As Jebreh Harris steps into his role as Azusa Pacific’s new Cross Country coach, he’s already made his mark by fostering a sense of unity and resilience within a program coming off its most successful season yet.
“Give yourself a round of applause,” were the first words of Azusa Pacific’s new Cross Country coach, Jebreh Harris, following the teams’ first race of the 2024 season.
Why is this significant, you might ask? A week before the race in Irvine—and just his third week in the role—I had the opportunity to meet and chat with Coach Harris. His encouragement in the first meet as the new head coach was a clear reflection of his character.
Harris, who was announced as the new coach on August 13, arrived on campus the very next day. Then just four days later, packed the two teams into school vans and headed north to Mammoth Lakes for a week-long team training camp.
It was there when he finally took a breath and began to appreciate his new job.
“It was good and pretty fun to interact with everybody,” said Harris with his initial thoughts on the Mammoth Camp. “It’s a lot of bonding, a lot of education, a lot of directives of what I’m looking for, but a lot of sharing of myself. One thing I do know is that once you give of yourself, it makes it easier for people to give back to you.”
Harris is in charge of managing both the men’s and women’s cross country teams, which total about 35 athletes, alongside assistant coach Arty Ledesma.
Leading so many athletes while also meeting their personal needs within the program is no easy feat, especially doing so just two weeks before the season kicked off.
Harris said it was in Mammoth that he had the privilege of holding individual meetings with each athlete. In these meetings, he focused primarily on “listening.”
“One of the first steps to being a leader, in my opinion, is to listen. Listen, take information in, communicate, then give the directives to execute the plan…That’s the way I coach. I coach individuals inside of a program, for the betterment of the program,” said Harris.
Harris joined Azusa Pacific after spending the last four years at the University of Southern California where he helped the Trojans to an Outdoor National Championship on the women’s side in 2021, and a 3rd place finish at outdoor nationals on the men’s side in 2024.
With more than 14 years of coaching experience, his long list of achievements includes having coached two conference championship teams, one Olympian, one NCAA National Champion, and seven USTFCCCA All-Americans. According to APU’s press release, under his leadership, 23 athletes have qualified for the NCAA championships and 13 have earned individual conference championship titles. But, his influence extends beyond collegiate competition, having coached athletes who set national records for Trinidad & Tobago and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and guided participants in events like the 2023 U23 NACAC Championships and the Thorpe Cup.
Prior to his coaching career, Harris was an elite athlete himself, having been a finalist in the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Trials and was ranked as the No. 2 800m runner in the USA in 2007 by Track and Field News. In college, he was a member of the 2001 NCAA and SEC Championship teams at the University of Tennessee, where he also set a school record in the indoor DMR and earned accolades as a two-time All-American and All-SEC athlete.
As he steps into the new role, Harris brings a stacked resume of experience. However, he inherits a program that was rebuilt and restricted under the direction of former head coach Sean Smith. During his three years with Azusa Pacific, Smith transformed a middle-of-pack cross country program into a national contender, achieving a top-ten finish just last season. The 2023 PacWest Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year put Azusa Pacific cross country on the map as a powerhouse as a top-tier Division II program.
But, following the sudden announcement of Smith’s move to Cal Baptist, the future of Azusa Pacific cross country was left in limbo, and change is often met with resistance. This was certainly true with Harris’ arrival at Azusa Pacific…
“Honestly, it just, it takes a while for people to accept something different. With the previous coach, people have attachments, as they should. That’s life in general…with relationships, it’s not going be peachy keen or as smooth as we hope. It’s just the reality of the fact,” Harris said.
“But, when it comes down to it, I still have my job to do and one of my biggest things is to do things with character and integrity.”
This steadfast mentality comes from his upbringing as a Georgia-born and raised kid and with a family of military personnel. “Lot of structure, order and discipline was in me growing up,” said Harris.
Luckily, his own experience both as a former athlete and long-time coach has made him adaptable.
“Adaptability is one of my strengths. My thing is to always… take a person for who they are and what they show you. Everyone has different backgrounds and as long as you have an open mind to where they are coming from, and just once again, listening, you learn how to interact with people. People are going to be people, no matter where you see them across the earth. As long as I know who I am, I’m good wherever I am. I just adapt to a new environment well enough because I’m sure of myself.”
This ability to adapt and adjust didn’t come solely from being well-traveled, however. Harris credits his parents’ unwavering encouragement and belief in him, which allowed him to get up on his own and pursue his dreams with confidence.
“I’ve never heard anything negative from them to me or about me. There’s always been encouragement. Whether it was a ridiculous thought or idea, they never shot a goal or dream down. I was raised to have confidence. That’s something my parents instilled in me, along [with] what life has taught me.”
Taking over a cross country program that just achieved its first PacWest title, a third-place finish in the West Region, and a top-ten national ranking (all program bests) is no easy task. It requires the type of confidence in oneself that Harris embodies.
When asked if he feels a sort of pressure to maintain the level of success within the cross country program, Harris responded: “I don’t believe in pressure. I just see opportunity.”
“What Coach Smith has done and the fact that he got a great group of athletes together, all you do is give a person credit. And as far as [I’m concerned], it’s just my turn with the baton to run my leg of APU. That’s the way I view it…I have an opportunity to represent myself. I have an opportunity to make this program better. I have the opportunity to continue the tradition…It’s also an opportunity for ‘we’ [as a team].”
While he discussed an opportunity for “we as a program to improve,” he actually highlighted the chance to leverage resources beyond his own leadership to enhance the program. Harris has embraced support from the entire athletic department, including athletic trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, and academic faculty, to address each athlete’s needs beyond what he alone can provide.
“Because it takes ‘we’ to win,” Harris continues. “It takes ‘we’ as a whole. Whether you contribute points or not, your energy, your positive mentality, your support, that’s part of the team’s success. I want everybody to understand that narrative. Everybody has their role within this team and around it.”
Two weeks later, I got the chance to follow up with Harris, asking him how he felt about his relationship with the team now after settling into his new role: “The transition is getting better and better week by week [as] we get to know each other more.”
The men’s team returns nearly all of the same athletes minus just two graduated seniors who were a part of the top five scorers. However, they added depth with five new freshmen and one graduate transfer. In their first meet of the season, Jared Wright flashed a little bit of what he’s capable of this season, winning the Irvine Invitational while leading the team to a first-place finish overall.
“Bridging the gap” Harris says will be key for this men’s team between the upper and lower classmen. “Bridging those gaps, and just continuing to mature and work together toward similar goals, but also understanding each person has to do their part.”
The women’s side, on the other hand, returns just seven runners from last year’s squad while adding four new athletes, including three graduate transfers who will quickly establish themselves as some of the top runners in the Conference. The women, led by returners Justine Stecko and Sofia Camacho, finished third overall in last week’s opener.
“One thing about the women’s team is that we’re growing,” Harris said. “We’re working together, we’re healthy and I like our mindsets. Every week, we’re continuously learning more about each other, and we’re building a healthier culture.”
As the teams enter their second race of the season this weekend at the UC Riverside Invitational, Harris is hoping to see improvement and that both squads continue to work together.
“Every meet has this particular goal and objective. But when it comes down to it, we must do things as a team collectively, but have individuals execute individual goals and objectives within the team aspect.”
While the overall success of the program is a key focus for Harris, Azusa Pacific’s list of accolades isn’t the only thing that drew Harris to the job.
“As I got to know [athletic director] Gary Pine, [head track and field coach] Jack Hoyt, and [chief diversity officer] Keith Hall on my visit, in my mind, I kind of knew this is what I needed as a person and as a coach.”
To end our conversation, Harris and I talked about the values of being at a Christian university, his first in a highly decorated resume of experience.
“With my platform and in this university, it does give [me] more open space to speak about [my faith], where the traditional, secular, type of university, you have to watch your words, you have to be conscious of your environment. But in this institution, it does give a more safe space to express your faith while also being respectful to other people’s journeys with the[ir] faith. If they want the information, I make sure I give it to them or find the resources to give it to them, but what I can focus on is doing my best to lead by example.”
As he embarks on this new journey, it’s evident that Harris is committed to cultivating both excellence on the cross country course and more importantly, nurturing a supportive community of individuals within the program.
With an emphasis on collaboration, adaptability, and faith, Harris is ready to lead this program through a transitional and transformational era. As the Azusa Pacific cross country teams prepare for the season ahead and what it holds, Harris’s leadership style—rooted in listening, encouragement, and integrity—paired with his “we” mentality provides a promising tone for both the year ahead and the program’s future.