Past Academy Speakers

MIKE ESPOSITO | High Point

ERIC JOHANNIGMEIER | Virginia Tech

JASON CUSACK | Virginia Tech

“TINMAN” TOM SCHWARTZ

TIM SMITH | Roanoke College

DAN KING | Hidden Valley High School

KRISTEN CHANG | Nutritionist 

PAUL KNACKSTEDT | Sports Psychologist

PETE WATSON | University of Virginia

BRAD HUNT | Wake Forest University

PAUL SPANGLER | University of Florida

TODD MORGAN | University of Virginia

MIKE COX | Concord University

FINN PINCUS | Roanoke College

MARY JAYNE REEVES | NCAA Champion

ALEXIS SHARANGABO | Olympian

PHIL LATTER | Running Times Magazine

DR. KATHLEEN POOLE | Radford University

DR. ROB TUPPER | Podiatrist

GARY BENNETT | Sports Psychologist

JORDAN CHANG | Physical Therapist

DR. ETHAN COLLIVER | Orthapedist

JAMES DEMARCO | Academy Director

James DeMarco started the High-Performance Distance Academy in 2003. In high school, DeMarco was a member of five state championship teams for Bartlett High School in Alaska before attending South Dakota State University where he was a cross country All-American and a member of the 1996 NCAA Division II National Championship squad. His coaching career began in Anchorage, Alaska at Bartlett High School prior to assisting at Virginia Tech as a volunteer coach. During this time DeMarco was in grad school and opened up his store, RunAbout Sports. In November 2003 DeMarco started coaching at Blacksburg High School for the next 12 years. In 2016 DeMarco moved to Wisconsin for his wife’s job and coached the Homestead H.S. girls until 2020. In 2021 DeMarco and his family moved to Northern Virginia where he now assists Coach Connor Lee coaching the Patriot H.S. Boys and Girls. The hard-working athletes under DeMarco’s guidance have earned:

• Stats:
  • Coached 23 state championships teams and three as an assistant
  • Coached 14 state runner-up teams and three as an assistant
  • 20 distance athletes have won a state individual title (55 total titles)
  • 20 state championships in the 4×800 relay, six in the 4×400
  • 47 distance student-athletes represented their college in NCAA collegiate competition
• National Honors:
  • Three cross country teams ranked in the top ten nationally (girls 2009, boys 2012, girls 2014)
  • One athlete and two relays selected to Track & Field News All American Team
  • 2010 girls Distance Medley Relay team broke the U.S. High School National Record and Penn Relays Record
  • 2014 boys 4×800 team ran U.S. #2 (7:37) outdoors and U.S. #5 Indoor All Time (7:41), and were Penn Relays Small School Champions
  • Coached three high school relay teams to Nike/ New Balance National Championships titles
  • Coached five runner-up and five third-place relay teams at Nike / New Balance Nationals
  • Coached three Nike Cross Country All Americans (Kathleen Stevens, Joanna Stevens, Nick Link)
  • 18 Relay Teams earned All American honors from Nike/ New Balance Track Nationals
  • Five individuals earned eight Nike/ New Balance Track All American honors
  • Dyestat Performance of the week when five Blacksburg girls broke 5:10 for 1600 meters in the same race (3 under 5 minutes)
  • Two athletes won the Gatorade Athlete of the Year for cross country and track (Peter Dorrell and Kathleen Stevens); both also won the Roanoke Times Athlete of the Year for all sports
  • Five teams qualified for the all-expenses-paid trip to the Nike Cross Country National meet in Oregon [2009 (6th), 2012 (10th), 2013 (21st), 2014 (7th), 2015 (12th)]
• Times Run:
  • Boys 3200: 20 under 9:55, 10 under 9:30, 4 under 9:20
  • Boys 1600: 32 under 4:40, 18 under 4:30, 8 under 4:20, 4 under 4:15
  • Boys 800: 18 under 2:00, 10 under 1:58, 6 under 1:56, 3 under 1:54
  • Boys 4×800: 19 relay teams broke 8:00 in five different years; 9 under 7:50
  • Girls 3200: 20 under 11:28, 14 under 11:10, 11 under 11, 6 under 10:50
  • Girls 1600: 29 under 5:20, 19 under 5:10, 16 under 5:07, 6 under 4:59, 3 under 4:50
  • Girls 800: 20 girls under 2:21, 11 under 2:17, 7 under 2:15
  • Girls 4×800: 25 relay teams under 9:30 in ten different years; 10 under 9:20
• Coaching Awards:
  • 2013 Southeast of the United State Coach of the Year, National Finalist
  • 2014, 2015 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Virginia Girls Coach of the Year (2014 was the first-year award given by the Association).
  • Awarded Virginia Coach of the Year by the Virginia Coaches Association: 2008-09 Girls Indoor Track, 2009-10 Boys Indoor Track, 2012 Girls Cross Country.
  • River Ridge / Conference 32 Coach of the Year 46 times
  • Blacksburg High School track named James DeMarco Track of Dreams in 2016