Greg Franklin is taking the reins of the Allen Community College track and field team.
Franklin, previously ACC assistant track and field coach, replaces Vince DeGrado, head coach for almost 20 years. DeGrado is now the school’s endowment director.
The Red Devils enter their first indoor meet Saturday at the Friends University First Chance Qualifier at Wichita States University.
“It’s nothing big. I was already a head coach prior to coming here,” Franklin said. “For Vince, he needed a new start. He had been doing this for a long time. He was a coach here when I was in JUCO running track. I ran for Pratt.”
Franklin competed in DI track at Middle Tennessee State University by way of Pratt Community College after a successful high school career at Prattville High School in his home state of Alabama.
Franklin won All-Sun Belt honors in indoor track and was a three-time NJCAA All-American while competing for Pratt.
After his competition days were over, Franklin worked his way up from assistant to head coach of Butler Community College track program.
After more than eight seasons with the Grizzlies, Franklin moved to Allen, providing a perfect complement to DeGrado’s specialty being distance running.
With the women’s team finishing ninth at the NJCAA national meet last spring and the men taking 16th, Franklin is excited to see the progress they made over the past six months at Saturday’s debut.
“I’m excited. This is going to be a great year, and we brought in a lot of great kids this year,” Franklin said. “They will do well. RaNayla Moten was on the 4×100 last year that won nationals. She was second in the 100 and fourth in the 200. She made a really big impact last year. This year, she will do extremely well.”
Franklin said he uses the indoor track season as a primer for the outdoor season. With both teams finishing in the top 20 at nationals, he hopes to use the Friends University First-Chance Qualifier to give his athletes a baseline to improve upon until they return to nationals in May.
“I always use indoor to mold the first half of your race, so when you get outdoors, it really counts and matters,” Franklin said. “Some kids just want to run for their country and the U.S. trials, so we use indoor to prepare for that. Last year, even though I was an assistant, I watched what Vince did, how he handled things and with a mindset to learn how to progress the program. Vince dominated the distance side and did a really great job. He carried the Allen program for years, so I just want to continue what he was doing.”
