Boys track coach of the year

By Ted Allen

Published: May 3, 2008

A former All-American decathlete at Liberty University, Brookville’s Ramsey Moore is a master at multi-tasking.

His experience at juggling 10 events as a competitor translates well to his responsibilities as the Bees’ boys and girls indoor track and field coach, a job that involves managing more than 50 athletes and keeping them conditioned and motivated to perform at their best.

Moore, The News & Advance boys indoor track and field coach of the year, is equally skilled at keeping things in perspective and staying focused on the big picture.

That allowed the Bees’ boys team to peak at the right time in the postseason, and not before.

Brookville’s goal was not to win the Seminole District or even the Region III titles, but to defend its Group AA state championship at Liberty University’s Tolsma Indoor Track Center.

“We emphasized it,” Moore said. “That was our main goal and we took it step by step. You don’t want to get ahead of yourself. You want to go into the state track meet feeling like you’re ready to rock and roll.”

Though the Bees came up two points short of attaining that prize, falling to Western Albemarle 57-55 on the final 1,600-meter relay, they actually scored nearly 10 points more as a team than they had in winning the 2007 state title by more than 10 points.

“We had a great state track meet,” Moore said. “The boys went down fighting. I was particularly proud of, the way the mile relay gave everything they had and then some. They did a good job.”

Brookville’s runner-up state finish wasn’t shabby considering the strength of the field.

“In hindsight, it was pretty impressive to finish first and the next year finish second by two points,” Moore said. “It was good to score more points than we did the previous year.”

And the Bees could be even better this spring.

This is by far the best team we’ve had since I’ve been at Brookville,” Moore said. “The guys team is just phenomenal right now. I just hope we stay healthy and motivated.”

Though he can’t control the former, with top athlete Ethan Nixon sidelined for the past few weeks due to injury, Moore will do everything in his power to take care of the latter.