Jacksonville State University Athletics

Roger Cooke prepares for his third season as JSU's assistant track and field and cross country coach. Under head caoch Matthew Boone, Cooke is tasked with running JSU's distance programs as well as logistical operations for all four teams in men's and women's cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field. 

In the first regular fall season since Covid-19 last year, JSU placed 11 th in both the men's and women's cross country championships in the Gamecocks' first season back in the ASUN Conference. With a rebuilding roster, the Gamecock men had only one non-freshman on the squad, while the women's side had eight of its 10 members as freshmen or sophomores. In the spring, JSU placed seventh in the ASUN indoor meet, the highest conference finish since 2017 and sixth in the league's outdoor championship in Jacksonville, Fla., for the best team finish since 2016 in the OVC.

Cooke arrived to Jacksonville State prior to the 2020-21 season after spending three years on staff at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. In addition to having a large focus on recruiting, Cooke mentors the team's distance program as a former cross country, 5,000 and 10,000-meter standout at Louisiana State.
 
While at Lynn, Cooke assisted in all facets of the men's and women's track and cross country programs, but was instrumental in the development of the inaugural men's programs for each sport. His first men's cross country team finished fifth in the Sunshine State Conference, and eighth at the NCAA Division II South Regional Championships. He mentored just the second Fighting Knight to ever compete in the national championships, and guided male and female runners to all-conference and all-region honors in both cross country and distance track events.
 
Prior to Lynn, he spent the 2016-17 season as an assistant at Hartford, a Division I member of the America East Conference. There, he helped every member of the women's cross country team set new personal bests during the 2016 fall. In the spring, new PRs came in the 800m, mile and 5,000 meter events.

"I am excited to welcome Roger to the JSU family," said Boone. "His wealth of experience will help the student-athletes of Jacksonville State achieve their goals and be competitive at the conference level and nationally. We share an ambitious vision for the program, and I look forward to working with him as we accomplish our goals."
 
Cooke began his coaching career at his alma mater in Baton Rouge. Following a running career that gave him the nod as LSU's Cross Country Runner of the Year as a senior, he stayed on to coach as a volunteer with the Tigers.
 
He helped put together the first and only women's DMR team in LSU track and field history to reach the NCAA Indoor National Championship meet. Cooke also coached multiple top finishers for LSU at the SEC Championships, including an 800-meter All-American and a Cross Country Runner of the Year.
 
As a student-athlete, Cooke was a standout on and off the track, serving as a key member of LSU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee in community service opportunities. He competed in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters along with cross country for the Tigers, earning four SEC Academic Honor Roll selections.
 
A native of Glen Allen, Virginia, Cooke graduated in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in History Secondary Education from LSU, and is currently pursuing a MBA in Leadership and Management from Lynn University. He and his wife, Michelle, another LSU track & field/cross country alum, have a dog named Miles, and welcomed a baby girl named Emma in 2021.