Meet Our Team
Coach John O'Malley
For more than two decades, John O’Malley has coached high school runners to unprecedented levels of success. A Brooks “Top 25 Most Inspiring Coaches” award winner, Coach O’Malley’s coaching excellence has been recognized with Coach of the Year honors from the Illinois Track & Cross Country Coaches Association, NFHS, and United States Track & Cross Country Federation.
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With over 20 years coaching experience at Carl Sandburg High School (Orland Park, IL), John has led one of the nation’s most consistent and high-performing distance programs. Under his leadership, teams and individuals earn acolades and perform at the highest levels.
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CSHS cross country teams has qualified for the state meet 22 times in the last 23 years, winning 20 conference, 20 regional, 7 sectional, and 2 state championships
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John has lead multiple teams and athletes to the Nike and Footlocker Cross Country National Championships
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He is the only high school coach to have coached two Footlocker National Champions (Lukas Verzbikas and Dylan Jacobs)
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CSHS track athletes and relays have qualified for the Illinois state meet every year since 2003
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Known for 4 x 800 relay prowess, O'Malley has coached 19 different quartets to sub 7:50 and 56 different quartets to sub 8:00. Since 2011, his teams' season best average is 7:46.89.
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He has coached six different athletes to 4:10.1 or better in the 1600. And athlete, Sean Torpy set the All-time Illinois record in the 800 (1:47.9 in 2016).
Beyond physical performance, John brings a deep focus on mental skills development — helping teenage athletes build confidence, resilience, and joy in sport and life.
Coach O’Malley’s coaching resume is perhaps only surpassed by his teaching accolades, which includes the Northwestern University Distinguished Secondary Teacher Award, the Stanford University Excellence in Teaching Award, the Illinois Education Association Leadership in Action Award and the Western Illinois University Inspiring teacher award. ​
Coach Jeff Boelé
Jeff has a proven track record of fostering a culture where athletes of all ages and abilities are able to develop and see continued progress in their athletic pursuits. Jeff holds USATF Level I and II (endurance) certifications and a jumps event specialist certification from the USTFCCCA. Additionally he is a licensed massage therapist in the state of Colorado.
In his 25 year career, he has worked with middle school, high school, collegiate, professional, and masters athletes. With a background as an endurance athlete, Jeff got his start coaching distance events at Greenville College in Greenville, IL in 2000. After moving to Boulder, CO in 2005, Jeff's coaching exploits began to diversify. He started working with a small group of post-collegiate athletes and eventually began helping at Lyons middle/senior high school (Lyons, CO). It was at Lyons that Jeff's coaching acumen was refined. Brought on to coach the high jump, Jeff took the challenge of becoming a great jumps coach seriously. That meant taking a deep dive into the speed/power world. Eventually, Jeff handled programming for the cross country team and all event groups (sprint, jump, throw, distance) for the track and field team. He had direct oversight of the jumps and distance events.
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In 2017, Jeff became a licensed massage therapist, adding one more skillset to his coaching toolbox. The combination of sports therapy, speed/power coaching, and endurance training have equip Jeff to work with a variety of athletes. He currently oversees a handful of professional and semi-professional distance athletes with Elevated Performance in Colorado. Additionally, Jeff coaches remotely with athletes across the US and serves as team therapist for the Niwot (Niwot, CO) and Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch, Co) cross country and track&field teams.
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Katie Follett, LPCC
Katie is a licensed professional counselor and former professional runner with over 13 years of experience competing at the highest levels of track and field. An 8x NCAA All-American and multiple time USATF National Champion, she represented Team USA on the world stage. Now, she blends elite racing experience with evidence-based mental skills training to help athletes build confidence, focus, and resilience in sport and life.
With over a decade of experience on the professional running circuit and formal clinical training as a licensed counselor (LPCC), Katie supports athletes, coaches, and teams in developing the mental skills essential for high-level performance and long-term growth.
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Competed professionally for 13 years for Brooks
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8x NCAA All-American at the University of Washington
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U.S. Road Mile National Champion (2017), 1500m PB of 4:03, 5000m PB of 15:04
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Eighth place at the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships (3000m)
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Licensed Professional Counselor specializing in performance psychology, identity, and confidence
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Founder of Kickin’ With Katie Confidence Camps, empowering young athletes through sport
Katie works one-on-one with athletes at all levels, leads workshops for teams, and supports coaches and parents with practical mindset resources. Her approach emphasizes building resilience and helping athletes not only perform their best, but understand who they are beyond the results. Katie believes that sport is just a playground to develop the tools needed to take risks and dream big in life, and her mission is to help athletes grow from every challenge they face, with intention, resilience, and joy.​