Bio

Reava Potter joined the Emmanuel staff during the summer of 2018 as the Head Coach for the Men's and Women's Cross Country, Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field programs. She becomes the program's first full-time head coach and just the second coach in program history for all six of the teams. 

Along with her Head Coaching responsibilities, Potter will work in partnership with Bon Appetit and the company’s regional nutrition staff as Emmanuel's Fitness and Nutrition Advisor and develop nutritional plans for students that align with their individual training regimen, personal health goals, or sport. She will also create, oversee and organize new fitness programs that will be open to the entire Emmanuel community.

In her first two seasons at Emmanuel, Potter has coached the Women's Cross Country squad to the 2018 GNAC Championship and the Women's Indoor Track & Field team to the inaugural GNAC Championship in 2020. She has coached a total of eight GNAC All-Conference runners in Cross Country while the entire squad was recognized by the USTFCCCA in both 2018 and 2019, earning the National Team Academic Award for both the men and women. Potter was named the 2020 GNAC Indoor Track & Field Women's Coach of the Year following the Championship campaign.

Her teams have combined to win a total of 19 events at GNAC Championship meets. At the 2019 GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the Women captured seven events (4x400m relay, 10,000m, 5,000m, 1,500m, 100m Hurdles, High Jump, Hammer Throw) and the men captured two (4x100m relay, 400m). At the 2020 GNAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, the Women were victorious in eight events (200m, 60m Hurdles, High Jump, Long Jump, Triple Jump, Weight Throw, 4x400m relay, Distance Medley Relay) while the men won two (Pole Vault, 800m).

Under her leadership, a total of 11 Emmanuel school records have been broken with five in the Indoor Track & Field season (women's Pentathlon, women's Triple Jump, men's Pole Vault, men's Triple Jump, men's Shot Put), five in the Outdoor Track & Field season (women's 400m hurdles, women's 3,000m, women's Steeplechase, women's Triple Jump, men's Discus Throw) as well as the Men's Cross Country 8k school record. She's also coached five individuals and three relay teams to qualifying performances for the New England Regional Championships during the Indoor Track & Field season.

Potter was also selected as a part of the USTFCCCA's Female Coaching Mentorship Program (FCMP) for the 2020-21 academic year. The FCMP is designed to increase the representation, depth of knowledge and advancement of female coaches in the field of cross country and track & field coaching at every level, as well as create accessibility within the industry.

She joined the Saints after serving as an Assistant Coach at the University of Alabama at Birmingham for four seasons where she specialized in coaching the multi-event, jumping and throwing athletes. While at the UAB, she coached three student-athletes to All-Conference accolades in the NCAA Division I Conference USA.

Prior to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Potter severed as an Assistant Coach at Bethune-Cookman University for the 2013-14 season. There she coached a total of 17 All-Conference student-athletes including five conference champions in the NCAA Division I Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), leading the Wildcats to the program’s first-ever MEAC Men’s Conference Championship. Three student-athletes at Bethune-Cookman were named USTFCCCA (United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) All-Americans under Potter’s guidance.

Potter spent the 2012-13 season as an Assistant Coach at Shaw University, her first stop after seven years at Temple University where she competed as an undergraduate before severing on staff as a Graduate Assistant. While on staff, she helped coach her alma-mater to an Atlantic-10 Conference Championship during the 2009-10 campaign.

As a student-athlete at TU, Potter was a four-year member of the Owls Track & Field squad serving as a team captain during her senior campaign in 2009. She qualified for the Atlantic-10 Conference Championship in the heptathlon, triple jump, pentathlon and relays all four seasons and was awarded the Spirit and Sportsmanship Awards during her time at Temple, where she also served as a member of the NCAA Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) from 2007-09.

Potter graduated from Temple University in 2010 with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology before completing a Master of Science in Exercise and Sport Psychology at Temple in 2012. She holds a USATF Level One Certification and is also USTFCCCA Certified in Jumps, Throws and Strength and Conditioning.

(Last updated August 28, 2020 - 3:30 PM)