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May 8, 2014 • Sports
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Milan Lady Indian discus competitor senior Lauren Thomas. GARY FRANKLIN PHOTO |
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Left is South Ripley Supt. Rob Moorhead braving the elements and making the weather conditions brighter with his smile. Pictured right is John Boyken father of senior track and field athlete JC Boyken. GARY FRANKLIN PHOTO |
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During South Ripley’s only slated home-hosted Track & Field Meet of the 2014 spring season, all 17 senior Raider members were recognized. GARY FRANKLIN PHOTO |
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Durham honored for his Track & Field service
Gary Franklin
SPORTS EDITOR
Sam Durham, former South Ripley Track & Field coach and current assistant coach to the team was honored for his years of coaching at the three-way track meet held at South Ripley April 29.
GARY FRANKLIN PHOTO
Unsuspecting, long-time, dedicated SRHS Track & Field Coach Sam Durham is presented a plaque for his many years of dedicated services to SR Raider athletes by current Head T&F Coach Jim Cole. A proud moment shared by many of his previous SR runners who were trackside for the special presentation.
After graduating from Indiana State University in 1969, Durham started his teaching and coaching career at Medora High School. A few years later, he moved to Moores Hill High School before finally landing at South Ripley. He has spent a total of 38 years in the classroom. Coaching endeavors included baseball, basketball, cross country, and track & field. The running sports were always his favorite.
Durham coached up into the 1990s, but as his daughters became more involved in activities (and after his 1992 boys team won the sectional), he decided to step aside from the track; however, he never seemed to be able to get away from the sport totally and came back first with the junior high teams in 2004 and then moved into the varsity position a few years later.
Sam has many county and conference championships to his credit, both in cross-country and in track, and he was named Coach of the Year a number of times, ever praising his athletes for any of those accomplishments. That is why goal setting was so important to him and why he tried to impart to his athletes how setting goals and having something to strive for was extremely important. Many of Coach Durham’s athletes will remember his short-term and long-term goal charts and the Cokes and Dairy Queen treats they enjoyed when meeting their goals.
One long-standing trademark of Coach Durham is his distribution of jelly beans to his athletes before their competition, to give them energy. One time, he had his wife Nancy buy all the bags that CVS had to get him through the season!
A memory shared in the presentation included that of William (Gus) Moorhead, who was one of Durham’s significant mentors, telling people on more than one occasion: “If the State of Indiana had class track, Sam Durham and South Ripley would have multiple state titles!” Gus would frequently praise Coach Durham as not just one of the best coaches in Southeastern Indiana but in all of Indiana.
Through the years, Durham has coached several athletes to state-level competition, but more importantly ,he has been proud of the life accomplishments many of those competitors have enjoyed. Many of Durham’s former track athletes are coaches today and many others continue to run and compete as well, which brings a smile to his face. He most definitely enjoys the friendships he has forged with so many young people through his coaching experiences. Of course, Durham has also fostered a love of the outdoors with many of those athlete, and they swap fishing and hunting stories, as well.
Gary Franklin
SPORTS EDITOR
Sam Durham, former South Ripley Track & Field coach and current assistant coach to the team was honored for his years of coaching at the three-way track meet held at South Ripley April 29.
GARY FRANKLIN PHOTO
Unsuspecting, long-time, dedicated SRHS Track & Field Coach Sam Durham is presented a plaque for his many years of dedicated services to SR Raider athletes by current Head T&F Coach Jim Cole. A proud moment shared by many of his previous SR runners who were trackside for the special presentation.
After graduating from Indiana State University in 1969, Durham started his teaching and coaching career at Medora High School. A few years later, he moved to Moores Hill High School before finally landing at South Ripley. He has spent a total of 38 years in the classroom. Coaching endeavors included baseball, basketball, cross country, and track & field. The running sports were always his favorite.
Durham coached up into the 1990s, but as his daughters became more involved in activities (and after his 1992 boys team won the sectional), he decided to step aside from the track; however, he never seemed to be able to get away from the sport totally and came back first with the junior high teams in 2004 and then moved into the varsity position a few years later.
Sam has many county and conference championships to his credit, both in cross-country and in track, and he was named Coach of the Year a number of times, ever praising his athletes for any of those accomplishments. That is why goal setting was so important to him and why he tried to impart to his athletes how setting goals and having something to strive for was extremely important. Many of Coach Durham’s athletes will remember his short-term and long-term goal charts and the Cokes and Dairy Queen treats they enjoyed when meeting their goals.
One long-standing trademark of Coach Durham is his distribution of jelly beans to his athletes before their competition, to give them energy. One time, he had his wife Nancy buy all the bags that CVS had to get him through the season!
A memory shared in the presentation included that of William (Gus) Moorhead, who was one of Durham’s significant mentors, telling people on more than one occasion: “If the State of Indiana had class track, Sam Durham and South Ripley would have multiple state titles!” Gus would frequently praise Coach Durham as not just one of the best coaches in Southeastern Indiana but in all of Indiana.
Through the years, Durham has coached several athletes to state-level competition, but more importantly ,he has been proud of the life accomplishments many of those competitors have enjoyed. Many of Durham’s former track athletes are coaches today and many others continue to run and compete as well, which brings a smile to his face. He most definitely enjoys the friendships he has forged with so many young people through his coaching experiences. Of course, Durham has also fostered a love of the outdoors with many of those athlete, and they swap fishing and hunting stories, as well.
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