Andrew Cook
Cross Country Coach
Andrew Cook brings a collegiate and elite-level running background to his work as a cross-country coach. He ran at Texas A&M after competing at Marcus High School, later qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the marathon. During his collegiate career, he averaged 15 miles of daily training and earned All-American honors in cross country.
Cook's coaching philosophy has been shaped in part by his own daughter Natalie's experience on his team. After a strong freshman season, Natalie faced physical limitations, including an accessory navicular bone and a leg that does not fully straighten, that made high-mileage training unsustainable. Shifting her to a cross-training-centered program during her senior year proved successful and has since informed Cook's broader approach to athlete development.
Coaching in an area with limited access to natural running surfaces, Cook has built out his program's cross-training capabilities steadily over more than a decade, growing from an initial two spin bikes to a collection of roughly seventeen pieces of equipment, including six ellipticals. His girls' varsity team typically trains 30 to 35 miles per week, while boys' mileage extends up to 50, with cross-training used to supplement running volume rather than replace it. Freshmen are not included in cross-training in his program, reflecting his emphasis on long-term athlete development over early-career gains.
For athlete injury care, Cook works with Dr. Robert Fowler, a North Texas sports medicine physician who also treats the Dallas Cowboys.
