Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Enicks stands between the Boys Distance Medley relay team of Zach Youngblood, Grant Youngblood, Ryan Lovelace, and Chance Underwood after placing 3rd at last year's Adidas Indoor Track Nationals.
A Veteran Of The Track
The Girls Preparatory School track is bright blue. The rowers are out, emerging from the boathouse near the edge of the Tennessee River bordering the south end of campus. The rowers, expats from the McCallie School across town, are like fish out of water, running awkwardly around the blue oval in the misty late afternoon. Beside the track, under a large awning, kids of all ages mill around. They hastily put on layers and take shelter near the indoor tennis courts. There are girls and boys of all ages. You can tell they are friends despite the age gaps. You can tell they are runners.
Despite his 63 years, Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Enicks bustles around his athletes with the energy of an elementary school teacher on field day. His blue eyes flash, and his inviting face smiles easily. He wears a backward camo cap. He too layers up, slipping on a pullover hoodie from a backpack containing a variety of shoes and other jackets. He is a veteran of many things. He is always prepared.
After verifying each athlete has a ride home, Hugh paces back and forth under the mist. Our conversation flows easily. Unlike other decorated sports coaches, Hugh, or as he is known around Chattanooga, Colonel, speaks freely. He has no secrets or mysteries to hide. His life and accomplishments speak for themselves.
"You know my Dad was the track captain at Purdue, from 1959-60. In many ways, I was born on the track. I was on the track in diapers. The sport is a huge part of my life. As a kid, elite runners would often come by for dinner. Being around those types of athletes, seeing how they trained and how they thought, I soaked it all in."
Coach Enicks certainly did. As of this writing, the Hixson girls, Ooltewah boys, Red Bank boys and girls, and several other Chattanooga area schools' distance records are held by athletes coached fully or partially by Hugh Enicks. Many of the athletes are current or former members of E-Distance, a club team comprising athletes from elementary age to elite seniors in high school. They come from numerous schools across Hamilton and the surrounding counties. Many former E-Distance members are recent Tennessee legends, including Cole Bullock and Carson Turner, both currently running at Ole Miss. Carson won the 2022 TSSAA State Championship in the 800 meters. Cole Bullock has solidified his place in the college ranks, with several SEC top 10 finishes, including the SEC indoor 5000 meter crown in 2021. The E-Distance family also includes Ryan Lovelace and Jack Cottrell, both currently on scholarship at DII Lee University and Liberty University.
During the competitive seasons when he's not working with EDistance, Enicks can be found at Girls Preparatory School, assistant coaching the girls squads in both cross country and track and field.
Enicks has come a long way from his early days watching the cinders fly in Indiana. After running varsity cross country and track at Indiana State, Enicks transferred to Rose Hulman Institute of Technology on an ROTC scholarship where he earned his engineering degree. Commissioned after graduation, Enicks stayed in the Army for 21 years, serving across the country as well as in Bosnia and Grenada. After raising three boys, Will, Andrew, and David, and over two decades in the service, Chattanooga offered a slower pace of life. "I interviewed for ROTC jobs around the country. I got the Red Bank ROTC teaching position. Chattanooga just felt right."
Coach Enicks began coaching at Red Bank almost immediately. Within four years, the team had won a regional title in cross country and a sectional championship in track. "After watching them run early on, I saw how good the kids could be." As each team came and went, talented runners began to emerge. "I coached my boys who were good in their own right, Mike Walker, who ran at Lee, of course Phoebe, who ran professionally, Claire Turner, who won three state titles before competing at Alabama, then Cole towards the end of my 17 years there."
William Hugh Enicks the Fifth (above), Coach Enicks being the fourth, is the oldest of the three sons and ran cross country at Tennessee Tech from 2006 - 2009.
Cole Bullock, the laid back yet phenomenally talented senior distance runner and engineering major at Ole Miss, considers Coach Enicks a father figure as well as a great coach. "Hugh is truly a once in a lifetime coach. Running with him for literally thousands of miles, it never felt like he was my coach but more so a father figure. One thing he told me I still live by is, 'mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.' I would never be where I am today without him."
Cole had a rocky start to his career. "He broke his leg in two places as an eighth grader. His first high school cross country practice, all he did was run a lap, walk a lap," Coach Enicks remembers. "But later that fall, he was our best runner. Soon he was running 4:40s in the mile. Within two years, Cole was doing serious mileage. He was unique in that he could handle it. Some athletes can't, and that's okay. I try to take an individualized path toward training. Periodization and environment are more important than mileage."
Bullock's fastest high school 1600m time was run at the McCallie Invitation in 2019 where he clocked at 4:10.
Chance Underwood, a senior at Ooltewah High School, is a current member of E-Distance. A signed commit for ETSU next fall, Chance is excited about the upcoming season and appreciative of Coach Enicks' tutelage. Since there are only a handful of completive runners at Ooltewah, Chance trains with Coach E-Distance in the off season and works with both Enicks and school coaches during the season.
"I was running the 400 meters in middle school, but Coach Hugh thought I could be good at distance running. He was right."
Chance wants to break 4:16 in the 1600 meters for his final season, a goal he is on pace to accomplish after running 1:59:79 in the Bama Showcase on January 29. His fondest memories with E-Distance are the long runs with the team. He is ready for the camaraderie of college running.
After retiring from Red Bank in 2019 when Cole graduated, Coach Enicks turned his full attention to E-Distance. At the moment, he has the right amount of kids. "I can handle about 20 or 22. The main thing is keeping them close, so they can learn from each other. It's the atmosphere that helps them improve. There's no cookie-cutter approach to coaching. Every kid has an individual program. I send it out each Sunday. Some can handle more intensity, and some can do more miles. Some kids spin on a bike for a day or two. Keep them healthy and well, and they'll improve.
Coach Enicks waves goodbye as the last athlete departs. The rowers have vanished. "Right now, some kids float in and float out, depending on their seasons. The amount of kids isn't the issue. Making sure consistency is there - that's the key. Working with an athlete over a few off-seasons is where I can best help them. Making sure they are in the right groups allows for a variety of kids to work together and improve. I run in the middle of the groups so I can keep an eye on everyone."
Coach Hugh and I keep talking as rain begins to drizzle on the now-empty track. "I have picked up so many things over the years. As a child at Purdue, with a young father still competing, I didn't have much of a choice - I was just around it. Information is power. Tactics and workout insights and setting realistic goals are the keys to success - for any athlete, not just the ones I get to coach. Most want to run in college, and getting them to that level is huge because maybe they go pro, maybe not, but that college running environment will impact their lives in many positive ways. I get to help them a little bit towards those goals."
The moody sky is now dark. The kids are gone. The track is empty. Coach Hugh is layered up, bouncing on fresh Nikes towards his red truck sitting alone in the parking lot. Despite his middle age and the workout that afternoon, Coach Enicks is still full of energy. He wears the mark of all great coaches - the boundless energy, years of experienced wisdom, and an unquenchable desire to help those willing to try their best. After a lifetime on the track, with two retirements behind him, Hugh Enicks has traveled many miles from the Indiana cinders of his youth. But there are still athletes to coach. And many miles yet to go.