Warsaw Cross Country Coach Campbell Steps Down
WARSAW – Matt Campbell has been a key cog in a whole lot of success of the Warsaw cross country programs.
Campbell has decided though that it’s time to step away from the sport he has excelled in as both a competitor and a coach.
Campbell informed WCHS officials earlier today that he is resigning as the girls cross country coach.
“I just have a lot of things going on and it’s really about not being able to give the time to being a coach that it would need from me,” said Campbell in a phone interview this afternoon. “It’s just something that I need to do. It’s something that has been on my mind for a while”
Campbell, who was married in November, says that it was not an easy decision.
“It was definitely tough to do,” noted Campbell. “But I need to go in a different direction right now and I wanted to give them time to get someone else in who can commit the time that the program needs from a coach.”
Campbell has been in charge of the very successful program the past two years after taking over for Scott Erba in 2016. He guided Warsaw to sectional and regional championships this past fall season. The ladies team was also second in the Northern Lakes Conference and finished ninth in the semistate.
WCHS senior Mia Beckham represent the program at the State Finals this past season, where the Butler-bound distance star placed 45th.
Campbell, who ran for Warsaw from 2003-07, led his team to conference, sectional and regional titles in his first season in 2016. The Warsaw ladies team also placed third at the semistate and 13th at the State Finals that year.
Campbell was also the girls interim head coach in 2014 when Erba took a leave of absence. The team was co-NLC champions that year and won the sectional and regional before placing 16th at the State Finals.
“Coach Erba really got things going and I just tried to do my best to continue what he did,” said Campbell.
Campbell, who was also the coach at Edgewood Middle School in 2012, plans to step away from coaching for good for the time being. The 29-year old knows what he will miss the most about a sport that requires a lot of dedication and commitment from its athletes.
“I’m definitely going to miss being around the kids that’s for sure,” emphasized Campbell. “We had a lot of great kids in our program and it was just a lot of fun to be around them.
“It was also rewarding to see some of our girls go on to run in college.
“It was also nice to win the NLC and the sectional and the regional and go to the State Finals. But more than the winning, it was just a lot more fun to be around the kids.”