Vandegrift runners cheer for coach

AUSTIN - If there's one principle of running the Vandegrift track team understands, it's the idea that sometimes, you need a little extra motivation from your coach.

"He's out here every morning, every afternoon, helping us out, cheering us on, coaching us, and he does a really good job of it," sophomore runner Gretta Smith said.

And when their coach Keith Pierce ran the Austin Marathon, the Vipers gave back.

"It was really exciting to cheer him on," sophomore Leah Butterfield said. "There were a lot of people down there. Most of the team went out there. We rode our bikes and rode around from checkpoint to checkpoint, and tried to cheer him on in the toughest parts of the race."

Pierce said he saw his athletes on the course throughout the race.

"It was great," Pierce said. "There were moments on the course when I was looking forward to seeing the kids, and seeing them cheer me on. And I found myself looking forward to seeing them."

Pierce and the team's work paid off. He crossed the finish line as the winner, 10 minutes faster than second place, and his team was there to greet him.

"I don't think I could have done it without them," Pierce said. "They were big motivation for me. I'm just so proud of those kids and the support they gave me."

The Vipers shared his emotion.

"I was so proud of him when I saw him run," Butterfield said. "It's amazing to win a marathon; it's 26.2 miles. It takes a lot of hard work and endurance. I was really proud to say, that's my coach."

Now, as the Vipers prepare for spring competition, they say they've already won one big race this year.

"We have a saying that 'Our coach is faster than yours' and a lot of us put it on our shirts," sophomore John Hardy said. "It inspires us every day to go out there and work hard knowing that he knows what we're going through and runs with us."