John Walsh has coached for ten straight seasons at Lynn English High School but he will be taking a break this spring.
Walsh, the boys cross country and indoor track coach, told the Lynn Journal that he will not be returning as the Bulldogs’ outdoor coach for the 2013 spring season.
“I’m just a little tired,” said Walsh. “I coach all year round and after a while it gets tiring. A lot of the track coaches don’t do it all year round.”
Walsh has coached three seasons of cross country, four seasons of indoor track, and this would have been his fourth outdoor track campaign.
He has been a history teacher at English since 2001 and will continue as a member of the faculty. He is in 16th year overall as a teacher in the Lynn school system.
Walsh succeeded Mike Toomey as coach in the English cross country and track programs.
“I took over after Mike Toomey went to Marblehead and he did a really good in terms of revitalizing the whole program,” said Walsh. “The program was in a very bad state when he took over in 2007. Mike really built it up and I’ve been trying to keep it going since then.”
Walsh said he informed his current athletes that he wouldn’t be coaching in the spring.
Chris Holey, a student at Salem State College, is currently an assistant coach in the English track program. P.J. Holey, a Lynn school teacher, former English athlete, and son of head football coach Peter Holey, previously served as an assistant track coach for two years.
Walsh said he’s pleased with the progress the programs have made under his direction.
“I’ve tried to strengthen the program and give it a lot of publicity,” said Walsh. “We’ve taken athletes to state cross country meets, something that hadn’t been done for years. I’ve been trying to push more invitational and state-level meets for the upper-level runners.”
Walsh’s English teams have enjoyed excellent success versus crosstown rival Classical, winning all ten of the English-Classical cross country and track meets during his tenure.
Walsh is still focused on the indoor season, saying that Alex Ortega in the 55 meters and Alex Bonito in the 600 meters will contend for titles in the Northeastern Conference Meet.