Allie Coyle is the head coach of the Montgomery Blair Boys Soccer Varsity team. Over the last 3 years as the head coach of the Varsity Boys Soccer, she has led the team to numerous titles including: 2x County Division Champions (2022, 2023), 2x Maryland 4A Region Champions (2022, 2024), Maryland 4A Semifinalist (2022), and, most recently, Maryland 4A State Champions (2024). 

Through numerous injuries as an athlete that required multiple surgeries, she learned that it doesn’t matter how bad you get knocked down, what matters is how you get up. She knew her teammates needed her, and she needed them. While working as a teacher as an adult, a group of boys lost their coach mid-season and approached her to help. By saying yes and showing up for them, they began to show up for each other. Allie instilled her refusal to take no for an answer coupled with a culture a positivity.

The outcome is remarkable. Coyle  became the first female of a boys’ soccer team to win the State Championship in the state of Maryland. This fall she not only brought in the coveted trophy but earned the title of Maryland’s Large Public High School Coach of the Year by the Maryland Association of Coaches of Soccer, as well as the Boys Soccer Coach of the Year from the Washington Post’s All Met.

@coach.coyle, @montblairsoccer

Ally Sentnor grew up playing multiple sports, but soccer held a special place because on Saturday morning, soccer was always followed by Dunkin Donuts! By age 11, she committed to the sport itself and looked for every opportunity to improve. When it came time to choose a college program, she picked UNC not necessarily because it was the best soccer program and would make her the best player but because UNC would make her the best person given the focus on core values and building a culture of excellence through discomfort and chosen adversity.

Ironically, sustaining a serious injury and navigating the psychological challenges she didn’t expect allowed her the opportunity to grow even more. By meeting with a sports psychologist and learning to better communicate her feelings, she gained a deeper appreciation for the concept of resilience, which was the core value she initially identified with. Her successes include 2019 Sports Illustrated Sports Kid of the year, , NCAA All-American, FIFA World Cup Bronze Medalist,  US National team member since age 14 and 2024 First Overall pick NWSL draft. Through it all, she understands that being true to your values is the secret to increase motivation, satisfaction, happiness and ultimately success.

@allysentnor

Colleen Rue’s relationship with fitness has evolved over the years. Starting as a dancer and drill team member in high school, she transitioned to a fitness, aerobics, spin instructor then began running marathons, triathlons and ironman ultramarathons. While the events got harder, her connections with others grew stronger instilling a confidence that she could do anything if they believed in her.

In addition to being a 2x Ironman finisher (with plenty of 70.3 finishes too!) and having 20+ years of experience as a coach, personal trainer and fitness instructor, she stands on the other side of the start and finish line with 10+ years of experience as an event host, speaker, emcee and race announcer. Her ability to truly understand what competitors are going through, meet them where they are at, identify what they need at any given moment and offer a level of support they didn’t realize they needed has allowed her to create deep connections, fosters participant’s personal growth, and develops bonds for life.

Colleen Rue has the privilege of having a front row seat to see the struggle and heroic journey that endurance event participants’ go through and chooses to see the best in others for who they are and what they have to offer.

@voiceofthemountain, @colleenrue

Growing up, Mitch Mathews  didn’t know what hard was. He enjoyed what he was doing and was good at it. That was until the age of 25 when he lost his mother and his football career in the same weekend. These experiences lead to 3 years of pain and  anger until he finally learned that hurt people hurt other people, but healed people can heal other people. 

This shift in mindset led him to give his life the theme, “Redefine Hard” where he started improving his perspective on life through doing hard things repeatedly. These experiences not only help authenticate and heal himself but also expose him to others where he can learn their stories. 

This former NFL athlete turned entrepreneur is using his chosen and unexpected adversity to accomplish 3 major “hard” goals that he hopes will impact millions of people. Mitch Mathews wants to break a world record by 34 years old, be the entrepreneur of the year in Utah by 39 years old and plans to give away $50 million dollars away in his lifetime.

@mitchmathews10

TJ Malone is largely known for his accomplishments on the field including PLL Rookie of the Year, 2x All-American, 2x All-Big Ten Offensive player of the year and 2-time Tewaaraton Award nominee for the Penn State Lacrosse program. However, what he loves most is his process off the field. In fact, he prefers practice over games, uses wall ball as a form of meditation and believes in the power of “kaizen” or continuous improvement.

By devoting hours to practice and falling in love with process over product and visualizing the feeling he wants vs the outcome he desires, he has been able to overcome various obstacles or adversity. Instead, he creates moments that he will remember for the rest of his life versus living with feelings of defeat. TJ chooses a mindset that takes him away from “I CAN’T” through “I CAN” and all the way to “I GET TO!”

@tjmalone1

Marc Hodulich is an avid adventurer, accomplished entrepreneur and proud father  of two boys. While he has founded and exited multiple event series converging community, athletics and philanthropy, he is likely most known as the CEO and Co-Founder of 29029. This is an uphill premium endurance challenge that asks participants to hike up a major ski mountain, take a gondola down and repeat until they ascend 29029 feet or the equivalent height of Mt. Everest.

As Marc describes, 29029 combines a physical obstacle, mental adversity, sleep deprivation, hunger, and unpredictable elements of weather to create an experience that helps one find out who they really are. Marc also explains his mindset as an endurance athlete who has completed this challenge 15x along with several 100-mile events and an Ironman triathlon. He discusses his definition of endurance and the ability to make a choice between  what we don’t want to do vs what we are able to do.

Through his experiences and business, he appreciates the opportunity to establish connections and relationships, help others become their best, and allow vulnerability and authenticity to bring out the best in himself. Marc is telling his own story while helping others write theirs as well.

@marc29029, @29029everesting, @29092trail

Growing up in a sports family, John Armistead always had a ball in his hand and found success at an early age. In fact, he relied on his talent too much while neglecting the mental side of sports. When he found himself without any college athletic offers, he needed to shift his mindset to create an opportunity by making an impact on the field, in the weightroom and in the classroom.

He traveled across the country to play lacrosse at Richmond for 4 years then took his 5th year to go back west and play football and one of the most historic and prestigious programs in USC. While he didn’t focus on mental health growing up, he quickly learned how important it was while balancing athletics, academics, and college life. Navigating severe injuries also tested his identity without sport and forced him to find satisfaction in new things when his usual things were no longer there.

John is now combing his personal experience and passion to help others to build a platform called AthletesTogether to create awareness, community and actionable resources.

@athletestogether, @johnarmistead

Valarie Cagle essentially grew up on a diamond as her siblings played baseball and softball. Practicing with her father, she learned how to become a player before becoming a pitcher. Her approach to the game translated to the collegiate level where she played and excelled at multiple positions at Clemson earning awards as a pitcher and hitter. Throughout her collegiate career, she became a 4X All-American, 4X All-ACC honoree, and ACC Player of the Year in 2021 and 2023. In 2023, she was also named as USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, NCAA D1 Softball Player of the Year, and Rawlings Gold Glove award winner.

Despite her tremendous success on the field, she struggled with her identity and faced several challenges that impacted her mental health off the field. She was so focused on being the player others needed her to be that she lost sight of the person  she wanted to be. By learning to give herself permission to take care of herself and prioritize things she enjoyed doing, she redefined her relationship with the sport including her role on the field.

Valarie candidly shares that while we may see athletes smiling on the field, it does not show their entire story. She also explains that while others often remember us for what we did, it’s much more important to be remembered for who we are.

@val_cagle

Growing up in a lower income household as the 5th of 6 kids, Kevin Krause did not have some of the privileges that others had and while he always knew there would be food on the table, he didn’t get to choose what he would eat. Early on, he learned that if he worked hard, he could earn the freedom to make his own choices.

While he stumbled into law enforcement as a career, his work ethic combined with his love of physical activity allowed him to excel and better handle the stress of his job. His appreciation for people and experiences caused him to invest in life outside of work by prioritizing scheduled and meaningful trips with friends and family evolving into what is now known as “Kevins rule.”

Kevin takes an intentional approach to his job, family, friends, fitness and other “boxes he needs to check” on a daily basis. As such, while others focus on the pain and discomfort of completing a major endurance event  like riding a bike for 100 days x 14 days across country, climbing the equivalent of Mt. Everest in a weekend or completing an Ironman, Kevin looks at these challenges as a vacation! 

Kevin Krause has been a law enforcement officer for 30 years, Ironman, winter mountaineer. He has completed two 100-mile races, finished Boston marathon in 2:28 and biked across America. He is a husband and father of 4. However, he believes that he is just, “an ordinary man doing extraordinary things!”

Darian Cruz was always a huge dreamer working to chase the next great thing.  Exposed to wrestling at age 4, he didn’t have to look far to find his heroes. They lived in his house or went to his local high school. Every Wednesday and Friday evening at the local dual meet, he witnessed how champions looked and acted. By surrounding himself with greatness and “keeping the main focus the main focus,” his own ideas turned into thoughts and ultimately became beliefs.

That belief system has been continuously tested with adversity, but he keeps learning to struggle well which lights a fire that motivates him even further. He has gone from a 2X Pennsylvania State Champ to a 3X NCAA D1 All-American to an NCAA National Champion and most recently he achieved the ultimate dream of becoming an Olympian competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Darian shares his experiences, his perspective and the evolution of his mindset that have helped him become the man he is today, continues to be and wants to be in the future.

@dariantoicruz.pur