Many high school students spend their senior year determining what they want to do in the future, but Coach Travis Craig already knew how he wanted to spend his adult years: coaching.

As a teen in high school, Coach Craig always had a passion for teaching, but especially coaching. He found his passion from his cross country and track coach, Regina High School legend, Bob Brown.

Throughout his high school career, Craig became very familiar with success. In cross country, he was a four-time state qualifier, and in track, he was a three-time state qualifier. His success didn’t stop there, though.

Craig stayed in Iowa, going to Waverly, where he attended Wartburg College. On the track team, he was a multiple-time all-conference winner as well as a two-time national qualifier for the Knights. In cross country, he was a two-time IIAC champion and a Hall of Fame inductee. 

After running at Wartburg, Craig found himself longing to stay within the sports of cross country and track. He ended up in a small town of Keokuk, Iowa, helping coach the Keokuk Chiefs’ track teams. 

He took on the role of guiding the eight-person team to success. Five out of the eight runners on the team were state meet qualifiers in track and field. This inspired him and motivated him to keep coaching. 

After getting his first coaching experience in Keokuk, he continued to coach around the state of Iowa. He coached at Glidden-Ralston High School and Webster City High School. With his expertise and experience in distance events, he helped both schools coach cross country as well as the events from 800 meters up to 3200 meters. 

In 2005, Craig found himself back in the Iowa City area looking for a job. He applied for a coaching job at West High on the cross-country team. This position would ultimately lead to where he is now. 

He continued to coach both cross country and track under head coach Brian Martz. Then, in 2016, Martz retired, opening up the head coach position. Craig applied in an instant, hoping to be hired as the new head coach. 

In 2016, he was hired as the new head coach of the Trojans track team. His philosophy? Everyone is different.

It didn’t take long for the Trojans to find success under their new head track coach. Just two years after being hired, Coach Craig led the team to the state track meet, intending to win it all. 

Gallery • 4 Photos

Josh Kidman

Christian Janis '23 embraces Coach Travis Craig after taking first place in the 4x100 meter relay at the state meet.

The Trojans finished the meet, taking home a second-place team finish with many individual accomplishments. Success didn’t end here, though. He continued to help guide the team to two top-five finishes in 2023 and 2024.

Another thing that Coach Craig loves about track is the number of kids that can be on the team. Unlike other sports, track has the unique ability to house as many athletes as want to go out. This also pushed him to find new ways to increase the size of the team and incentivize students to go out. 

Track is also special because it can attract so many people for different reasons. Track can be the perfect complement to someone looking to push themselves in the offseason. Craig has structured the sport to be low commitment with shorter practices because he loves people just coming out. 

The environment he has built is centered around hard-working students willing to sacrifice for the team, and that’s where Craig draws much of his inspiration from. “I’m inspired by kids who are willing to work hard,” Craig said.

From his high school days as a runner to his first job, Coach Craig has always loved track and enjoyed helping other people love track. His unique passion and approach to building teams help them find success, but most importantly, make sure every kid enjoys running track.

Coach Craig has built a one-of-a-kind program at West High where students embrace the team-first mentality and reap the rewards with wins at all levels.