Coach is leaving Leopards to start cross-country program at Hernando Christian Academy.
By FRANK PASTOR
Published May 29, 2003
BROOKSVILLE - After-school jobs took some athletes.
Others were lost to academic competitions. The rest simply lacked commitment, until the Hernando girls track team was whittled from 12 members to six this past spring.
"It really was not a successful year," coach Sue Murphy said. "It was rather disappointing because of the lack of commitment."
That should be less of a problem in Murphy's new position.
The former Hernando girls track and cross-country coach will start a boys and girls cross-country program at Hernando Christian Academy, where she previously guided the softball and volleyball squads for eight seasons.
"It's a new challenge," Murphy said. "Kids are usually excited when they start something new, and it's something new for the school and I'd like to be able to accomplish what they would like me to accomplish."
Murphy, 44, worked at Hernando four seasons, including two as head girls cross country coach and one as head girls track coach. An avid runner, she completed a half ironman about two weeks ago in Panama City.
Murphy had not planned to coach at all next year, figuring to use the time to train for sprint triathlons and visit friends up north.
A trip to HCA's gymnasium for a basketball game in late winter changed her plans.
Athletic director Jason Kahler, a former cross-country athlete at Barker (N.Y.) High, sat next to Murphy and made an offer she couldn't refuse.
"She's starting from the ground level," Kahler said. "I've kind of given her the reigns and said, "You're it. Go for it.' "
HCA will start with 16 runners, all new to the sport.
Murphy's short-term goal is to get enough athletes to score in meets. In time, she hopes to develop a program the school can be proud of and perhaps change her runners' lifestyles.
"We have so many students that are inactive, it's good to have an influence on the rest of their lives," Murphy said.
"This is something where they can run, they can walk, just to want to get off the couch and do something," she said. "That's one of my biggest rewards, to see how it's changed some of my runners' lives."
HCA, a private school with an enrollment of about 400, hopes in the fall to enter invitationals, in which it won't be able to place but can gain experience before the school is placed in an FHSAA district in 2004.
"If we end this fall and it peters out, then we can say we gave it a shot," Kahler said. "But I can't foresee that happening.
"(Murphy) is a great coach. The vast majority of kids already know her, and it's a great fit."
Murphy understands that some runners may waver in their commitment once they see the work involved in cross country.
"This is all new, so that would be my fear - that many will quit," she said. "That's why my goal is to score. But we'll start out slow and really emphasize that it's individual growth and individual competition."
HCA also has teams in boys golf, soccer and basketball; girls soccer, volleyball and basketball; baseball and softball.
The school is looking for boys soccer and baseball coaches after Frank Zayas resigned from both positions.
- Frank Pastor can be reached at (800) 333-7505, ext. 1430. Send e-mail to pastor@sptimes.com
