JOHN TRIPP
Coach
Inducted in 2024 |
John Tripp was inducted as a coach into the SHSAA Packer Sports Greats Athletic Hall of Fame in 2024.
John Tripp is currently South’s head boys’ cross-country coach and assistant track coach. In track, he works exclusively with the boys and girls distance runners. He also a South science teacher. Coach Tripp started coaching in 2007 and has helped 54 different athletes qualify for state. Those 54 athletes have qualified for state 118 different times. He was voted Metro Coach of the Year in 2011, 2014, and 2016, by metro-area coaches. He also has taken his cross country athletes to the Black Hills 14 years for a summer training camp. South’s boys’ cross-country team qualified for state in 2013, 2014, 2017, and 2019. The girls’ cross-country team qualified for state in 2011, 2014, 2015, and 2017. In the history of the school, the girls’ cross team has qualified for state more times than almost any other South High girls’ team. The 2014 team placed 7th at the state meet scoring 151 points. In 1984, the Omaha South girls also placed 7th place in the state with the same number of qualifying teams (12) but scored 189 points. And like golf, the low score wins, so the 2014 team can lay claim to the title of, “the best girls cross-country team in school history!” As a teacher, he has worked at South High since 2003. He has taught Biology, Anatomy, ELL Science Prep, and Physical Science. In 2016, he received the Alice Buffett Outstanding Teacher Award. In 2007, he was chosen for the Educator Award from Nebraska Statewide Arboretum. |