HISTORY

Jerry Rogers was a mainstay at LHS in the '50s and late-'60s. He was the Head Track & Field coach from 1952 - 1967 where he coached his team to a couple of 5th place finishes in the 1950s. 

While not the official head coach, he coached Bill Cottle to 7th and 5th place State finishes in 1959 and 1960 in XC. Bill Cottle would go on to win back-to-back 880-yard Track titles at State.

Coach rogers also coached football and basketball during his time at Lawrence High.

Cleo Cherryholmes was the first official LHS Cross Country coach. During his tenure the Chesty Lions looked to maintain their growing presence in the state. 

Continuing where Coach Rogers left off, they were crowned NEKL Champions each year under Cherryholmes.

Cherryholmes was a crucial part in building the culture and history of the Lawrence High School cross country program.

Steve Sublett currently holds the record for longest tenured coach. He led the boys team to three 2nd place State finishes and one 3rd place. He coached David Johnston to the XC State title in 1989. In 1975 he included girls to the program which led him to coaching the first girls team in '77. At that time there was a head coach for both the boys and girls. It wasn't until '94 that there became one head coach for the entire team.

The late Bob Frederick was the girls' head coach in 1979 prior to his position as athletic director at the university of kansas.

Under his guidance, the girls had their best showing at state up to that point with an instilling 4th place. Their presence on the state scene that year would catapult them from being a side sport to becoming a state powerhouse.

After the 1980 season that had Coach Sublett back in the coaching chair of the girls, Ted Juneau took over for the '81 and '82 seasons. 

He continued the success laid by Coach Sublett and Frederick and guided the girls to a 5th and 9th place State showing during his two years. 

Juneau would later go on to guide the Lawrence High School boys' basketball team to the State title in 1983 and runner-up finishes in 1984 and 1985.

Dick Reamon is probably the quintessential girls coach in recent memory. He led the girls to three consecutive State Championships, three 2nd places, and two 3rd places. He then became the head coach of the entire team for the first time in '94 after Sublett resigned. After Powlas resigned, Dick Reamon was ushered in for a second stint as head coach. This time around, the boys continued their success with three 2nd place finishes at State. The girls made a fight back to State and placed 7th and 6th during Reamon's time.

After being an assistant under Reamon, Rusty Powlas took the reigns of Head coach. During his two years the boys team placed 5th and 2nd at State. While the girls placed 9th and 8th, respectively.

He coached Chris Williams to back-to-back State Championships in 1997 and 1998. Williams would continue his winning streak with a third state title in 1999 under coach Reamon. 

Brian Anderson was an assistant under Powlas and Reamon until 2003 when he became Head Coach. His coaching tenure saw him lead the boys team to two State Championships in '08 and '09, two 3rd places and a 4th place. He guided Roy Wedge to a runner-up finish in 2008 and a State Championship in 2009.

His girls teams brought home a 5th and 6th in '05 and '06. This includes coaching Kelly Renfro to three top-10 finishes. He later coached the LHS boys 4x800m team to the fastest time since 1989 at 8:01.8 and the girls to a school record 9:29.9!

Laura Brensing took the reigns from Coach Anderson in 2016 as the school's first female Head Coach.

Under her guidance, she helped to reshape and recapture the culture of Lawrence High School cross country. During her tenure, she guided six individual state qualifiers with Natalie Kennedy, Lucy Hardy, and Jack Ryan being her final qualifiers in 2021.

She would also go on to coach Hannah Stewart to a 5:08 3rd place mile at State in 2019 and Evann Seratte to a State 800m title and 2:16.08 school record in 2018.

17:47.8 – MARY POWELL, 1987

15:34.0 – CHRIS WILLIAMS, 1999