassion and care for the runners [and is a] very selfless person”.

Mr. Potter embodies all that is right about the Wheaton North running program. He understands the importance of running in his athletes’ lives but also acknowledges that running should never be a top priority. A major component of his coaching philosophy is centered on the fundamental truth that character development always outweighs running development in terms of importance in the grand scheme of life. “I care about my runners more as people first and as runners second. Happy boys are the key to my life, running should never take over.”

Mr. Potter tirelessly works to develop meaningful relationship with all of his runners. Almost all four year seniors on the team will not hesitate to describe their relationship with Coach Potter as a friendship. Runners appreciate the fact that Mr. Potter always makes himself readily available to offer advice during troubling times. He has tremendous respect for what the runners go through in their lives and is never quick to judge. Junior Chris Stopka appreciates the fact that Mr. Potter “will think of you the same no matter what happens. He has always been there for me”.  Mr. Potter truly cares about his runners and tries to foster an atmosphere of care and support to the teams he coaches. His runners also appreciate that, in the words of junior Wes Noyes, he is “an awesome, lets go meet before school, kind of guy.” Mr. Potter’s down-to-earth personality allows personal relationships to be created between him and his runners.

Positivity truly defines what makes coach Potter such a well liked and successful coach. Senior Jon Soderlund appreciates that “there is never a time when [Coach Potter] is ever down, and if he is, he just masks it.” Disappointing or angering Mr. Potter proves to be a traumatic event for the unfortunate runners that experience it. Running is an extremely mentally draining sport which often times leaves runners with doubts regarding their own capabilities before the race. Mr. Potter works to cast away any doubts by encouragement and reminding his runners of past successes and how much he believes in them. In the words of assistant coach and former standout runner Chase Kadlec, “[Mr. Potter] always just assumes the best in you and encourages you to go out there and try and achieve your dreams.”

Many runners on the team also appreciate Mr. Potter’s laid back attitude and general acceptance of what they say and do. High school jokes can often times get pretty raunchy but senior Wyatt Didier assures that “he doesn’t really care that much and he is a lot cooler than you think.” His 2013 cross country nickname even referenced something he said about ‘cold nuggets’. 

Mr. Potter is a great person, but he also is an extremely successful coach that has lifted the track and field distance team at Wheaton North High School to statewide prominence. Aidan Askin, who is currently a freshman at Illinois State University, attributes much of his high school success to Coach Potter. “[Mr. Potter] worked with the training and also just he helped me plan for races and helped me get my mindset leading up to a race.” Aidan was one of the greatest runners ever to attend Wheaton North High School, recording stellar times of 4:15 in the mile and 1:55 in the half mile.

Other great runners that Mr. Potter has coached include Alex Ryan (1:56 800), Chase Kadlec (4:13 mile, 14:41 3 mile), James Waterman (14:55 3 mile), and Jake Waterman (4:17 mile). Many more are sure to follow.

Earlier this year, Mr. Potter was awarded the Assistant Coach of the Year Award by the Illinois Cross Country and Track Association which justified his coaching prowess.

Mr. Potter “look[s] forward to practice and meets every single day.” He truly appreciates benchmark performances and personal victories whether an athlete is working to break 4:20 in the mile or 6:00 minutes in the mile. Throughout his career at Wheaton North High School, he has enumerated countless unforgettable memories. A brief list of his fondest memories include: Theo breaking 6 minutes in the mile, the Aidan Askin vs. Mike Lederhosen battle at county, and watching Alex Ryan confidently dominate almost every 800 that he has competed in.

Nowadays, Mr. Potter’s running load has dramatically reduced. He runs recreationally, at a very leisurely place, with his wife on the streets of Batavia. But, every now and again, when the knees aren’t bothering him too much, Mr. Potter will join the team on their slow recovery run days. Watching him run isn’t always the prettiest spectacle; an unaffiliated bystander would probably wonder why an old man is trying to keep up with a bunch of high school athletes. But when Wheaton North runners observe Mr. Potter running they see something completely different. They see their beloved coach, working to keep up with the runners that he cares so much about. They see a hero, in every sense of the word.