Coaches
It's a GREAT day to be an Eagle!!!
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Head Coach:
Heather Hunting
This is Coach Hunting's fourth year coaching Cross Country at Collins Hill, and is excited for a season even better than last year's state-bound season. She is also head Track and Field coach here on the Hill, so make sure to ask about our spring sport!
Coach Hunting loves teaching Geometry here at Collins Hill, and considers herself a "Mathlete". She has run three marathons and countless half marathons, as well as many shorter races. She has a husband and two grown kids...both of whom ran cross country in high school. In her off time you will find her running with her dogs at one of our parks!
This is her 7th year teaching at Collins Hill, and she recently earned her Masters of Arts in Teaching from GCSU.
Boys' Assistant Coach:
Laura Pifer
Laura joined Collins Hill in 2022 after a successful season coaching Mid-Distance at South Forsyth High School. The boys' team finished 3rd overall at State, and the girls came away with a sectional 3200m Champion and runners earning top 5 and top 15 in the state in the 3200m and 1600m. At Collins Hill, she helped lead the boys' XC team to state and several track athletes to region and state.
Prior to coaching high school, she was an Assistant Coach at the University of North Florida for a Cross Country season.
Laura's running achievements include winning three national titles, qualifying for two Footlocker Cross Country Championships, and representing Team USA at the 2002 World Cross Country Championships in Belgium. In addition to Laura's national and international success she also was a 10x Utah High School State Champion. Laura earned a scholarship to University of Colorado at Boulder, where she was part of the 2004 National Champion Cross Country Champion team.
Assistant Coach:
Stephen Pifer
This will be Coach Pifer's third season with the Collins Hill Eagles. He comes to us with over 30 years' experience in the sport of track and field and cross country. Coach Pifer competed collegiately for the University of Colorado at Boulder where he was an 8x All-American, 2x National Champion (team won 2004, 06), and the NCAA National Championship Runner-up at 5,000m (2008). Post-collegiately, Coach Pifer competed in 3 US Olympic Trials and was twice ranked Top 10 in the US by Track & Field News.
Coach Pifer comes from a long line of distance running coaches. His grandfather John Flamer started the Cross Country program at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. His uncle, Tim Flamer, coached him in high school.
Girls' Assistant Coach:
Coach Watts will be joining Collins Hill this year as Girls XC coach. He coached previously for four years at Mountain View High School and two years at Mill Creek. His years at Mountain View helped send three girls’ teams to State, a Gwinnett County individual champion and runner-up as well as a Region Champion, and the top Girls 7A finisher from Gwinnett at the State meet two years in a row.
And while Coach Watts has had success coaching top-tier athletes, he understands that he’s working with runners of all abilities and will do everything he can to help every member of the team make significant improvements and celebrate personal achievements.
He has run competitively for nearly 40 years and still trains for and competes in mountain trail ultras. Recent racing achievements:
2023 Pine Mountain Trail Run 40 Miler - Senior Masters Champion - 9th overall
2021 Mystery Mountain Marathon - Grand Masters Champion and course record - 5th overall
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