Coach Jerry Alexander
Jerry Alexander was a walk-on at Columbia who was highly motivated to improve in order to avoid being dropped on runs through Harlem. As a senior, Jerry was captain of the Lions Cross Country and Track squads. Jerry used his final year of track eligibility as a first year law student at Vanderbilt, where he broke the school record in the steeplechase. Jerry’s running “career” was cut short by injury, which prompted him to take up the noble art of coaching.
Because Jerry subscribes to the proposition that the coach gets full credit for all successes (and its corollary that the coach takes no blame for any failures), he is quick to take credit for the excellent results achieved by GRC men on his watch, including the astounding 24th place finish of Kieran O’Connor at the 2016 Olympic Trials marathon, the 8th place finish of the men’s team at the 2017 USATF Club Cross Country Championship, the 2014 Penn Relays 10,000 meter championship won by Michael Franklin, club records by Lucas Stalnacker (8k-23:46), Luke Meyer (10 miles-48:46), Michael Franklin (1500-3:53.3, 3000-8:17, 10,000-29:32), Kieran O’Connor (road 5k-14:35, half marathon 1:04:38), Sam Luff (5000-14:15), Ryan Witters (mile-4:12.1) and Jerry Greenlaw (15k-47:57), as well as big PRs run by, among others, Kieran O’Connor (2:20:47 marathon), Lucas Stalnacker (1:05:26 half marathon), Carlos Jamieson (29:34 10,000), Stewart Reich (8:34 3000, 14:30 5000, 29:46 10,000), Jerry Greenlaw (2:26:50 marathon), Kevin McNab (50:28 10 mile), Blake Taneff (1:06:54 half marathon), Joe Wiegner (14:34 5k, 30:31 10k), Ryan Speir (2:29:16 marathon), Ryan Hanson (8:23 3000), Jake Klim (30:52 10k, 1:09:19 half marathon), Paul Balmer (15:13 5000, 51:58 10 mile, 1:09:17 half marathon), Evan Jurkovich (1:09:24 half marathon, 2:27:37 marathon), Cabell Willis (3:53.9 1500, 14:41 5k), Dickson Mercer (1:09:57 half marathon), Kyle Wagener (14:55 5000), Zak Miller (2:33:21 marathon), Matt Hassett (15:06 5000, 31:27 10k), Lukasz Oleginski (15:01 5000), Sebi Devlin-Foltz (15:10 5000), David Wertz (15:11 5000, 31:30 10k), and Jason Myers (4:01 1500, 25:17 8k), and for Sean Barrett’s qualification for the 2013 World Military Cross Country Championships, where he placed third for the United States in the long course race.
Jerry also claims full credit for the transformation of the GRC’s women’s team into a burgeoning national power, which was amply demonstrated by the team’s outstanding 6th place finish in the 2016 USATF Club Cross Country Championships, and victory in the Distance Medley Relay at the 2017 Millrose Games. Among the excellent individual performances by GRC women for which Jerry claims credit are the 8th place finish of Frances Koons at the 2014 Clubs XC, which earned her a spot on the United States team that competed at the BUPA Great Edinburgh International Cross Country race in Scotland, where she placed 8th, and was the 3rd American, Emily de La Bruyere’s 19th place finish in the 3000 meter steeplechase at the 2017 USATF Outdoor Championships, and Maura Linde’s 20th place finish at the 2017 USATF Clubs XC Championship. Jerry also takes credit for Frances Koons’s 2015 Penn Relays 5,000 meter championship and her club records on the track (10,000-33:17) and the roads (8k-26:27, 10k 34:13), Teal Burrell’s 72nd place finish and Emily Potter’s 102nd place finish at the 2016 Olympic Trials Marathon, the 2016 and 2017 Penn Relays championships in the 10,000 won by Stephanie Reich, the 2016 Penn Relays 5000 championship won by Frances Loeb, club records run by Stephanie Reich (1500-4:27.9, 5000-16:25, road 5k-16:42, 10 mile-56:29), Emily de La Bruyere (3000-9:31.6, steeplechase-10:02.3), Jesse Carlin (800-2:11.8), Susan Hendrick (road mile 4:49), and Drea Garvue (15k-56:51), and huge PRs run by, among others, Cecilia Barowski (2:02.14 800), Stephanie Reich (34:12 10,000, 1:15:45 half marathon), Teal Burrell (1:18:53 half marathon, 2:42:13 marathon), Lindsay O’Brien (34:38 10k, 57:47 10 mile), Maura Linde (16:39 5000, 59:11 10 mile), Kerry Allen (28:46 8k, 58:57 10 mile, 1:17:45 half marathon, 2:51:55 marathon), Hilary May (4:32 1500, 9:52 3000, 16:56 5000), Beth Young (1:17:18 half marathon, 2:49:30 marathon), Kristin Johnson (59:40 10 mile, 1:19:21 half marathon, 2:48:06 marathon), Hannah Rowe (59:21 10 mile), Michelle Miller (35:36 10k, 59:20 10 mile, 1:19:41 half marathon), Frances Loeb (59:59 10 mile), Elena Barham (9:45 3000, 16:51 5000, 1:21:14 half marathon), Catherine Campbell (4:49 1500, 10:07 3k, 17:08 5k), Kate Dart (1:20:19 half marathon, 2:53:18 marathon), Maura Carroll (17:27 5000, 35:45 10k, 59:56 10 mile, 1:19:46 half marathon, 2:54:30 marathon), Julie Tarallo (1:20:40 half marathon, 2:51:55 marathon), Keely Eckberg (2:56:18 marathon), and Greta Stults (2:59:58 marathon).
Before he started working with post-graduate athletes, Jerry was a college coach in the DC area. When Jerry became Head Coach at the University of the District of Columbia in 1995, he inherited a program that was in complete disarray. In his two years at UDC, Jerry recruited and coached an athlete who qualified for Division II nationals in the 800 and 1500 in indoor and outdoor track, but his rebuilding project was cut short when budget problems led to the suspension of the athletic department. Jerry moved to American University where he was Assistant Coach for seven years, during which time he recruited and coached All-Americans Sean O’Brien, Sean Duffy, and Samia Akbar.
Jerry also coaches the Northern Virginia Running Club, a community-based team where he has worked with numerous standout women distance runners, including Jessica McGuire, who qualified for the 2020 Olympic Trials Marathon with a huge PR of 2:43:55, former LaSalle All-American Kathy Liever, and Martha Merz, who broke the 17 year-old American Record for 10,000 meters for runners over 45 years-old at the 2008 Penn Relays.
Jerry lives in Bethesda with his wife Michelle, who only runs when she’s chasing their son Jacob (Columbia class of 2025) who will be a many-time Olympian in a track or field event yet to be determined. When he’s not devising new and unique ways to whip his runners into shape, Jerry is a Trial Attorney with the United States Department of Justice.
Jerry also coaches the Northern Virginia Running Club, a community-based team where he has worked with numerous standout women distance runners, including Jessica McGuire, who qualified for the 2020 Olympic Trials Marathon with a huge PR of 2:43:55, former LaSalle All-American Kathy Liever, and Martha Merz, who broke the 17 year-old American Record for 10,000 meters for runners over 45 years-old at the 2008 Penn Relays.
Jerry lives in Bethesda with his wife Michelle, who only runs when she’s chasing their son Jacob (Columbia class of 2025) who will be a many-time Olympian in a track or field event yet to be determined. When he’s not devising new and unique ways to whip his runners into shape, Jerry is a Trial Attorney with the United States Department of Justice.