CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M cross country volunteer coach Gracen Key was accepted into the U.S. Track& Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Female Coaching Mentorship Program on Thursday afternoon. 
 
Key will be mentored by Anna Bearss, the assistant cross country/track & field coach at Bradley University. Bearss has also spent time at South Dakota State and Indiana State.
 
"First of all, I'm very excited to have Gracen joining the cross country staff this fall. Her contributions to the team went far beyond performance measures the past two years," head coach Jake Krolick said. "Since transitioning to a coaching role, she has made it to clear that she is looking for every opportunity to learn, gather experience, and network. She has attended webinars through USTFCCCA this summer and was extremely excited about applying to the Female Coaching Mentorship Program. I know this opportunity will help her as she begins her coaching career and help our program as Coach Bearss has had immediate success during her young coaching career. I believe she will be a great mentor as her pursues a similar path."
 
Key transitions into coaching after spending the past two years as a member of the Lady Buff cross country/track & field program. 

The FCMP aims to support climate change as well as the depth of female coaching experience through pairing individuals up with 1:1 year-round mentorship with a coach and adhering to set guidelines for successful consultations with esteemed leaders of the sport from a variety of backgrounds.
 
Mentors are expected to provide new perspective, orient to the coaching system the mentee is in, and provide unique insight to the mentee's situation-specific questions, be willing to share some of their best practices, and be open to telling their lessons-learned-the-hard-way stories.