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<P><CENTER><h2><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#333399">Ralph Spry</font></h2><P><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#333399"><b>Head Coach</b></font></CENTER>
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After a successful first campaign as Auburn's track and field coach, Ralph Spry will look to combine a returning nucleus with a talented corp of newcomers to produce a more potent second season on the Plains.</font>
<P>Under Spry's direction last season, Auburn had four athletes garner All-America honors, headed by Andre Scott and Lacena Golding. Golding had a remarkable senior season earning the Commisioner's Trophy for highest point scorer at the SEC Outdoor Championships. A three-time All-American last season, Golding finished her career as a five-time SEC Champion and is also the Jamaican National record holder in the long jump. Scott meanwhile, was the SEC Champion and an All-American in the long jump in 1998.
<P>Spry was hired as to be the fourth track and field coach in Auburn history in late 1997. Prior to his appointment at Auburn, Spry had spent the previous two years at the University of South Carolina as an assistant coach. A native of Aberdeen, Maryland, Spry came to the Plains with 14 years of experience. He served as an assistant coach at three different Southeastern Conference schools before accepting the head coaching position at Auburn.
<P>Spry, 38, graduated number two in his class from the University of Mississippi with a degree in Physical Education in 1984. He served as a graduate assistant at his alma mater under the tutelage of Joe Walker for two years.
<P>Spry, who had been active in the R.O.T.C at Mississippi, accepted a commission in the army after his graduation. While Spry served his country, he also competed for the All-Army track and field team. As an officer in the U.S. Army, he was a member, and an assistant coach on the All-Army track team that won the Armed Forces Championship during his time with the team. He won five Inter-service Long Jump Championships, and in 1986 was the World Military Long Jump Champion.
<P>He was eventually invited to participate in the Army's World Class Athletic Training Program. As a member of the program, he was allowed to choose with whom he would train. Spry chose to go to the University of Florida to train with his former coach, Joe Walker. While at Florida, Spry served as a volunteer coach for the Gator track team as he trained for the Olympic trials in which he competed in 1988.
<P>After attending the Army's Ranger school from 1989-1990, Spry served as Company Commander of the 9th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. It was during this time that Spry realized that he would soon be ending his Army career.
<P>"I realized that I had been so dedicated to my job that I was going to miss the best years of my life with my wife and kids," said Spry.
<P>After his retirement from active service, Spry was hired as an assistant at the University of Florida in 1992 and within the next two years he coached seven Florida athletes to ten All-American honors and eight to All-SEC awards. Included in those were three freshmen, most notably Dominick Millner.
<P>Millner finished fourth at the 1995 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the long jump, and had the longest collegiate long jump by a freshman indoors that year. He was also the Junior National Champion in the long jump in 1995.
<P>Another athlete at Florida to excel under the leadership of Spry was Dion Bentley. Bentley achieved a number six ranking in the U.S. and a ninth-place ranking worldwide in 1993.
<P>In 1995, Spry moved to the University of South Carolina as an assistant and continued to build championship caliber athletes.
<P>In his first season at USC, Gamecock athletes training under Spry broke 19 school records. Spry's athletes garnered eight more All-Americans honors and Marvin Watts won two SEC titles in the 800 meters. Watts was the first conference champion on the track in South Carolina history.
<P>Spry has had success taking the athletes he coaches to the next level of their ability. He understands that this is quite possibly his most important job as a coach.
<P>Spry thinks that his background as an army officer has, and will continue to help him motivate the young people who choose to participate in the Auburn track program.
<P>"Much of the team building and camaraderie I've experienced in the military translate directly into coaching," Spry said of his background. "In the military there is a level of commitment that a unit has to attain to be successful. You have to take pride in what your doing and be willing to commit yourself totally to accomplish your mission. In athletics you have to be just as committed in order to be successful as an individual and as a team."
<P>Another quality that has helped Spry build champions is the fact that he has been a champion himself.
<P>After winning two state championships in the long jump and triple jump in Maryland, Spry attended Anne Arundel Community College. While in junior college, he was four-time NJCAA champion, winning three triple jump crowns and one long jump title. He was an eight-time JUCO All-American and is now a member of the NJCAA Track and Field Hall of Fame.
<P>Spry transferred to the University of Mississippi, where he became the first Ole Miss track and field athlete to receive All-American and national champion status. He was a two-time NCAA All-American, a three-time All-SEC performer and won the 1983 NCAA long jump championship. In 1983, he was ranked fifth in the United States and seventh in the world in the long jump by Track and Field News.
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<p align=CENTER>Last updated 8/16/99Monday, 19-Jun-2000 12:30:04 CDT</p>
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