For Spanish teacher and hurdles Head Coach Robyn Hughes, track and field is more than a sport — it’s her family legacy. Whether it’s coaching her daughter or hurdling pregnant, she proves that greatness is built with love and dedication.
Hughes’s running journey began in fifth grade, when her father, a Hall-of-Fame sprinter at Rutgers University, brought her to practice. There, Hughes fell in love with track.
“I would play in the sand while my dad was long jumping,” Hughes said. “It’s in your family, it’s in your blood, but it’s also a lot of hard work.”
By high school, Hughes was shattering records — including Michigan State records. Every track season following her freshman year, she was also recognized as an All-American.
“Track and field is painful,” Hughes said. “But you have to push yourself to the limit every day.”
Hughes’ success got her invited to the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center her junior year.
“They invited the best high schoolers in the country to the Olympic Training Center for one week,” Hughes said. “It was a preview of the U.S. track and field team for the Junior Olympics.”
At that point, Hughes was well on the road to college athletics — she’d received interest letters since her sophomore year. It ultimately took four official college visits, including Vanderbilt, Duke, and the University of North Carolina, before she decided to commit to Stanford.
“They would fly me out for visits, and I stayed in the team’s dorm,” Hughes said. “They show you how they run their practices, give you a campus tour, and bring you to socializing events. It was really fun.”
By her high school graduation in ‘98, Hughes’s Stanford commitment was a “no-brainer.” She was the school’s first-ever hurdler commit, and placed in the Pac-10 finals during her freshman year.
Throughout her career, Hughes’ drive to compete never faltered.
“It’s a hunger,” Hughes said. “You hit 14.3 seconds, and you’re like, ‘I can taste 14.2.’ Some people throw up, some people don’t. It’s painful.”
Alongside her dad, Hughes also credits her college coach, Bryan Westfield, for keeping her motivated.
“My coach was like a father figure to all of us,” Hughes said. “He took people home, traveled with us, no matter where you came from.”
Hughes earned her Master’s and teaching credential at Stanford, and started coaching at LAHS in 2006. But despite this shift, Hughes kept working out. She still demonstrates and runs and runs during practice — which she even did for four months while pregnant.
“I was pregnant, but I was still hurdling with the kids,” Hughes said. “It was really fun. Now, I coach and run at the same time — when they do 300s, I do 300s.”
“If I had the chance, I would do it all over again,” Hughes said. “But in terms of competing, I just practice. I don’t need to go to a meet to tell myself I’m fast. I just need to keep up with the 15-year-olds. And that’s fast enough for me.”
