When SUNY Morrisville cross-country head coach Derek Powers approached Nikko Recchio about joining his program four years ago, the high school senior from Waterville, New York, saw himself as a very mediocre athlete who had fallen out of love with running.
Still, Recchio was interested in the school’s exercise science bachelor’s degree program and, after a second call from Powers, agreed to check out the team’s summer workouts. He liked what he saw, enrolled at the school, and laced up his running shoes again.
Fast forward to late fall of 2024 — After difficult freshman and sophomore seasons, the college senior ended his collegiate cross-country career with a series of top 10 and top 15 finishes. Those led him to be named State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Runner of the Week in October 2024, when he registered his personal best time in the 8k at 27:33, ahead of 67 other runners at the Hamilton Invitational.
Recchio continued to blaze a trail throughout his four years, shaving nearly six minutes off his 8k time and nearly four minutes off of his 5k time.
“He saw some inkling of potential in me and was willing to take the risk,” Recchio said of Powers. “That spoke volumes to me. He’s been a father figure to us.”
The family environment that is SUNY Morrisville’s varsity running program spans generations.
Powers, Class of 1995, ran cross country and spring track when SUNY Morrisville was still a two-year school. At the start of his second year, the track program was on the chopping block due to staffing shortages, so the student-athlete talked his father, Roger, also an alumnus and a professor in the automotive technology program at the time, into coaching the team.
Now 80, Roger Powers enjoys chilly autumn Saturdays watching his son coach and his granddaughter run.
Derek’s daughter, Laura Powers, finished her freshman season at SUNY Morrisville this past fall.
“As a coach, he’s focused and fair to every kid,” said Laura, who majors in the healthcare office coordinator degree program. “It’s a good experience to see how he interacts with other student-athletes.”
He’s made his mark beyond, with accomplishments that include being named United East Coach of the Year in 2022, North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Coach of the Year in 2013 and National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Coach of the Year in 2001.
Powers’ runners have claimed dozens of all-conference and championship banners, rookie of the year awards, an All-American in the women’s division and appearances at regional and national finals.
His dedication speaks volumes.
SUNY Morrisville’s running program was discontinued for many years but returned in the fall of 1993, prompting the Morrisville-Eaton High School graduate to stay local and attend his father and grandfather’s (Richard Powers) alma mater instead of Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC), which had a strong men’s cross-country team at the time. He enrolled in the School of Business.
“I wanted to be a guitar salesman,” Powers said. “I never imagined that I’d be able to make a living here. It’s been a joy.”
Powers returned to SUNY Morrisville as a coach in 1997, balancing the part-time gig with his full-time job at Stickley Furniture factory in Manlius. He also played guitar in country bands that opened for notable acts like Brad Paisley, Shenandoah and Blackhawk.
In 2018, former SUNY Morrisville Athletic Director Greg Carroll created a full-time position for Powers to oversee the men’s and women’s teams, which included starting the spring track teams back up. Powers hired Gary Parker to help, convincing the former MVCC coach whom he often competed against to come out of retirement.
“Our coaching philosophy matched quite a bit,” Parker said, adding that Powers’ accomplishments are quite remarkable given that the head coach was not a full-time employee for nearly 20 years and worked without an assistant.
“We both love the race within the race of developing the Division III athlete. You can shape even someone with moderate talent and get the best out of a kid. In the end, it’s just a bunch of nice kids running through the grass,” Parker said.
Not long after being named the NJCAA Coach of the Year, following a fourth-place finish by his men’s team at the national championship in Texas in 2001, Powers learned that SUNY Morrisville was leaving the junior college ranks to compete in NCAA Division III.
A decade later, the school elected to join the ultra-competitive SUNYAC athletic conference. Many invitationals combine all divisions, pitting teams of runners, mostly from New York state, against international competitors who come to the United States on athletic scholarships.
“We went from winning an invitational in the Finger Lakes, to running against Cornell and Roberts Wesleyan the following week,” he said. “It’s a thrill.”
Powers’ role as coach includes recruiting, one of the toughest parts of his job. Unlike some team sports, there are no travel clubs with showcase recruiting competitions that coaches can attend during their offseason. With soccer, for example, such recruiting events take place in the spring or summer and don’t conflict with the fall collegiate season.
Powers oversees a running program for both men and women that includes workouts between seasons and covers both semesters, so he’s also unable to scout prospects at their high school meets.
“It’s all word of mouth,” he said. “You have to fight for every athlete you get.”
Still, Powers said, SUNY Morrisville’s addition of so many great spectator sports like football, ice hockey and women’s volleyball — and its investment in top-notch athletics facilities — has made the school a sell during his nearly three decades of service there.
“Kids love watching the games. We all use each other’s sports to promote the school,” he said. “One-quarter of our student body is athletes. The growth is really something.”
Powers has witnessed significant change to his sport throughout the years, from improvements in sneakers and running surfaces to breakthroughs in nutrition and fitness that raised the performance bar for runners at all levels. Technology also helps, as well as school balance. The Starfish software, for example, allows Powers to monitor grades and class attendance.
But the coach also applies his own wisdom for maximum results, like working with professors to recognize star performers in the classroom and spotlight student-athletes of the week.
“I tell them, sit in the first three rows so they know you’re there,” Powers said.
He wears many other hats including mentor, counselor and sounding board — in an era when so many young adults are struggling with personal issues. These experiences working with student-athletes have motivated Powers to find potential in anyone interested in running for his program.
“You are also working on them to improve as a person,” he said. “Running stays with you long after college. It’s the toughest sport mentally. We’re the only sport where you cannot call a time out.”
