Beyond the Finish Line
The founder of CA’s track and field team passes the baton
For lifelong runner Jonathan Waldron, sport is a laboratory for self-study. As a beloved coach at CA, he emphasizes “becoming, not achieving.”
After Waldron was hired to coach cross-country in 2007, he also started CA’s track and field program. Over 17 years, he built it from an informal club with a single competitor into a top Eastern Independent League (EIL) program.
In spring 2024, his final season coaching track and field, CA had an undefeated combined program, its strongest ever. At full health, the boys captured the program’s first EIL championship, and the girls finished second.
Since stepping down from track and field, Waldron, who continues to coach cross-country, has stayed involved with the sport in ways that allow him to prioritize writing and being an athlete himself. He has also had time to reflect on the program he built, which he says stands out for its cross-team contributions rather than a reliance on star athletes: “Whether or not we win a team title, every season CA will have the most students who contribute to the team’s success by placing in their events.”
Track and field athletes train separately, but they understand one another’s events and support their teammates, as well as their competitors. “We cheer for effort, not for uniforms,” Waldron says. “Other schools notice that and love competing against Concord Academy.”
This focus on camaraderie and celebrating improvement has drawn a significant share of CA’s students to track and field. In 2021, around 100 students tried out—a quarter of the school. As the program grew, an expert team of long-tenured assistant coaches, including Christa Champion, Joan Konuk P’12 ’16, Ellie Doig, and Peter Jennings P’20 ’21 ’25, all played major roles, giving equal attention to athletes at every level of experience.
Athletics Director Sue Johnson P’20 says that, with track and field coaches and student-athletes alike, Waldron “created an atmosphere of personal growth that made people feel valued and want to keep showing up at their best.”
Champion spoke about this dynamic in a chapel she gave in November 2024: “Learning to set your own goals, and then doing what you need to do to reach them—that’s serious work. When you can do that work in community with others … it becomes easier to follow through on the promises you make to yourself.”
Waldron believes that most important learning happens slowly. He says he’s proud of helping to build a program that allows students to discover and develop their athletic abilities, and that serves as an antidote to what he calls “the toxic belief that if you’re not good at something right away, you can’t or shouldn’t do it.”
“This program has helped students feel more at home in the physical world, which is really what the sport is all about,” he says.
