COACH DAVID CAIN: He has established UAH as one of the premier cross country and track and field programs in NCAA Division II

Story By Bob Labbe | Photos By Joshua Berry | Living 50 Plus

Upon approval by the UAH Board of Trustees, the local college will break ground on a new state-of-the art, championship track and field venue on the South Loop of the university near the current outdoor athletic facilities. Breaking ground on the multi-million-dollar facility is expected this summer with completion and opening in the spring of 2027.

Anyone who knows the university and its up-and-coming athletic department knows all too well the huge success of the current track and field and cross-country programs at the school is thanks in part to David Cain. Now in his more than a quarter of a century position as head coach of the program, Cain has established UAH as one of the premier cross country and track and field programs in all of NCAA Div. II as his dedication at building great teams and individual athletes has presented him with the honor as being named Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year eight times. The 50-year-old, who turns 51 in April, has built the programs from their raw beginnings and is glowing at the thought of new facilities to match what he already believes is a great program.

“It’s amazing to me to know I’m the head coach at UAH here in my hometown,” said Cain, who was hired by the university in January 1998 and has seen a total of 45 All-Americans in his men’s and women’s programs since 2017. “It’s hard to believe I’ve stayed here 27 years. I knew years ago I wanted to coach at the collegiate level, but didn’t give a lot of thought to longevity at this position.”

Besides being a college coach in his 27th season, Cain is no stranger to local athletics, especially in the area of cross country and track and field. Born and raised in Huntsville, he grew up in Southeast Huntsville at the base of Green Mountain on Lancelot Drive with his family’s home at the end of a dead-end street. Cain attended Grissom High where he ran both cross country and track and was even on the school’s tennis team. He ran both the one and two-mile races and finished runner-up at the State Meet in the two-mile event. As he graduated in 1992, he earned an athletic scholarship to Mississippi State running for both programs for the Bulldogs in the Southeastern Conference and finished tenth in the 3000-meter steeplechase race.

While at Mississippi State, where he earned his degree in fitness management, Cain also met his future wife as both were on the Bulldogs’ cross-country team. He began dating Ashley as a freshman and were married when both were seniors. Now 29 years later, they are the proud parents of seven children ranging in ages of 7-26.

“Ashley is a licensed massage therapist, but stays at home to home-school our children,” said Cain. “We live on a 30-acre farm in Somerville, which is southeast of Decatur on highway 67. We have a big garden and farm animals. I also like to play golf and yes, still today, occasionally will run for good exercise.”

At UAH, Cain’s daughter, Elizabeth, is a sophomore and runs cross country and, like her father, partakes in the steeplechase event. Cain’s son, James, graduated last year and has decided to be a volunteer assist this spring alongside his father.

“I’d love for our programs to receive more exposure as we are highly competitive and our men’s cross-country team has qualified for the nationals the last five years. Our goal is to finish in the top 10 at nationals,” added Cain, who personally watched his programs grow to where they are today.

Just how did track become a sport at UAH, which for years for known for its basketball and hockey programs? The story began almost three decades ago as the Cains were training for and participated in the Monte Sano 10K. Michael Scarano, then UAH cross country coach, approached Cain about training with one of Scarano’s cross country athletes. It was then Cain began to know deep inside coaching was what he wanted to do. Six months later, Scarano called Cain and asked if he would be interested in coaching at UAH as Scarano was leaving his positions at UAH and moving to California. It’s easy to understand Cain jumped at the chance. He’s never looked back.

“A couple years later I met with the UAH Athletic Director and spoke about the possibility of adding track and field to help take our cross-country program to a higher level,” said Cain. “In the spring of 2001 we added a women’s track program.”

Cain immediately began to recruit and in 2003, his squad won the Gulf South Conference championship, advanced to the nationals with nine members from Alabama and one athlete from Georgia. The team finished 15th at the nationals. “That was a landmark year for our program,” said Cain. In 2004, men’s track was added to the scope of athletics at UAH and just three years later won the Gulf South Conference title.

Cain is quick to point out that from 2001 to 2024 at least one of his athletes has qualified for the nationals with the highest placement of second. That happened twice. Kaitlyn Barber was runner-up in the 100-meter and Zach Hancock did the same in the discus. Hancock also finished fourth in the shot put. Two years ago, Sam Wilhelm took third in the 10-thousand-meter and was fourth in the 5-thousand-meter race.

The athletic programs practice at Milton Frank Stadium but cannot host track events as the facilities at the City School owned stadium don’t have the necessary aspects to accommodate a track meet. Expansion and upgrades are planned for the stadium, which opened in 1962 and has been the home to high school football, track events, national soccer matches, church services and even rock concerts back in the 1970’s.

Cain is a 2023 Huntsville-Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame inductee. His accomplishments as an athlete and overseer of the programs at UAH were the reasons he was easily selected for the Hall of Fame, especially considering his athletes don’t have an on-campus facility.

A huge component in the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) organization, Cain has hosted and facilitated the FCA Sports Camp here locally for the last 13 years. He knows his faith has carried him far in life in all areas of his life and relationships are the key to being successful. He added, “Relationship is a partnership as my style of coaching is one of constant communication. For each athlete I write a training plan for them and through communications make adjustments when needed. All of that is really rewarding to have that relationship that goes more than coach and athlete. I see them graduate from UAH, which comes with a high level of education.”

Cain is extremely proud of the fact the athletes in his programs have an average of 3.26 grade point average. The average among all students at UAH is 2.9.

“I encourage the athletes to strive for academic success as they want to get into high school or college coaching. After all, that’s what I did,” said Cain.

Is retirement just around the corner for Cain? He answered the question saying, “No. I have four young children at home and I have plans to help them through school. I love coaching and have no plans to do anything else. There are a lot of reasons to be excited about the athletes and our program at UAH.”