When the girls’ cross country team received a GroupMe notification to bring an extra t-shirt to practice, they immediately knew that something was not quite right. Believing that they were going for a long run in River Oaks, the team was surprised to arrive at girls’ cross country coach Melanie Margolis’s house, where they were instructed by their head coach Rachel Fabre to jump in the pool.
This year, Fabre served her final season as head coach of the girls’ cross country team, and she’s now transitioning into her new role as head coach of the girls’ soccer team.
Fabre has been the head coach of the girls’ cross country team since 2006, when she joined the SJS athletics department from Dripping Springs High School in Round Rock, Texas. During her time at St. John’s, Fabre has implemented long-standing girls’ cross country traditions, such as summer retreats to bring the runners together.
“While I am a competitive person, the memories we make on the retreat are probably my fondest,” Fabre said.
This past summer, the girls’ cross country team traveled to Boston to kick off Fabre’s final season. There, they visited Salem, explored the Boston aquarium and watched a Red Sox game, enabling Fabre to connect with her athletes.
“Knowing your runners is incredibly important because as much as you want to try, you can’t have a one-size-fits-all model,” Fabre said.
While some of her competitive nature stems from being a D1 soccer player at the University of Texas at Austin, Fabre prioritizes her runners’ investment in their own success.
According to Fabre, cross country is a unique sport—not just because practices are at 5:30 every morning, but also due to the way cross country runners find their motivation through hard workouts.
“It’s a little easier to see your own successes and your own improvements as a runner because there’s a clock up to it,” Fabre said.
Fabre’s mentality led to the team’s success in winning four Southwest Preparatory Conference championships. Captain Cora West says that the “competitive, lively and fun” environment that Fabre creates helps the runners connect and that she will leave a lasting legacy behind.
As Fabre looks to the future, she hopes all of her runners will be able to experience the success they want in life.
“It makes me feel so good when I know that students leave school here feeling more successful,” Fabre said. “So many alumni are still running.”
Coach Haley Barrett will assume the position of girls’ cross country head coach next season. She says that she will always be inspired by Fabre, describing her relationship with the team as “concentrated real emotion based on love.”
