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Coaches' Corner: Lawrence Track's Anthony Ellis

Wednesday, March, 05 By Alan Siegel
Staff writer

Anthony Ellis ran track as schoolboy at Methuen High.

Ten years after graduating, he's passing his expertise along to a new generation.

The first-year indoor track coach helped produce some impressive results at Lawrence High this winter, the most recent of which was Ruben Sosa's fourth-place finish in the 55-meter dash at last Friday's New England Championships.

Ellis, 28, a former youth coach, is in his third year teaching English at Lawrence High. We caught up with him this week.

1. You're a teacher at Lawrence. What do you think of the new building?
"As a teacher, the facilities are terrific. It helps draw kids out to school and sports. It helps draw a lot more kids to indoor track. We're not running in the hallways or outside. We have the best facilities in the league."

2. What can you say about Ruben Sosa's performance this winter?
"He's a tireless worker. This is his first year running track. He continues to work and grow. You can't ask for anything more."

3. What events did you run in high school?
"The 800 and 1,000 (meters). We have Adderly Gonzalez (MVC indoor champ in the 1,000). I beat him in a road race the other day, but he beat my times in high school."

4. What was your favorite performance from high school?
"I was on the school record 4x800 team in indoor (8:07)."

5. You're an English teacher. What's your favorite book?
"'David Copperfield.' It's an ordinary story, but when you read it, you find out everybody has something extraordinary in their life."

6. Is there one book your students really embrace?
"Last year, the kids took to 'The Great Gatsby.' It's a story of rags to riches. It shows anybody can make it in this world."

7. Is there any book the kids have liked that's surprised you?
"It's funny how they take to Shakespeare once they get past the language. The themes, the stories, they have relevance in their lives."

8. Did you have a favorite athlete growing up?
"In track, we always loved (the late Oregon legend) Steve Prefontaine. It's who you'd model yourself after as a runner."

9. What do you think has made him such a folk hero in the past 10 or 15 years?
"The mentality he brought to the track was appealing to most distance runners. Most distance runners are seen as mentally being kind of 'out there.' People could embrace the way he ran. He ran to the point of exhaustion. It's a mentality you need as a distance runner."

10. Do you think track is underrated as a spectator sport?
"I think it is. I always find that if you're at a meet and you end up staying until the end, you see how competitive it is. It's one sport that you always have to take yourself to the limit, no matter what."

11. A lot of high school runners listen to iPods before a race. How about you?
"I needed to be by myself. I needed to be in my own world. I didn't need music to distract me."