Photo courtesy of Hubert Couch.
Hoover’s Will Couch put in the time and effort over the summer to ensure that his senior cross-country season would be his best. He is shown here at the Oak Mountain Invitational on Sept. 29.
Will Couch has saved his best for last. That much became clear in late September, on a steamy Saturday morning in Tuscaloosa.
Of the 265 boys cross-country runners who toed the line at the TCBY Invitational, Couch, a Hoover High School senior, outran 264 of them.
He celebrated his first career victory — sealed with a 5K time of 16 minutes, 53 seconds — by challenging a teammate to a frozen-yogurt-eating contest.
Couch downed nine cups of TCBY goodness in the aftermath of his feat. His teammate matched him bite for bite. They settled for a tie, eventually.
“It’s all about having fun,” Couch said.
Good times have certainly abounded for Couch this fall. Navigating the final leg of his prep career, he has led the Hoover boys cross-country team in nearly every race while shaving quite a few seconds off his performances from a season ago.
At Hoover’s August opener, for instance, Couch ran almost a full minute faster than he did at the same meet in 2017.
His swift start — and sustained success — has provided the Buccaneers boys a needed jolt. They entered the 2018 campaign having graduated their top four runners.
“He’s got a lot of talent, more than he realizes,” Hoover head coach Devon Hind said of Couch. “He’s just coming into his own.”
The foundation for his transformation was formed in the summer. Traditionally, that was when Couch took a break from running, more by necessity than choice. Trips, camps and other obligations consumed his time between June and August.
Couch said he could count on two hands the number of runs he logged prior to his junior season.
But this summer, he banked miles multiple times every week.
He also started to read “The Power of Positive Thinking,” a famed self-help book, per Hind’s recommendation. Running is a mental sport, after all.
“In past summers, I wasn’t really as determined to do well,” Couch said. “But this year, I was like, ‘You know what, it’s my senior year. I’m going to run this summer and I’m going to come out and do well.’”
That Couch has fulfilled his own prophecy should come as no surprise. His resume reads as follows: Engineering Academy student, Student Government Association president (his twin sister, Allie, is senior class officers president), Math Team star, Hoover Ambassador and Homecoming King.
Couch also sings in multiple choirs, contributes to his church’s music program and scored a perfect 36 on the ACT college entrance exam.
“It’s something I’ve never really had much trouble with until this year,” Couch said of balancing his loaded schedule. “It’s been a little more difficult.”
But as the pace of life has accelerated, so has Couch. His sterling cross-country performances prove as much.
And he’s not finished yet.
More than a year ago, as he was preparing for his junior season, Couch scribbled a target 5K time on a whiteboard. One and five were the first two digits.
The fastest Couch has run — as of early October — is 16:31, and that was at the 2017 state meet. At this year’s iteration, held Nov. 10 in Oakville, he’ll be eyeing a sub-16-minute mark.
To hit it, he’ll need to have saved his best for last.
“I usually am able to do pretty well at state," Couch said, "so I think I’ll be able to probably break that goal.”