Director of Athletics Dr. Mahina Hannemann-Gago has selected Bailey Stone as Parker’s new Head Coach for the Varsity Cross Country program for the 2024-2025 season.
Bailey grew up in an environment that naturally encouraged her to become a runner. Her cross country background started with her father, who had coached track and field since before she was born. Bailey decided to follow in his footsteps, running cross country and track from Grade 5 through college.
After graduating from Sonoma State University with a degree in Kinesiology and Lifetime Physical Activity, Bailey’s coaching journey began as Head Coach of Cross Country and Track and Field for Sonoma Academy, an independent high school in Sonoma County. She coached there for four successful years while also acting as an assistant coach for the school’s girls soccer team and teaching freshman and sophomore PE.
Now, Bailey is excited to move back to her hometown of San Diego and continue her coaching career at Francis Parker School. Bailey’s goal for the Parker Cross Country team is to create a stronger team dynamic and sense of consistency. She aims to lead the team to league titles and a stellar performance at the CIF State Championships.
“These goals work with each other as a league title-winning team requires a strong team dynamic and members that want to see each other succeed. Additionally, my older brother is one of the cross country coaches at La Jolla Country Day, and it would be pretty great to beat his team for a league and/or sectional title,” Bailey explained.
Bailey has been described as passionate, understanding, and empathetic in her coaching. She works to support her athletes on and off the course. Her athletes find her easy to talk to, and parents appreciate her consistent communication. She believes that every athlete deserves the same amount of attention and support no matter their ability level because sometimes the slowest runners need the most support and recognition.
“My coaching philosophy is based on teamwork and team dynamics. I aim to build teams that function as a second family, encouraging each other on both the good and bad days and working together to reach their goals,” Bailey said. “Cross Country is frequently treated as an individual sport, forgetting that you score as a team and the strongest individuals almost always get there because of their teammates and training partners. I strive to bring together a team and a program while developing athletes at any stage in their career and fostering their individual passion for the sport, the training, and fitness as a whole.”
Over the years, Bailey has coached her teams to 12 league championships over four years. In the eight seasons she has coached cross country and track and field, five seasons included state championship qualifying opportunities, and she has had at least one athlete qualify for the CIF State Championships each season. However, Bailey names growing her team’s roster by 150% with a four-year retention rate of almost 100% as her top achievement.
Welcome Coach Bailey Stone to the Lancer Legion!
