As the track season kicks off, GBHS welcomes a new coach to help guide the team. It’s 3x Olympic gold medalist, and 400m champ, LaShawn Merritt. 

Despite originally pondering a future in baseball, Merritt’s journey has ranged from running with Nike and competing in the Olympics for track, to studying business and real estate later on. After all this, Merritt has finally settled here in Granite Bay, bringing his expertise to the youth, as a coach.

The story of how Merritt thrived in track and adopted the 400 as his signature, actually revolves around an unexpected place– a Walmart. When first introduced to the sport in 11th grade, a few of his teammates were caught stealing some Under Armour items from a local Walmart. As punishment, their coach made everyone run the 400m in their next competition, which is widely considered one of the most difficult. 

“I ran it. I won. It fit my character. It was like this race of patience and grit and gratitude and relaxation and speed, but also not being too over adrenalated.” said Merritt. “You got to distribute that, that energy throughout the whole race. But it’s still at a fast speed, so it’s a hard race.”

Additionally, the sport taught him integrity and daily discipline, which helped him train in specific ways to maximize his performance and in life.

“It was years and years of just putting myself in the position to just bring my best self to something every day, which was handling the preparation a certain type of way, so that when I competed, I could more execute than being overly competitive. So I trained and understood the power of presence in training to be able to silence the noise and dim the lights a little bit when it was time to compete.” said Merritt. 

Merritt mentioned the loss of his brother, who was murdered when he was in the eighth grade, and how it shaped him. He shared that his older brother, was truly one of his biggest supporters. His death was a turning point that helped Merritt realize the brevity of life and handle more and achieve more, while making his brother proud.

“That really was a big part of my life where I got a sense of whatever I was doing could be bigger than me,” said Merritt. “Recognizing my speed and my character, to be able to handle what was being thrown at me.” 

Merritt focuses on mental state and the process behind what you’re doing rather than simply running and winning. “The Merritt Mindset” is something Merritt developed that is utilized to set yourself up for success. 

“I realized it was just that set of core about that discipline, accountability, which I ultimately labeled as the Merritt Mindset, which set up core values that allow you to become your own champion in your own lane of life.” said Merritt.

This philosophy brought him to inspirational speaking and doing global camps, which eventually led him to Sacramento. He then met Coach Drew Nelson, which opened opportunities in the area, including with the school, and coaching alongside Nelson.

“I would describe Coach LaShawn as a motivator. Embracing the sport of track and field. He’s been in track and field for over 17 years, so I’d describe him as a leader, as a patient man with youth sports, you got to have patience, you got to have leadership, you got to have encouragement.” said Nelson.

Student athletes such as Zion Tidiane, a Track sprinter, are looking forward to working with Merritt this season. For Tidiane, he hopes to focus on improving his technique, consistency and speed along with the mindset he’s in during races and while on the track.

“I met coach Merritt before, and my first impression was that he’s very focused, knowledgeable and encouraging, and you can tell he’s real. He really cares about helping athletes improve, but not just physically, but mentally too.” said Tidiane.

Nelson was part of the reason for Merritt’s staying in Granite Bay. As a GBHS alum, he also pursued a professional career in Track & Field, through competing in the SFL, attending Chicago State on a full scholarship, being ranked third in California, and running with Nike, like Merritt. Though Nelson discovered a passion for helping youth athletes earlier on, and he has spent the past five years coaching. 

“What I learned from Coach LaShawn, is technical work. Breaking down each part of the race, by the science, by the mechanics, from the start to the middle of the race to the ending of the race, especially for short sprints,” said Nelson. “The better start, starting on the blocks, coming out the blocks. For the kids, the dry phase, learning steps behind it.” 

Besides all of Merritt’s credentials, there is much more that he is going to teach, and learn from Granite Bay, on what it means to be successful. 

“One thing I’m excited about when I think about this being my first year coaching is bringing a winning culture,” said Merritt. “That’s my biggest job, is to make these athletes better humans, and to, like I said, bring that winning culture of, yeah, we want to win, but it’s not all about winning or losing, we are going to put ourselves in position to bring our best selves and let the rest handle the rest.”