McConnell headed to Steinbrenner

Posted Jun 1, 2010 by Bill Ward

Updated Jun 1, 2010 at 11:50 AM

Bobby McConnell, a member of two state championship squads in cross country at Leto High, has accepted the job of boys cross country coach at Steinbrenner High.

McConnell has coached boys track and cross country the past year at Gaither, where he replaced former Cowboys coach Ladd Baldwin. Now, McConnell joins forces with Baldwin at Steinbrenner, where Baldwin is head girls track and cross country coach.

McConnell will also be part of a Warriors staff that includes assistant track coach Bob Ennis, who was McConnell’s cross country and track coach during McConnell’s prep career at Leto. Baldwin, meanwhile, was McConnell’s physical education coach at Orange Grove Middle School.

Besides the familiar staff he will join, McConnell said one of the biggest lures of Steinbrenner was the ability to teach one of his favorite subjects, advanced placement world history.

“The opportunity to teach that subject was really a big part of it for me,” McConnell said. “And the chance to work alongside (Baldwin and Ennis), you couldn’t ask to coach with two better, knowledgeable people.”

During his career as a Leto athlete, McConnell was one of the most successful runners the “Long Red Row” ever produced. Under Ennis, McConnell was part of two state championship cross country teams. In track, McConnell was a member of two 4x800 relay teams that won state titles. At one time, McConnell held 10 school records for the Falcons, either individually or as part of a relay.

One of those records McConnell help set still stands: the 4x800-meter relay, which during his senior track season (1996) established a county record and nationally-ranked time of 7 minutes, 47.62 seconds. That same year, McConnell was the co-winner (with Plant’s Caroline Annis) of the prestigious Bill Shields Award, given to the county’s top performer in track each season. McConnell went on to run for Florida Southern College and the University of Florida.