The Courage to Be First

The team that broke the record for most consecutive girls' team state cross-country championships is in the picture above. Proud dad moment: My daughter Elizabeth led her team to the record-breaking performance and is holding the state championship team award.  Her team went on to win nine consecutive state championships which is a Washington State record for girls' consecutive state championships across all classifications. 

Just because something has never been done before does not mean you cannot be the one to do it.

Many of the most meaningful barriers in life—personal, professional, even spiritual—exist not because they are impossible, but because no one has yet been willing to step forward. An obstacle is often less a wall than an unanswered invitation. Someone has to go first. Not because they are extraordinary, but because they are willing.

You can be that someone.

Over the years, I have been fortunate—truly blessed—to walk alongside athletes and teams who chose to take on barriers together. Coaching has taught me that one person never owns success. It grows out of shared belief, quiet discipline, and countless ordinary decisions made with care and faith. Watching a team break through a barrier for the first time is something I will always cherish. There is a moment when it happens—a look in their eyes—when fear loosens its grip and belief takes hold. It is humbling every time.

From early on, our teams spoke intentionally about being barrier breakers. Not in a loud or self-congratulatory way, but with purpose. Barriers rarely fall by accident. They fall when people commit themselves—day after day—to the work required to move them.

Breaking a barrier is never about being first for the sake of being first. It is not about recognition. It is about responsibility. When a barrier is broken—especially a personal one—it quietly gives others permission to believe differently about themselves. In that way, barrier-breaking becomes an act of service.

I saw this clearly while coaching a girls’ cross-country program that eventually broke the all-time state record for consecutive state cross-country championships. When the team won its sixth straight state cross-country title, it surpassed every division in state history. Over time, the girls sustained excellence across nine consecutive state cross-country state championship seasons—an accomplishment that belonged to generations of athletes, not any one coach.

What made that run meaningful was the foundation laid long before I arrived. The first head coach, Bill Kehoe, guided the program to four straight state cross-country championships and established a culture rooted in belief and commitment. I later had the opportunity to serve as head coach for the next five state cross-country championships, continuing a tradition the athletes themselves had carried forward. The most difficult barrier—the belief that excellence could be sustained—had already been broken.

That first championship changed everything. Once it happened, athletes no longer asked whether success was possible. They asked how to honor what had been built. Standards rose. Expectations sharpened. Excellence became a shared responsibility rather than a distant goal.

The same lesson appeared again when I coached a boys’ team to three consecutive boys’ state cross-country championships for the first time in school history. After I moved on, the next coach guided the team to three more state cross-country championships. The success endured because the culture survived. When belief is strong, it outlives any individual.

I was reminded of this again at Pope John Paul II High School (JPII), where I was blessed to start and coach a girls’ cross-country program from the ground up. There were no banners and no history—only a small group of young women willing to show up, trust the process, and grow together. We focused first on habits, character, and faithfulness in small things, believing results would follow in their time.

In just the program’s second year, the team earned the school’s first-ever state cross-country championship. Since then, the JPII girls went on to win four consecutive state cross-country championships in Pasco, Washington. More important than the titles, however, was what that first breakthrough did for the community. It quietly reshaped what students, coaches, and families believed was possible.

Breaking a barrier is never about saying, “Look what we’ve done.”
It is about showing others what can be done.

History reminds us of this truth well beyond sports. For years, the sub-four-minute mile was considered impossible. Then Roger Bannister ran it. Within the next decade, hundreds followed. Nothing about the human body changed. What changed was belief.

Learning to challenge barriers when you are young carries benefits far beyond athletics. It shapes how you approach adversity, vocation, and calling. You begin to understand that growth often requires discomfort—and that your willingness to step forward can create paths for others you may never meet.

Our world needs people willing to challenge the status quo with humility, courage, and faith. There is always room to raise standards, to serve more faithfully, and to improve the outcomes of whatever work God places before us.

So be a barrier breaker—not for attention, but for impact.

Set goals that lift others.

Pursue excellence that leaves doors open behind you.

You may never fully know whose life is changed because you were willing to try. And that may be the greatest reward of all.

Blessings,
Coach Weber

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
—Philippians 4:13

Coach Weber is a high school cross-country coach who has guided multiple programs to state championships and founded a girls’ program at Pope John Paul II High School. He writes about leadership, faith, and the power of belief to shape young lives.

If you are interested, you can read about the JPII girls first state championship below.

https://www.coachweber.org/Pope-John-State-Champions.html

The Northwest Girls won their 9th consecutive state championship in 2024, a state record for all classifications in the State of Washington.

The 2019 JPII girls' team won the state championship in just their second year with a full team. The are also quite possibly the first team to win the Academic State Championship in their first year as a team in 2018.