Fox valley Pack TFCC
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The Fox Valley Pack TFCC is a non-profit organization that provides affordable opportunities for kids to participate in cross country and track and field at the youth, middle school, and high school levels. Our mission is to build community, teach fundamental skills, and create a fun, welcoming environment where every child has access to play and develop a lifelong love for running, jumping, and throwing.
Our philosophy emphasizes collaboration between middle school coaches, high school coaches, parents, athletes, and Pack TFCC clubs. Rather than focusing on high-pressure competition, extensive travel, or elite training, we provide accessible, community-based programming where kids can learn the fundamentals of track and field in a supportive local environment. All sessions occur outside of normal school seasons for middle and high school athletes. The club provides primary service to those in Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, Oswego, Naperville, and nearby suburbs.
Contact: Executive Director - Brenden Mariano, foxvalley@thepacktfcc.com, phone
Outdoor Lead Coach - Michelle
Cross Country Lead Coach -
Indoor Lead Coach -
Meet the Coaches
Executive Director Jeff Beaumont
Club Director and coach Brenden Mariano joins the Fox Valley Pack with 20+ years of coaching experience. He currently serves as an Assistant Coach for Men’s Cross Country and Track and Field at North Central College. Previously he coached boys cross country and track and field at Hoffman Estates High School and girls cross country and track and field at Schaumburg High School. Accolades include an IHSA State Championship team, 5 individual state champions, a NCAA Trophy Team, and 2 individual NCAA National Champions. In track and field, Coach Mariano has coached distance and throws.
Additionally, Coach Mariano brings 9+ years of experience in the business sector including entrepreneurship, sales, hospitality and fundraising. He is always looking to build connections and support within the Fox Valley community. As an athlete, Coach Mariano was a member of cross country and track and field teams from middle school through college. He was an IHSA State Qualifier in cross country and track and field and a team captain at North Central College. Post-collegiately he has competed in marathons, Spartan races, bike races, and Master’s track races.
Fun Facts:
In 2015, Coach Mariano broke Coach Quick’s 13-year streak of MSL West Division Championships. The former rivals now coach together.
As an athlete Mariano won team trophies at IHSA State (high school) and Nationals (college). Then he ran it back, coaching both his alma matter teams to State and National trophies.
Sam Brown is a special education teacher at Deerfield High School where she has also coached girls track and field coach from 2009 to 2024, including seven years as head coach. Her focus is on sprints and relays.
A former track and field athlete at Deerfield, Sam was thrilled to return to her alma mater to both teach and coach. She attended college at Butler University, where she competed for one year on the track and field team, specializing in sprinting and jumping.
Sam’s coaching philosophy centers on “growing the game.” She is passionate about teaching athletes the ins and outs of track and field while fostering a love for the sport. She emphasizes creating a supportive community where athletes encourage one another while focusing on their personal goals and striving to reach their best.
In addition to track and field, Sam also coaches field hockey. Her husband, Ryan, is a track and field coach as well, and together with their two children, Harper and Hayden, they spend much of their time on the track.
Lead Coach Sam Brown
Gaby Manzano is a New Trier High School graduate who jumps collegiately for the University of Connecticut. In high school, she was a four-time All-State athlete and a second team All-American. During her senior season, she was ranked number seven nationally in the long jump during the indoor season as well as number one in Illinois during the indoor and outdoor season. Her high school personal bests include 19-7 (long jump), 38-8 (triple jump), and 57.27 (400 meter dash).
Gaby grew up in Valdemorillo in Madrid, Spain before moving to Northfield at the age of nine. Moving at that age was difficult, and she never truly felt a sense of belonging until she started track and field as a freshman in high school. Her most important life lessons have been learned via her participation in the sport.
Beyond her athletic pursuits, Gaby is majoring in chemistry on the pre-med track with hopes of becoming a physician’s assistant. She has also played cello since she was five. She was immersed in the music world throughout her childhood, playing for the Chicago youth symphony orchestra and the music institute of Chicago. She is focused now on bettering herself overall and is excited to make new memories as part of this new club.
Jumps Coach Gaby Manzano
Assistant Coach Sarah Palmberg
Sarah Palmberg has been coaching track and field for over 25 years, with experience spanning elementary through high school athletes across both boys' and girls' teams. She has been teaching Physical Education at Highland Park High School since 2005 and was the girl’s head track coach until 2022. During her coaching years at HPHS, the team achieved many conference championships and 7 state medalists - including a state champion in the 100m and 200m.
As a high school athlete, Sarah competed in hurdles, sprints and relays. She fondly remembers her coaches talking strategy for the line-up, showing Sarah the excitement of competing and contributing to a team. In college, she added jumps and dabbled in the heptathlon. There, she watched her coach build up a program not just because of his knowledge of track and field but because of his ability to foster connections and community. In Sarah’s own coaching career she has always pushed athletes to strive for self-improvement - both physical and mental - and to realize their potential.
When she isn’t teaching or coaching, Sarah can be found rooting on her own children at football, soccer, cheer, theater, or track. She enjoys playing the piano, tackling home projects with her husband, challenging her family in a board game, planning travel, or listening to a good audiobook while walking her dog.
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Assistant Coach Colin Meyer
Colin Meyer is an experienced educator and coach, currently serving as an 8th grade special education teacher, cross country coach, and track and field coach at Wilmette Junior High School. With 15 years of experience teaching and coaching, Coach Meyer is passionate about fostering academic and athletic growth. Before joining WJHS, he taught and coached at Baker Demonstration School in Evanston. In his time at WJHS, he has helped multiple athletes qualify for the IESA State meet in both cross country and track and field.
Coach Meyer’s running journey began at Lincoln Junior High, where he competed under IESA coaching legend Steve Shaffer. He continued his career at Prospect High School under Mike Stokes, developing a lifelong passion for running and coaching. As a high school athlete, he competed in both the IHSA State cross country and track and field championships.
Beyond teaching and coaching, Coach Meyer is an avid outdoorsman. Whether he’s fishing, sailing, or simply exploring nature, he finds joy in being outside. In the summer, he can often be found at Lloyd Beach in Winnetka on his sailboat, enjoying time at his lake house in Southwest Michigan, or catching a live concert. He resides in Evanston, Illinois with his girlfriend, Lauren, and their beloved rescue pit bull, Honey Dog.
Sprints Coach Will Landwer
Will Landwer, currently a freshman competing for Penn State, is a 2025 graduate of New Trier High School. During Will’s senior year as a Trevian, he was the Illinois State Champion in both the 100 and 200 m dash. Will set state records in both events.
Distance Coach Heather McGinley
Heather McGinley is a science teacher at Highland Park High School. She ran cross country and track during middle school and high school and then competed in both sports at Johns Hopkins University. Her favorite thing about track and field is that anyone can join and be part of a supportive team. Every athlete can achieve personal bests and celebrate their own successes and the team's successes, however big or small.
After her collegiate career, she has continued to train and compete in road races from 5k to half marathon distance and has also attempted a few triathlons. While completing her graduate studies at the University of Illinois, she coached middle school cross-country and track club teams in the Urbana area.
Heather lives and runs with her husband and two children in Highland Park.
History
Still an avid endurance athlete, it took Coach Beaumont coming to grips with his running mortality for the North Shore Pack to reach fruition. Finisher of 10 marathons plus an Ironman, he was looking for a new challenge. As he approached 50 years of age, the mileage was taking its toll. The daily pain led his ever-loving daughters to make fun of him for "walking like an old man." He decided it was time to hang up the running shoes, but not before one more challenge. Jeff wanted to celebrate his 50th birthday by running a 50-miler. It was in training for this - and successfully completing it - that he rediscovered his passion for running. It occurred to him that this is what he was meant to do and that running brought him more joy than any other activity.
In wanting to share this love of running and cross country and track and field with more than just high schoolers, the idea of a youth running club was born. If you're a young person in the North Shore area, there are plenty of opportunities to play soccer, or dance, or cheer, etc. If you want to be a runner or a track and field athlete, the opportunities outside of middle school teams are non-existent. Until now. Bringing these opportunities to younger athletes and uniting them within the same club is an exciting endeavor that will reap benefits far greater than a faster mile time. Running is a universal activity that is good for physical health, mental health, and social health and it is exciting to teach young athletes how to do it safely and correctly.