The Freedom High cross country team is well acquainted with their new head coach, Kerine Black. After all, she’s been an assistant coach at the school in track and field the past four years.
What they may not know are Black’s decorated track and field credentials, which is fine with the unassuming Black.
“I’m the type of person that likes to stay in the background,” Black said.
Still, the next time her athletes are on their phones, it wouldn’t hurt to do a search for Black. At the University of South Florida, Black was a three-time Conference USA Athlete of the Year and five-time All-American in track and field from 1997–2001.
She competed in the triple jump, long jump, 100-meter run, 200-meter run, and 4 x 100 meter relay, setting seven individual USF records and earning 12 NCAA qualifying marks.
She was inducted into the USF Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010, becoming the first track and field member to receive the honor. She was also elected to the Conference USA All-Decade Team (2004–2005).
Black’s drive to excel began in Jamaica, where running is a way of life, not merely a sport.
She was a national champion in cross country in Jamaica, where she lived until moving to Florida at 16. She also excelled in track and field, finishing second in the nationals in the 400-meters and long jump.
“Track and field is a big, big thing in Jamaica,” Black said. “Sprinting was my favorite thing to do, but cross country was my conditioning.”
Upon moving to Florida she continued to excel at Fort Pierce Central High, winning multiple state titles in events that included the long jump, triple jump, 100-, 200- and 400-meter sprints.
Black walked on at USF as a freshman, but then-coach Bob Braman had limited knowledge of Black’s accomplishments. Braman invited her to the Green and Gold trials in December and she broke their long jump and triple jump record to begin her record-setting run for the Bulls.
“We knew a little bit about her, not too much,” Braman said. “We saw her statistics. She was good, but she hadn’t run all those times and jumped those jumps. She’s just an incredible athlete and it became clear right away we got a good athlete to work with.
“She was a character, very enthusiastic and outgoing. She never took herself too seriously. She’d go into a competition laughing and enjoying herself. She covered the long jump and triple jump. Triple Jump was her best event. But we came to find out she was good at the 200, pretty good at the 100, and when you start doing four events you’re doing a lot.”
A familiar name
How she was named the Patriots head coach is pure Black, subtle and without fanfare.
When Alex Hernandez unexpectedly stepped down as coach this summer, Black received a call last month from new Athletic Director Christopher Pineda asking if she knew anyone who might be interested. She recommended someone but they didn’t take the job. Pineda then called back a week before school started and asked Black to take the job.
“He knew I was an assistant track coach at the schooI, but he didn’t know my history,” Black said, laughing. “A lot of those kids who know me from Liberty are excited that I’ll be working with them at Freedom. And a lot of the kids who run cross country do track.”
Black initially worked with former Freedom track star Kenani Dorsey in Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) track and field events. When Dorsey’s parents asked Black to continue working with their daughter at Freedom, Black became an assistant to Hernandez at Freedom working with the sprinters and jumpers the past four years.
“I love to see the kids excited about what they’re doing and see when they start to grow and develop and how energized and confident they get,” Black said.
Energized sums up Black to a tee.
She has also been the track and field coach at nearby Liberty Middle School the past three years. She also coached volleyball there.
Mind over matter
Black has also excelled in high-level corporate leadership, while maintaining a strong commitment to community service and mentorship.
Four years ago she opened a business in Kissimmee taking care of developmentally disabled people. Before that Black worked in the financial industry on Wall Street with several banks.
She also mentored USF students in the College of Business for five years.
Her success in the business world helped shape Black’s coaching philosophy.
“I love working with kids and helping them achieve their goals,” Black said. “I came from very humble beginnings and didn’t have the kind of access to people with experience and knowledge who can make an impact in my life. So if I’m able to do that for the young people now I’m all on board.
“Coming from where I’ve come from, and achieved what I have through the years, it takes the ability to believe in yourself. I’m a very faith-driven person, and your mind can make or break you. So if you believe in your abilities, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. So getting these kids to believe in their own abilities, and know that whatever their mind is thinking they can do more than that. They can use the same imagination and do more than they can even think of or imagine.”
Expecting big things from her harriers
Black already has plenty of institutional knowledge of the program that competes in Class 3A, District 5. That stems from coaching many of the boys and girls athletes at Liberty Middle and Freedom.
“We have some very talented athletes who have great potential to make it to state,” Black said.
Among them are seniors Madelyn Ammirati and Gia Komara, sophomore Sophia Douglas and freshman Tesla Novello.
Junior twins Dean and Alex Carcifi lead the boys unit. Black also expects solid seasons from seniors Nicolas Moneno and Miles Crafton, sophomore Alex Carnahan, Black’s son, freshman Kahden Black, and freshman Mathew Melvin.
“I’m expecting a huge performance from our seniors,” Black said. “From their training I can tell they’re going to make a huge impact and I’m expecting them to be great leaders for the rest of the team on and off the course.”
Braman expects Black to excel as a head coach just as she did when competing.
“She’s going to be a great coach,” Braman said. “She’ll be as good as anybody out there. She’ll be enthusiastic and she’ll work with kids to get better. She always has a good attitude and she doesn’t get frustrated with the kids. I’m sure she’ll be a phenomenal coach.”