Bio

Winning national titles with Panhandle athletes is the vision Sean Hargrove brought to the Amarillo College cross country teams when he was hired as the program’s first head coach in program history.

The coaching resume of the Perryton, Texas native shows that Hargrove is more than capable of accomplishing the feat.

His mindset and approach will develop the blueprint for success.

Hargrove led the Tascosa High School cross country program to 14 district titles in his last 15 years as head coach of the Rebels and aided the development of 23 athletes who went on to run cross country collegiately.

The West Texas A&M University alum explained that his coaching philosophy is simple – work harder than your opponents, especially in the offseason.

“We just outworked everybody I feel. With cross country athletes, you got great kids that want to show up every day,” Hargrove said of his run at Tascosa. “We were running in the offseason when others weren’t.”

After spending 15 years as a coach and special education math teacher at the area 5A school, an opportunity to coach at Amarillo College and teach at West Plains High School arose. Hargrove didn’t hesitate to put his name in the hat for the Badger cross country head coaching job.

In 2022 he was named the program’s first head coach and a season for the record books ensued.

Freshman Ariyah Gomez became an NJCAA Division I All-American last November via a 21st place finish at the national meet in Tallahassee, Florida. The Randall grad led the Badger women’s team to a 13th place finish while the men’s team took 19th place.

With a slew of local talent set to join the program in fall 2023 and nine athletes scheduled to return to this year’s squad, Hargrove has his eyes set on the pinnacle of the sport at the NJCAA level.

“I feel like we can win a national championship and that’s my ultimate goal – make each year better than the last year. If we’re in the top 10, then the next year be in the top eight. Then the next year be in the top 5,” he said. “Once you start building consistency and that winning thing, then everything else will take care of itself.”

Early coaching career

Hargrove’s path to building a dynasty at Tascosa and taking the helm of the Badgers cross country program started a decade before he became a coach and teacher in the area.

Sean’s father Lanny Hargrove was a longtime coach in various sports in Perryton and by the time he was at the final stages of his college journey, Sean knew he wanted to follow in his dad’s footsteps.

Sean graduated from West Texas A&M University with a degree in kinesiology and a minor in special education before beginning his coaching/teaching career at Lampasas High School.

The central Texas school was the first of four stops before arriving at Tacosa. Stints along the way included tenures at Chico High School and Booker High School.

Sean coached nearly every UIL sanctioned sport in the book along the way, including boys and girls basketball, football, track, volleyball, and cross country.

Career as an athlete

Sean was an all-district basketball selection during his senior year at Perryton High School while also playing tennis as a complimentary sport.

In college, Sean played basketball at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma before finishing his schooling in Canyon.

Sean said his passion from his playing days led him to the field he is in today.

“I enjoy the competition, the excitement, thrill, kind of like I loved playing high school and college,” he said.

Personal

Sean’s wife Kim Hargrove is an elementary teacher, and his son, Austin, served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps.