'Never gets old.' Hopkinton track and field assistant coach Martha Thompson still going
HOPKINTON – Martha Thompson wonders every year, "maybe this will be my last year."
She's coached track and field at Hopkinton for 35 years, since the dawn of the program. Mike Scanlon asked the physical education teacher in Ashland if she would coach. Thompson never ran or jumped in high school at Wayland. She played lacrosse.
"I had never coached it before. Coaching it the first time, I just fell in love with it," Thompson said.
That affair has now spanned generations. Her tenure predates the Dave Hughes Field athletic complex, which opened in 1995.
"We were running in a parking lot, doing high jump in a parking lot," Thompson said. "Hurdles in the hallway. In the beginning, it was bare bones."
That was enough of a foundation. Thompson focused on the jumps both vertical and horizontal. She attended clinics to hone her techniques so she could help her athletes improve.
"She's very technically sound, but she is definitely somebody who allows the jumpers to get into the right headspace emotionally," said Hopkinton boys coach Brian Prescott, who Thompson coached when he was in high school. "As we know, track and field is so much of it is your mental preparation and mental stability going into an event. She is really good at calming people down and making sure that they feel confident."
Decades of results
Her approach produced elite athlete for decades. Hopkinton won the girls team all-state championship as a Division 5 school five years in a row from 2000-04. Tiana Wood (Riel when she was at Hopkinton) became one of the state's dominant athletes in the new millennium and went on to an All-American career at Boston College.
"Coach Thompson always brought the fun to track practice and meets. She was a favorite among the team and had a gift for coaching everything form athletes trying events for the first time to upperclassmen seeking advice before a state meet," Wood said. "Her positive energy brought me back to practice day after day, and she was there to provide guidance. Whether it was her bright, contagious smile after a big win or a hug after a tough race, I could always count on coach Thompson. As a coach later in my career, I often drew upon her coaching style and influence when training my own athletes."
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Thompson approached her coaching with a quick wit and a dry sense of humor. She allows athletes to take an extra rep if they want to but knows when to put the breaks on for the point of over exertion. Her practices move quickly because she's executed them for so long.
"She has it down pat," Hopkinton junior captain Josie Hopkins said. "She's the best. She'll be very honest wit you. If it was a bad job, she'll tell you it's a bad job. But then she also does a really good job of telling you ,' Oh no, this is still good. This is this is how you can improve.'"
Family atmosphere
Her mentorship extends beyond athletes. She was there for Prescott when he joined Hopkinton's coaching staff. Her presence brightened one of the first indoor practices Jean Cann held when she first took over the girls program even though Thompson only coaches in the spring.
"The Mass State Track Coaches Association, there are a lot of men. It's overwhelmingly men, so having a woman as a mentor was really good," Cann said. "The girls absolutely love her. it's it's great to just have another person to bounce ideas off of somebody who's who's done it all and done it for many years and with a lot of success."
She's made it something of a family business. Her kids got into track and field, and she coached against them. Thompson's daughter competed at Holliston, and her son was on Ashland's track and field team. Now she brings her grandchildren to practice.
"She is fabulous," Hopkins said. "She is really awesome to be around."
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Each new generation of Hopkinton athletes keeps her around. They are her answer to the annual question of whether to retire or keep going. A promising freshman or two always pushes back the date.
"I just don't want to give it up," Thompson said. "I just feel like it never gets old."
Contact Kyle Grabowski at kgrabowski@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @kylegrbwsk.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Hopkinton jumps coach Martha Thompson still going after three decades
