After 28 years of building confidence in hundreds of runners, and simultaneously uplifting standards for North’s track and cross country programs, girls track head coach and boys cross country head coach Diane Montgomery has decided to take her final lap. As she steps away from coaching, she leaves behind an unforgettable legacy.
Before starting her career, Montgomery was looking for a job to bring her contentment and better society. Inspired by her own running journey, she realized her future was in coaching.
“I thought back on what had given me happiness growing up,” Montgomery said. “I loved my experiences as a high school runner at Walled Lake Central High School. I decided I really wanted to be a coach for cross country and track.”
Growing up within the sport gave Montgomery the fundamental skills to understand how she can push her athletes outside of their comfort zone. Runners like senior Caleb Kosel admire her unwavering effort to make them the best athletes they can be.
“She holds you accountable, which is both painful, but also rewarding in the sense that it really pushes you to reach a certain standard, and I just always got that out of her,” Kosel said.
Throughout Montgomery’s years of coaching, her dedication to the track program has not gone unnoticed. Coaching alongside Montgomery for 10 years, science teacher Liz Michaels believes that Montgomery’s passion for track will be thoroughly missed.
“Monty is incredibly passionate about the sport,” Michaels said. “She’s passionate about kids as well, but she’s someone who lives her sport, in a way that I don’t think a lot of other coaches are.”
Creating mantras is one inventive way that Montgomercy encourages her runners to be their best selves. By choosing the word “push” to remind herself of the countless hours she has dedicated to running, senior Ashlei Antalio feels this approach to challenges will stick with her beyond her years of being a track runner.
“Any hard situation that you need to push through. Think of a word in your head that you’ll say,” Anatalio said. “It kind of keeps me focused on what I’m trying to do and helps distract me from other things, keeps me focused on my task.”
After coaching alongside Montgomery for 16 years, former girls cross country coach Scott Cooper believes her unique and passionate leadership skills has set her apart from other track coaches and that she is a remarkable role model for her runners.
“She works tremendously hard to train the athletes to perform at their absolute best,” Cooper said. “She gets kids to believe in themselves, to push themselves hard. She sets a tremendous example by training hard herself and competing at a very high level herself.”
Although Montgomery’s coaching is coming to an end, she has made many excellent connections from coaching North track that she will forever be grateful for.
“It’s a fantastic community,” Montgomery said. “I have made some lifelong friends. Coaching is different from teaching in that everybody there is motivated and we are usually working towards a common goal of excellence.”
There will be a retirement party hosted by former coach Scott Cooper and several parents on June 7 at 7 p.m. at Fishbones in celebration of Coach Monty’s successful career.
