“I started applying to schools, and when I was writing the cover letter for the schools, I realized everything I was writing down was a lie.”

When it comes to choosing a career, it can be pretty difficult. Some people know exactly what field they want to get into, while others take longer to find out what they want to do.

Take Thomas Scott as an example. Scott was a student at Ashland from 2007-2012 and was a part of the cross country and track and field teams. He was a three time All-American for AU, twice in the 800-meter dash and once in the 4×400 meter relay

“I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life,” said Scott. “I originally thought I was going to go to med school and become an anesthesiologist assistant.”

Scott discovered that was not the career of his future when he was answering simple questions such as “Why do you want to be an anesthesiologist assistant?” while applying to graduate schools.

“I couldn’t come up with a real reason for myself”, Scott said. “I sat down and really thought about what I wanted to do and my passion was running and I knew I wanted to be involved with running for the rest of my life. So, I decided that I was going to go into coaching.”

Scott then went to Michigan Tech, where he has been a graduate assistant for the past two years. He is back at AU and is now the head coach of the cross-country team.

Coach Scott enjoys the opportunity to be able to come back to Ashland. 

“When the position became available at my Alma Mater, I jumped on it,” Scott said.

Scott ran for the Eagles for six years. He missed his first two years of outdoor track because of knee surgeries, so that is why he ran for AU for an unusual six years.

“The running joke was that I was never going to leave, and know, I had the opportunity to come back and I can see myself being here for a really long time. Ashland is home for me. I love being here.”

The opportunity became available after the previous cross-country coach, Trent Mack, left to coach at the University of Northern Colorado.

While Scott was running for AU, Mack was his coach. 

“I learned a lot from Trent. He was a mentor for me. He helped me reach my potential,” said Scott. “As an athlete here, I really looked up to Trent and now I’m the coach. It’s kind of surreal to think that some of the kids will look up to me in that same way.”

Also on the cross country-coaching staff is assistant coach Jeremy Wilk. He is in his second season coaching for AU after he spent last season as a volunteer assistant.

Wilk also had some obstacles when it came to being a coach.

“From the beginning, I thought I wanted to coach, but I wasn’t completely sure that was possible,” said Wilk. “I knew it was really competitive and I wasn’t sure it was right for me.”

Wilk attended college at Grand Valley State, where he was a walk-on for the cross country and track teams. He was also a two time All-American for Grand Valley State University, once in the distance medley relay and once in the 800-meter dash.”

It was his fifth year at Grand Valley when he made up his mind that coaching was what he was fully committed to.

“I applied for graduated assistantships and I didn’t get any I was looking for,” said Wilk. “That’s what kind of tough about coaching, you either have to go the route and get a graduated assistantship or be a volunteer in order to get a paid position and I was lucky enough that the volunteer opportunity worked into a job here.”

Both Scott and Wilk are still active in their running careers. 

They recently ran at the USA indoor track and field championship in the thousand-meter run this past February.

“We’ve been training together and racing a lot this past year,” Wilks said.

These two coaches faced obstacles in getting to where they are today, whether it be not knowing what career they wanted or difficulty finding a job, but they are excited to be at AU.