Over 24 years, Coach Rod Wortley has seen many of his athletes not only improve, but excel beyond what they ever imagined. Meet Preston Grey.

Penfield, Illinois is so small that its name did not appear along with Armstrong-Potomac in the unified school district, of which it was a member in the late 1990's.

It was not known for producing champion cross country or track & field athletes either.

Perhaps that is what made the emergence of Preston Grey even more remarkable. 

"Preston was a tall, skinny kid who preferred basketball to cross country, but would settle for being a college athlete in any sport," recalls coach Rod Wortley.

"At first, his form wasn't very good, he had a lot of wasted motion. Preston also was not blessed with a lot of leg speed," Wortley says. "But, he had the one thing you can't coach - Preston was incredibly competitive and he absolutely did not want to lose." 

After several seasons of putting in the miles and becoming a student of his sport, Coach Wortley watched Preston emerge as a team leader and perennial national qualifier. "On an early morning long run going into his junior year, we were talking about teams with that one guy who everyone knows is most likely going to win. I told him he was now that guy."

As "that guy," Preston qualified for six track & field national championship meets and two more in cross country, earning All-America honors in his final XC race. His personal bests included 14:51 for 5000 meters, 24:58 for 8k cross country and 31:22 for 10,000 meters.

After college, Preston moved into coaching as a graduate assistant at Azusa Pacific University in 2004. The next year he took over as head coach, and in the next 17 seasons won three cross country national championships and produced 38 All-Americans.

"Rod did an amazing job preparing me as not just an athlete but a person," Grey says. "I not only owe my success in running to him but my success as a coach and my success as a husband and father. He was a model for all who came through his program."