Lucas siblings enjoy strong bond coaching together at UIC

Shawn Lucas and sister, Ashley Lucas, enjoyed tremendously successful cross country and track and field careers at St. Edward High School in Elgin.

Shawn Lucas, a 2002 graduate, was an 8-time medalist in the two disciplines at St. Edward taking third in the state in cross country twice and eighth once, while also finishing second in the state in the 3,200 run.

Ashley Lucas won a conference championship in cross country as a freshman at St. Edward and went on to take 19th in the state. She made a total of four state appearances in the two sports. She graduated from St. Edward in 2008.

Now the brother and sister duo are both entrenched in college coaching careers. And to add the cherry to the top of the sundae, both are plying their trade at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Ashley Lucas, at the age of 29, is UIC's head coach for both the men's and women's cross country and track and field teams with a focus on women's distance and mid-distance, while Shawn Lucas, 34, is a part-time coach on his sister's staff with a focus on men's distance and mid-distance.

"I wouldn't have ever thought about something like this," said Shawn Lucas when asked if he ever envisioned coaching with his sister. "Ashley always came to me when she needed help with her running career. This is her program. I'm not just big brother anymore, I'm a co-worker as well. But at the same time if we disagree on something which doesn't happen often, but we know at the end of the day we are still blood."

The siblings' path to UIC featured plenty of twists and turns. Ashley Lucas ran collegiately at Lewis University in Romeoville and then finished out her eligibility as a graduate student at Northern Illinois University. "When I was looking at grad schools I wanted a place with a kinesiology program, a place where I could finish out my indoor and outdoor eligibility and a place where there was a mentor that would allow me to coach when my eligibility was over."

That place was NIU where she ended up coaching from 2013-2015 before moving over to UIC as an assistant coach. She was named interim head coach of the entire program in 2017 and had the interim tag removed in June.

"I definitely knew I wanted to coach in college," Ashley Lucas said. "Not at first, but junior and senior year I knew the path I wanted to take. We both knew we wanted to coach in some capacity and college athletics is the route we have taken."

Her brother's path featured some extra plot twists. Shawn Lucas ran collegiately at Loyola-Chicago (where he won an individual track and field conference title) and then went into the private sector, moving up to Seattle, Washington, where he went to work for a swimwear/wetsuit company. He moved back to Elgin in 2010 and started working part-time for Geneva Running Outfitters while also still training on the side (Lucas noted he made numerous running contacts during his time in Washington).

During his time back home Lucas was under the tutelage of current Elmhurst York boys cross country and boys track and field coach Charlie Kern. Lucas said he lowered his mile time on the road down to 4:03.

"A big reason why I decided to get into coaching was Charlie Kern," said Lucas, who also coaches runners through the DW Running program (www.dwrunning.com).

Lucas started his collegiate coaching career as a volunteer at Bradley University where he was able to stay with a family member in nearby Pekin. "I was able to gain some confidence in the coaching world there," he said.

Next it was a part-time gig at DePaul where Lucas was able to take a more hands-on approach within the program.

"I took on a small group of individuals to train in middle distance and was able to write training plans and programs," he noted. "I still have a good relationship with the core guys from DePaul today. The best part of coaching is the relationship aspect you develop with the athletes. I also love that it is a close-knit sport."

Lucas, married with two sons, is finishing up his second year at UIC. In May he took a job with the Archdiocese of Chicago in event management.

"It was a great career move for me," he said. "One, it's a job with a lot of fulfillment and it allows me the time to continue with my coaching passion. And it's fun coaching alongside my sister and seeing her blossom in this head coaching role. She's awesome."

Ashley Lucas said coaching to her is much more than times clocked running on a course. "I want to help our student-athletes reach their potential," she said. "I want them to realize they can get to a place they don't think they can get to. I want to take people and get them to believe in themselves and their ability, coach them up and develop them into the best runners they can be. I also like mentoring them off the course and help them develop into young adults. Our student-athletes are discovering themselves as runners and has young adults. It's been a fun ride so far."

Ashley Lucas also gets a kick out of coaching with her older brother.

"We work really well together," she said. "We both bring that family atmosphere. When we talk to recruits we tell them we're not joking around when we say we are family-oriented. We bounce ideas off each other. I'm having a lot of fun building them program with him."

Ashley Lucas added the duo complements each other when it comes to the recruiting piece of the puzzle.

"We're similar but different," she said. "He's definitely a little more of a dreamer and I'm more of a realist, but we're both very accommodating to each other. He loves to recruit and go to meets, while I love having that involvement with recruits on campus. He's out at the meets trying to get them on campus. Recruiting has been a big job for us. We're looking to bring in student-athletes who we know will help build the program. The women's cross country team had four freshmen in the top seven. We have a lot of youth that wants to win. We're headed in the right direction. If we keep developing these young men and women as athletes, a conference title in the future definitely is a goal for us."

Shawn Lucas believes his sister is in some rare air when it comes to her head coaching position.

"There are not a lot of female head coaches in what we do," he said. "It's something like under 15. Ashley has been more than awesome at her young age. She's done a great job and I think the administration notices how passionate she is and how she is changing the culture in the program where it expects excellence and has that family atmosphere to it. We're recruiting athletes from programs that have the same vision and mentality we are trying to build here. Ashley has a vision."

Mike Miazga has been writing about sports in the Fox Valley for 25 years. He can be reached at mjm890@gmail.com.