Biography:
Rebecca Larson, Head Coach, Cross Country
Coach Larson begins her 7th season as Head Cross Country Coach at FCHS. She is also the Head Coach for both the Indoor and Outdoor Track teams in the winter and spring. Coach Larson ran cross country and track at Paul M. Dorman High School in Spartanburg, SC. She helped lead her girls’ cross country team to its first State meet appearance in ‘96 beginning a tradition of excellence as one of the top ranked high school teams in the state today. She also competed at the state outdoor track championships in the 800m run. These state appearances helped her earn an athletic scholarship in both sports at Francis Marion University where she once owned the 1500m record in track. Coach Larson graduated with a B.S. in Biology in 2001. After graduation she became a contractor for Charles River Laboratories working with aquatic animals used for biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD where she is now the Project Manager. Coach Larson has maintained her goals of developing a solid program of competitive runners at FCHS. The boys’ cross country team advanced to the Region Championships last year for the first time in almost 10 years. They hope to continue this success with a possible District Championship this Fall along with the girls’ team advancing to regionals as well. She hopes to see athletes who will leave the program achieving both personal success and becoming goal-oriented, hardworking individuals that may even want to continue their running careers at the collegiate level.
Dan Larson.
Pole Vault Coach
Biography:
Dan Larson, Assistant Coach, Cross Country
Mr. Larson is no stranger to the Falls Church cross country and track programs with a wealth of experience from his apprenticeship under Coach Rebecca Larson, his collegiate experience where he was a scholarship athlete as well as All-Academic on the Francis Marion University men’s cross country team, and he comes from a family of track and field athletes. Mr. Larson graduated high school from James W. Robinson where he played soccer and ran track for the Rams. He graduated college with a B.A. in Accounting from Francis Marion University in 2001 and has been working for a CPA firm, Gurman and Company, in Fairfax as a supervisor ever since. He has been married to Rebecca Larson for almost 5 years. Mr. Larson began coaching the Pole Vault event for the Falls Church track & field team in 2007 which has helped the team to District Championship and District Runner-up titles in pole vault. Last winter, he coached Riley Louden to a Region Championship in pole vault at the Northern Region Championships, and to the State Championships where Riley both medaled and scored points for Falls Church, a first for a Falls Church athlete in about 20 years.