Greg Rhines will be starting his first season as the Head Coach of Men’s and Women’s Cross Country at San Joaquin Delta College. “I am very excited to get Delta Cross Country back on the competitive map in the Big 8, and in the state,” Rhines asserts. Coach Rhines believes to be a successful runner work begins with the mind of the student-athlete. “Self-efficacy and confidence are key ingredients for athletes being successful. Having a strong mind will help individuals in their sport, their schooling, and life afterwards.” He brings many years of coaching expertise and personal competitive experience to Delta.

 

Coach Rhines is coming from the University of the Pacific and the very competitive Big West Conference. During his four season term, Pacific experienced their most successful seasons since cross country’s inception at the university 22 years ago. In 2007, UOP Cross Country did something monumental and placed higher in the Big West Conference Championship meet than another team (all cross country teams in the Big West, besides UOP, are fully funded), Rhines said this feat was similar to the ‘David and Goliath’ story. Also, in 2007, they enjoyed their highest place so far at the prestigious Stanford Invitational, where the best college teams in the country compete. During the 2008 season, UOP X-C enjoyed their highest places in meets to date, including a second place team finish.

Pacific X-C student-athletes rewrote Pacific’s Cross Country school records in the 5k (18:35) and 6k (22:41). His runners enjoyed Pacific’s first ever ‘top ten’ conference times in the very competitive Big West Conference. Academics are very important to Coach Rhines.  His 05, 06, 07, and 08 teams had the highest cumulative team G.P.A. of all Pacific intercollegiate teams. The student-athletes were awarded Big West Academic All- Conference Awards for the last four seasons.

Prior to coaching at the University of the Pacific, Rhines was the assistant cross country coach for Tokay High School in Lodi, California, where he helped a number of students qualify for the CIF Cross Country State Meet (1991-1994). In addition, he was also the distance coach during the track season for Tokay High School from (1991-1995). Rhines was the assistant cross country coach and the distance coach during track for Delta College (1997-99) where he helped the men’s team reach the CCCAA Cross Country Championships for the first time since the early 1990’s. He was recently the distance coach at Lodi High School during the track season (2006-2008). Lodi won the varsity boy’s S.J.A.A. League Championship in track and field in 2006, 2007, and 2008; prior to this, they had not won the championship title since 1954.

Coach Rhines earned his Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from California State University, Sacramento. He earned his Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy, a specialization in Sport Psychology, and a certificate in eating disorder prevention from John F. Kennedy University. 

Rhines has been a private coach and sport psychology consultant in California since 2001.  He has worked individually with all ages of athletes to enhance their form, fitness, and function in many different sports. He has also been a coach for the Team in Training and the Train to End Stroke marathon training programs. Coach Rhines conducts sport psychology consultation sessions with student-athletes to improve their performance in both academics and sport.

Rhines has been running since he was 13-years old. He has competed in many running races from 5K’s to 50-milers. He was a professional duathlete in the 1990’s.  Some of his competitions include:  Coors Light Duathlon Series, Duathlon World Championships, World’s Toughest Triathlon, as well as

several marathons and ultra-marathons.