David Poteet has been running since he was a young boy, but running was not his first love as a child.
 
"In fifth grade, I ran in a track meet in a parking lot at a junior high on my way home from elementary school,"  Poteet, who has returned to Kennesaw State as the Owls' new cross country coach, said. "I won the 50-yard dash and got to go to the county meet, where I came in second. The next year I ran what was then the 220 and won county. But I didn't run at the district championships because I played baseball."

Poteet spent most of his middle and high school days focusing on playing basketball and baseball.  Despite hearing from multiple people that he should run track, he stayed away from it until his senior year of high school.  His baseball coach, Charlie Lumsden, is the person he credits for convincing him to run track.

"I didn't run track again until the last month of my senior year in high school," Poteet said. "I ran the 440 (yards), came in third in region and second in county. I ended up running in college for Southern Poly and transferred to Berry College after earning a scholarship."

While at Berry, Poteet became a three-time district champion, twice winning the 400m and capturing the 200m. After graduating from Berry, Poteet got his first coaching job as an assistant track and field coach at Berry where he coached from 1980-1982.

In 1984, Poteet was volunteer coach for Kennesaw College head coach Roscoe Googe. In 1985, Poteet became the head track and field coach and began recruiting, although financial aid was very limited at the time.  In 1986, he also took over the cross country head coach duties.  

"It was a challenge to recruit because the school had a "local" tag to it because it was small," Poteet said. "Also, the name Kennesaw College made it seem more local. But we were like a family, and that's how it should be no matter how big or small a team.  Many of those runners from those teams are some of my best friends today." 

In order to stay within the budget at the time, Poteet would set up trails through the campus in order to host high school meets to get kids on campus. They also held a garage sale to raise money to send Phil Richey and Charlene McKinley to the NAIA Cross Country Championships. Soliciting private funds, Poteet raised $13,000 more for his budget.
  
Under Poteet's tutelage, Jennifer Taylor became the first All-American in school history after placing fourth in the 400m hurdles at the 1985 NAIA National Championships. She competed in multiple events for the Owls including the 100m hurdles, sprint events, and jumping events. She also earned All-American honors in 1986, and in 2003 was named an inaugural member of the Kennesaw State Athletics Hall of Fame.

Poteet has followed the Owls program avidly since 1986 when he left Kennesaw State to teach and coach at Lassiter High School.  "It has been stunning to see how the programs have changed and gone through different phases," he said. "So many good runners have come through here. I knew Coach (Stan) Simms when I was here, and he had some great success.  Sometimes programs go in phases, and it's time to get this program back on a "strong" phase."

Poteet was named cross country coach at Kennesaw State on August 17th and has begun the process of moving the Owls program back in the right direction where they are competing for and winning conference championships as they did from 2005-10. He knows it will be a challenge but said he believes he has a plan to turn things around. 

"It will be a challenge as we are down in numbers. You need depth to compete against schools like Lipscomb, the University of North Florida and others who are growing in the conference," Poteet said. "Right now, I'm focusing on changing the way our runners think and to make them more mentally strong and mechanically correct when running. We need to learn to run smart, strong and efficient, with a positive frame of mind."

Another one of Poteet's focuses will be recruiting. Having been a successful high school middle distance/distance coach in Georgia and having relationships with many of the coaches around the state is one of the qualities that led Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Andy Eggerth to tab Poteet as the man to lead the cross country program back to prominence.Poteet will focus his recruiting efforts within the state of Georgia.

"Recruiting wise, we have so many great runners in Georgia, that it will be my primary focus and, hopefully we can add some quality runners from out of the state and internationally," Poteet stated.  "I just finished coaching at Kell High School and got to know many runners at the high school level. The goal is to get them here to Kennesaw State, show them these wonderful facilities and campuses, get to know them and their families, and then, hopefully, have them join us so we can go compete with everyone in the A-Sun." 
  
Poteet and the cross country program opens its 2015 season on Saturday Sept. 5th, at the UNF Invitational in Jacksonville Florida.

To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State cross country news, follow the team on Twitter @KSUOwlNation and @KSUOwlTrackFieldXC or by liking Kennesaw State University on Facebook.