Daviess County cross country coach Mark Fortney will be inducted into the Kentucky Track and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Clarion Hotel Conference Center in Lexington on Jan. 4.
Fortney is currently in his 13th year of coaching the girls’ team and his third year of coaching the boys’ team at DCHS.
The longtime coach was quick to credit his success to everyone who has helped him along the way.
“So many people have had an influence in my running and coaching career,” Fortney said. “My biggest supporter has been my wife Debbie. She has shared in our coaching duties throughout our tenure of coaching. Without her, none of this would have been possible.”
He was also thankful to former DCHS coach Tony Rowe, who helped Fortney get his current position at DCHS.
“Without Tony, I would not have gotten the Daviess County job and would most certainly not have received the Hall of Fame induction,” Fortney said. “He has been a great friend and an awesome coach to work with over the years.”
He said he was also grateful for the support from DCHS principal Matt Mason and athletic director Larry Logsdon. Both have been supportive to the program throughout Fortney’s tenure.
Most important in helping him earn Hall of Fame honors, Fortney said, was the talented athletes he’s had along the way.
“To be able to receive an award like this, you must have the athletes,” he said. “I have had such an awesome group of young ladies and gentlemen who have been terrific in the classroom and have been outstanding athletes and individuals. Without each of those athletes, this induction would definitely not have been possible. I owe it all to my current and former athletes.”
The KTCCA reviews Hall of Fame nominations each year, including coaches, athletes, officials and other supporters of track and cross country sports. Criteria for the Coaches Hall of Fame includes a review of team accomplishments, consistency in performance by student-athletes and how athletes are trained for their specific events.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Beginning with Fortney’s first year at Daviess County in 2007, his girls’ team has won the regional championship for 13 consecutive years. They won the Kentucky High School Athletic Association State Championship in 2015 and finished runner-up in 2009, 2016 and 2018. They had third-place finishes in 2007, 2013, 2014 and 2017.
Under Fortney’s leadership, the DCHS girls’ team has been on the state championship podium for the past eight seasons. In 2013, Whitney O’Bryan was the Individual Class AAA State Champion for DCHS. O’Bryan also served as an assistant coach for Fortney in 2018.
Other highlights of his coaching career include leading the Muhlenberg South High School girls’ cross country team to the Class AA state championship in 2006. Suzanne Leach — a senior on that team — won the individual state championship. In 2011, Leach joined Fortney as assistant coach at DCHS.
Fortney has been named All-Area Coach of the Year four times and was named KHSAA Class AAA Cross-Country Coach of the Year in 2015.
ABOUT FORTNEY
Fortney’s career and love of cross country and running began as a fifth-grader at Longest Elementary School in Muhlenberg County. His physical education teacher, Debbie Woolfolk, encouraged Fortney to work toward the Presidential Award through the Physical Education Test, which required running 600 yards in less than two minutes. Fortney’s time was 1:58.
He later competed for Muhlenberg Central High School, where coach Wendell Brown’s teams won regional championships during Fortney’s four years of high school. Individually, Fortney won the regional title at Hillcrest Golf Course during his junior and senior years in 1978 and ’79.
After graduating from high school, he joined his father in the building business and did not attend college. However, his connection to the sport remained strong through relationships with both family and friends.
Fortney’s coaching career began in 1996 working with elementary and middle school track and field students throughout Muhlenberg County as an assistant for Randy Swann. Fortney stayed there for three years.
By that time, Fortney’s three children — Ryanne, Jillian and Jacob — were reaching high school and he began coaching with John Kirtley at Muhlenberg North High School. Jillian also played basketball and soccer. Ryanne placed in the top 15 in the state championships four times and the top 10 twice. Ryanne graduated from the University of Alabama Birmingham in 2007 and helped her father coach at DCHS before moving to Ohio. Jacob earned a state championship in cross country in 2002 and 2003, and he went on to run for Eastern Kentucky University for four years.
In 2004, Jerry Hancock hired Fortney to assist with his team at Muhlenberg South High School. Fortney remained there until he and his wife Debbie moved to Owensboro in June 2006. DCHS coach Tony Rowe invited Fortney to take over the girls’ team after the retirement of coach Jeff Miller, and he’s held the position since.
