By KEVIN TRESOLINI
Staff reporter
05/09/2003

For Ernie Anderson, who always seems to have a clipboard in one hand and a stopwatch in the other, it has never only been about split times and baton exchanges.

In 34 years as a Delcastle High teacher and track coach, he has done as much espousing as he has coaching.

'Be a man,' he tells us, said Jamir Kirby, a sophomore who will talk about his grade-point average as enthusiastically as his 100-meter times. Both happen to be very good.

He teaches us about life, senior jumper Michael Johnson said.

We got a legend, said Mike Downs, a senior sprinter, peering up toward his coach.

Anderson, 58, standing nearby on the Delcastle track, hears this. He grins.

Sometimes goodness and worldly advice are absorbed by those under his watch. Sometimes they aren't. The joy comes in the attempt and, sometimes, in the successful aftermath.

Track and field is that way, too. This year, the Cougars handed Anderson his eighth Blue Hen Conference Flight A dual-meet title, but first since 1990. They did it with a 7-0 record.

These kids have been wonderful, said Anderson, whose Delcastle boys have gone 214-65-3 in duals in his tenure.

A lot of them have been outstanding citizens, outstanding academically. We were 5-2 each of the last three years, so I knew we had some potential. All of a sudden, the group saw the light.

Today and Saturday, the Cougars will try to win the New Castle County title. They haven't won one since 1990, or finished as high as second since 1996.

While Delcastle may be outmanned by the likes of Newark, which it did defeat in a dual, and Salesianum, it relishes the opportunity to try.

In the girls competition, Padua, looking for its first title since 1988, expects strong challenges from Brandywine and Glasgow.

From 1985-90, the Delcastle boys won five county and four state Division I titles. In that span, Anderson was a three-time selection each as county and state coach of the year.

That makes this year somewhat of a throwback.

It's time to update the banners hanging in the gym, Downs said.

Downs, who moved to the U.S. from Jamaica when he was 12, has certainly put Anderson and Delcastle in touch with their prolific past. He has run times just a fraction of a second off those recorded by ex-Cougars such as Reggie Bright, whose 200-meter state record of 21.2 has lasted 20 years, and Eric Cannon.

The Cougars will need strong performances from the likes of Downs, Kirby, hurdler Brian Boyce, distance runner Karl Brock, jumpers Johnson and Michael Hopper, weightmen Kyle Fray and James Jackson, and their relays to have a shot at outpointing Salesianum and Newark.

Anderson was a football and track star at the old Conrad High, winning the county long jump title in 1963. He then went to Delaware State University, where his performance as a running back eventually landed him in the school's hall of fame.

Despite overtures from several pro football teams, he decided to marry his college sweetheart, Judith.

They settled in Newark, in a tranquil, tree-speckled neighborhood near the University of Delaware, and Anderson became a health and physical education teacher and coach at Delcastle when it opened in 1969. Since, he has nixed all other high school and collegiate coaching offers.

Anderson is retiring as a teacher after this school year. He will, however, continue to coach Delcastle's boys track teams. The Delcastle girls, whom Anderson guided to three county and three state titles from 1989-95, are now coached by his niece, Carmella, a former Delcastle sprinter.

Continuing as coach will allow Anderson to continue teaching kids to run faster and jump higher, while reminding them they have a longer way to go.

Life has hurdles, too.

It's all about character. That's very important to me, he said. Track and field, to me, is like life. You have ups and downs. But you have to show strength, not weakness. People will judge you on what you do with the opportunities you have.