Leah Stephens runs a 9:58.79 3200m at the Dogwood Track Classic

Her private coach didn't do her any favors. First off, Leah walking away from her high school team the week of their Team championships to run at Track Night in NYC was a huge disappointment to her team mates, coaches, Alumni and School. I love the term "Private Coach" someone who works at a HS close by but hasn't produced anyone out of her school so she poaches already good athletes from other schools..and Leah didnt look well prepared/coached at Track night running most of the race in the outside of lane 1 and running out of gas at the end isn't the sign of good "Private Coaching"

Fans of the legendary Juliette Whitaker reading this thread saying, “hold my beer…”

Leah walked out on her team the week before conference championships to compete at the NY track night. Her team and coaches were extremely disappointed in this decision. Leah was being coached by a variety of private coaches after she completed her cross country season this past fall after her HS coach retired.

Well, listen, it paid off. Stephen’s had one of the greatest high schools seasons in history from XC through Outdoors. Never missing a beat; only got stronger.

Learn from this. Maybe it’s the team that holds kids back. Maybe it’s parents living through their kids that had visions of making state or NXN with Leah. All the greats don’t run high school: from Athing Mu to Jenna Mulhern to Lex and Leo.

I would replicate every season what Leah did. She owes nothing to the “team” and coaches.

Word on street is that she has been coached by colorado person since sophomore year.

teamprep USA is a cancer on high school track and field. Trent Sanderson tries to poach all the best runners. All of his successful runners were SUPERSTARS BEFORE HIRING HIM. Almost all of them struggle tremendously in college.

More worrying is that 90% of his client base is high school girls. He has very few men. It's actually creepy.

It was NOT one of the greatest high school seasons ever. Not even close. What big races did she win? NONE. That automatically puts her behind every other person who won a high school national championship.

It's a miracle that Tuohy even broke 6 for the mile in high school with her high school coaches.....

When you are one of only a dozen girls in history to sub 10:00 and battle the best in the country week in and week out, yes it’s one of the great seasons. I can tell you don’t understand the sport.

As a former college coach I would second guess bringing in a runner into my college program and offering a scholarship to an athlete who so disrespectfully treated her team and school. If you join a "Team" you agree to be a member as such and agree to support the team and its policies. You don't go and pick and choose meets based on your private coaches input and walk out on your team before a championship meet. Earlier in this post someone quotes that Leah didn't t owe her team or HS Coaches anything, I beg to differ, in the strongest way!! When you join a program/team you agree to abide by their rules and support your administrators/coaches and team mates and not use the system to only benefit you. You do not pick and choose meets you want to attend and miss many team practices. I wish the best for Leah, I really do, but I think she is in store for a rude awakening when she joins a college program..

You mean like that athlete named tuohy, going off to run Millrose? And then running USA’s when she could instead be getting prepared for next season x-country?

You can also quit a team. It’s part of the sport. The system should be worked to benefit you, not coaches and administrators who live off your back and results. Look, you sound like she slept with your wife. Move on, she freaking had an amazing year run the way she wanted to run it and you sound hurt.

The last I checked track is a team sport. If you join a HS team then have the character to finish out the season with your team, and not running off to compete in a meaningless meet in NY. I can bet you her coaches at Florida State wont have time for that non-sense

Ha, you have no idea how Braman is!! You probably don’t believe half the stuff he does like having guys run 4 miles of a 10,000m race for training purposes and drop out. Because he’s a big picture guy. He knows what he’s getting with Stephens and could care less about her high school decisions only that he recruited tremendously well on this one because her improvement has been astronomical. Lots of schools missed on her.

Her decision not to run at the WCAC Championships will live in league infamy for all time.