Jesuit's Boza resigns to coach at Leto

Taking on a new challenge

By JOEY KNIGHT
Published December 14, 2006

TAMPA - Jesuit cross country coach Mike Boza, who spent a dozen years building a distance-running dynasty at the school, now will try to re-build one.

At Leto High.

Boza, who led the Tigers to four state titles and three runnerup finishes during his 12 seasons, recently informed his runners he resigned to become Leto's cross country and girls track coach.

His final Jesuit team, which featured five underclassmen among the top seven runners, finished fourth at the Class 2A meet in early November.

"It was difficult, but what I told the boys was, "It's the right thing to do and right time to do it,' " Boza said. "The team's in really good shape and will do well without me. It has good support and some really good coaches still around."

Boza took a job as head of Leto's social studies department in June after 18 years as a teacher at Jesuit. This past season, he made the short commute east on Hillsborough Avenue to coach Jesuit's runners in the afternoons.

"I didn't want to not coach cross country (this season) at Jesuit because I start months and months in advance, and as far as I was concerned, we were in midseason (when he took the Leto job)," Boza said.

"Both principals agreed I could continue coaching there. Frankly, both were amenable to the idea - if I wanted to continue on (at Jesuit) I could, because it was so important to me."

Under Boza, the Tigers captured 2A titles in 1998, 2000, '04 and '05, and were state runnersup in 1997, 2001 and '03. Among his pupils: 2003 state champ and '04 runnerup Andy Biladeau (now at the University of Virginia), and '05 state runnerup James Osborne (now at Duke).

He hopes to bring similar success to a once-proud Falcons program that has mostly languished since the 1998 retirement of Bobby Ennis, who led Leto's boys to seven state titles in 19 seasons.

Boza, a 1978 Jesuit graduate, said the arrival of an AP magnet program could actually buoy his new team, which didn't field enough runners to place in either the girls or boys race at this past season's Class 3A, District 4 meet.

"There's some really good things going on at Leto," Boza said. "I think the school has an undeservedly rough reputation. There are some really good people working there and kids who are working awfully hard."

[Last modified December 14, 2006, 02:13:18]