By RICHIE HALL
When Kendra Foley became an assistant cross country/track and field coach at Notre Dame in 2018, a circle that had started several years ago finally became full.
Back then, Foley was a standout runner at Noblesville High School, a four-time All State finisher at the IHSAA cross country meet. She was looking at colleges, and one of the coaches recruiting her was then-Southern Illinois University coach (and fellow NHS All-State runner) Matt Sparks.
Foley wound up running at Grand Valley State University, and had four highly successful years there. But she and Sparks never lost that initial connection, and a couple years ago, they got back in touch. Now Foley and Sparks are coaching together and continuing the success and tradition of Notre Dame distance running. Sparks is now the director of track and field/cross country for the Irish.
“We joke a lot about where we came from,” said Foley. She tells recruits that she and Sparks went to the same high school. “They always ask and say, ‘The same year?” she said.
Not quite. Sparks graduated from Noblesville in 1992, a couple years before Foley was born. She graduated from NHS in 2013, then went to Grand Valley State, where she was part of three NCAA Division II team cross country national championships, and twice won the NCAA Division II cross country individual championship.
“Both of us have a lot of pride in that we came from the same area,” said Foley. “And when I was being recruited, that’s where we started our relationship and he tried to recruit me. It’s kind of a funny start to where we are now.”
Foley was a volunteer assistant coach at Grand Valley State and was working at the university’s summer camp when she got a call from Sparks. While Foley had some initial doubts about stepping into a coaching role at Notre Dame, once Sparks explained his vision for the role, she was intrigued and she went to the campus for an interview.
“Within two weeks after the interview, he offered me the job,” said Foley. Soon after, she moved to South Bend.
“I called her back and said ‘You don’t have to do this. You’re doing me a favor,’” said Sparks. “That woke her up to what her passion was and what she really wanted to do. And she’s been great at it since she got in.”
“The day after I moved was our first official day of practice,” said Foley. “It was kind of the perfect time because we brought the entire team back a week early for a little mini-camp before school got going. It was an opportunity for me to get to know everyone. I was learning along with the freshmen, how this team works, how this campus functions.
“Those first couple days were really great. I really got a chance to get to know them and get to know what my role could be for them. I sat down with the entire team and told them I was knew to this. I’m still fairly young.”
That youth allows Foley to relate to her runners, something which she thinks they appreciate. “They feel comfortable talking to me,” she said. “I think it actually turns out to be an asset.”
“It’s all pretty fresh in my head, I understand the frustrations,” said Foley. “They feel comfortable talking to me about that kind of stuff.”
Sparks said that Foley’s biggest attribute is connecting to college-age women and sensing where they are in their development, be it training-wise, socially or emotionally.
“She’s very perceptive to other people’s needs,” said Sparks.
“I feel like she’s my chief of staff,” said Sparks. “She gives me a list of things I have to do today.” Sparks said he and Foley have worked so closely “for our two years now that I think we can finsihed each other’s sentences.”
During Foley’s first season at Notre Dame, the Irish began their season with a four-team meet at Valparaiso, then hosted two meets on campus. Foley said that was “another great learning opportunity for me,” as she got to see how a home cross country meet functioned.
“I got to help organize and prepare for that,” she said. “I was more observing rather than really coaching. As the season progressed and as I got closer to more individuals, I was able to offer a little bit more advice and coaching.”
At the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) meet that year, the Notre Dame men won the championship, while the women were runners-up by one point. Foley said that was a tough day, but it motivated the Irish women for the rest of the season. They finished with a great meet at nationals.
“Being from South Bend, these girls are pretty tough and weathered,” said Foley. “They took to that day and took to the snow, the course and the mud, and ran hard and we ended up placing eighth, one of the highest in Notre Dame history. That was pretty special to be a part of.”
The Irish then had a successful track and field season in distance, with three national qualifiers in the 10,000-meter run, one in the 5,000 and one in the 1500; Notre Dame had the most female distance runners at nationals for any school.
Foley said what makes post-season meets special is that’s when coaches get to spend quality time with their athletes.
“That’s when the bonds are really made, spending the time and watching them progress through the season,” said Foley.
During her second year with the Irish, Foley said she had more expectations for herself.
“I describe my job as making Coach Sparks’ life easier, in whatever that may be,” said Foley. “The small details. It’s my job to make the girls’ lives better. Somehow making their lives easier. I wanted to really build on the relationships I started to create and make sure they knew I was here no matter what.”
“As I have been her for longer, Coach Spark has entrusted me with a few more responsibilities,” said Foley. “He trusts me with more of the little things.
The Notre Dame women had to deal with injuries during the season, but Foley said they still showed up at nationals “and ran very hard. We placed higher than we were expected to, which is always our goal. That was extremely special to be a part of.”
The Irish were looking forward to the outdoor track and field season, but that got canceled, along with all other college athletics, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s different for everyone, so my job right now is just to be there for them,” said Foley. “It was a tough pill to swallow that their outdoor season got canceled.”
The NCAA has allowed schools to provide those student-athletes who compete in spring sports to get an extra season of competition, a ruling which Foley said is fair.
“None of them competed in the outdoor season, so they should all get their season back,” she said.
Kendra Foley (left) has learned quickly on the job over the past two years as an assistant coach for the Notre Dame women’s track and field/cross country team. The Noblesville standout works with Irish director of track/cross country Matt Sparks in coaching the women’s distance program. (Reporter photo by Kent Graham)