This past season, Coach Anthony Pavicic was hired to become the new head coach of the cross country teams in replacement of Coach Larry Adams, who had served as head coach for 35 years and coached numerous state champions.

Pavicic ran track and cross country as a student at Sterling Heights High school, and he holds their 1600 meter record. His previous coaching experience comes from his Alma mater, where he coached for 10 years as a volunteer coach and was then promoted to head coach. There, the program was much smaller than Rochester’s, with only a handful of athletes involved. The athletes at RHS have been acclimating themselves to the transition.

“At the beginning things were a bit weird because we didn’t really know that we would have a new head coach,” senior captain Amanda Lewis said. “We found out by an email that we would have a new coach and it was kinda crazy for us. Over time, we’ve gotten used to it. It’s definitely been an adjustment to the dynamic of the team between us all.”

Pavicic has been bringing new training philosophy to the team. Pavicic is trying his best to prove his personal coaching philosophy to his new athletes, hoping they get used to his approach to success.

“The two things that I always tell my athletes is consistency and patience,” Pavicic said. “As long as each athlete comes to practice every day, working hard and are being patient, because you’re not going to see results right away; it might take a month, it might take a year, [training] is a process.”

As with any transition, getting acclimated to change can be difficult, but the captains are working hard to bridge the gap between the team and the new coach.

“He really depends on us to communicate,” Payne said. “Our team, we’re best friends, so it’s easier for him to come to us if he needs something because we can make sure that the point gets across in the right way and everyone’s happy with decisions that are made.”

Pavicic also relies on the captains to help him lead the team in day to day practices and races as well.

“Captains are a huge part,” Pavicic said. “They’ll lead the stretches, they’ll lead warm up, if I need to talk they’ll get everyone together, they’ll lead races. They lead by example, and they’ll do a lot of cheering, a lot of encouragement. I’m constantly calling them, texting them and even bouncing ideas off of them as well.”

The success of the season has been notable, as individual athletes continue to medal at invitationals and the team continues place overall.

“On the boys side, Kyle Johnson (12) is our defending regional champion, individually, we expect him to go to states, and our junior, another captain, Austin Remick, we expect him to go too,” Pavicic said. “On the girls side, it’s gonna be really close. There are five teams fighting for the top three spots, and we’re gonna be right in the mix, our goal is to get to states.”

Pavicic is looking to continue to maintain the tradition of success that RHS is known for, as well as push individual athletes to achieve their own gains.

“My goals for the individuals is for everyone to set a personal best this year, whether it’s a season best or a personal best from their whole running career,” Pavicic said.

Both Pavicic and the athletes hope to see success in the future.

“Our training is phenomenal,” Lewis said. “The way Pav is taking everything to new heights and new routes is definitely going to benefit us as runners and as a team.”