Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The SPHS senior looks forward to her final year as a Falcon.
The first time All County Track star, Ashley Hayes ran she wasn't sure it was her sport. “The summer before I started high school, I went out with one of my friends from the neighborhood to run with the cross country team for one of the summer sessions,” Hayes said. “And I thought I wouldn’t make it. I couldn’t believe how hard it was.” She pushed through that summer attending more of the informal training sessions and getting a little more comfortable each week, but it wasn’t until the season officially started and she began working with Coach Ed Purpura that she realized she might have some potential. “Coach has a way of pushing you to do something you had no idea you could do,” Hayes said. Since that time Ashley has stood out on the …
39.076479
-76.55705
Severna Park Senior High School
60 Robinson Rd, Severna Park, MD
/articles/cross-country-runner-ashley-hayes-maps-goals
456052
/locations/5282831
Friday, May 20, 2011
This volunteer coach at Severna Park High School placed second in his age group in Boston.
At many schools, cross country coaches assign their runners a workout, watch them leave the school grounds and head onto the trails. An hour later, these coaches welcome the runners back to school grounds, say a few words and dismiss them until they meet again the next day. This is not the case at Severna Park High School (SPHS), where the coaches are also runners. Not back of the pack runners, not middle of the pack runners, but fast and fit runners. Coach Elmer McPhail, a volunteer coach during the cross country season and the sprinter’s coach during the track season, is the oldest - and the fastest- of the three coaches. But he didn’t start that way. McPhail has been running since he was in middle school where he wasn't the …
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Sarah Bouchard is a national level swimmer for the SPY swim team, captain of cross country team and the swim team at Severna Park school.
As I was putting in my laps at the pool this morning, I heard an older gentleman giving his version of the "kids today" speech and I had to laugh. I am sure there are exceptions to the kids I come across, but it is all relative, right? The kids I meet on a daily basis are students and more often than not, student athletes in Severna Park, which turns my "kids today" speech from a negative into a positive. Among the incredible youth I meet on a daily basis though, Sarah Bouchard stands out. Sarah is a 4.0 student at Severn School, a year round national level swimmer for the SPY swim team on, captain of both the cross country team and the swim team at her school and a writer for the student newspaper, The Anchor. While many college …
39.068835
-76.546539
Severn School
201 Water St, Severna Park, MD
/articles/student-athlete-and-leader-at-severn-school
455762
/locations/2944911
Ronni Partridge
6:02 am on Saturday, May 21, 2011
I remember when my son was on Coach's team, I pointed Coach out to the parent of a boy on another team who was a runner himself, and the other parent said, "That guy?? That guy is amazing!" Apparently Coach McPhail's reputation had preceded him. And he was right. Coach was not just a good athlete and a great example, but also a mentor to the runners. Am so pleased to read of his accomplishment. more ›