There’s only one Chesty Lion. At least, that’s what any coach will at Lawrence High School will tell you. And that Chesty Lion spirit is bringing alumni athletes back to coach at the school that taught them everything.
For cross country coach Kyle Morgison who graduated from LHS in 2006, there’s a special responsibility that comes with both leading a team and teaching at his alma mater.
“I’m just trying to give back to a place that gave me so much opportunity,” Morgison said. “What’s special about it is that it gives you something to work for. You’re working for something other than yourself.”
Morgison explained that he is trying to bring back the cross country team culture that has ebbed and flowed in the past.
“We’re just going back to things that I enjoyed, I enjoyed the camaraderie and I’m trying to bring that back,” Morgison said. “I’m also trying to make it so that it’s my athletes’ decision to do things.”
Head track and field coach Audrey Trowbridge knew at sixteen she wanted to be head coach; she even wrote it in her journal her sophomore year. After graduating in 2003, she returned to help train the next generation of Lions on and off the track.
“I always knew that that was what my plan was,” Trowbridge said. “I grew up idolizing high school kids and thinking they were so cool, and so I know the impact that high school athletes have on our community. It’s really fun for me to still be involved in that.”
Alum and head baseball coach Brad Stoll particularly appreciates that LHS has the one and only ‘Chesty’ Lion. Given the opportunity, Stoll says he never passes up the chance to talk about his pride for LHS.
“It’s just so unique because we’re the only Chesty Lions,” Stoll said. “There’s all kinds of lion mascots all over, but we’re the only Chesty. The statue is really unique and different. I still get really excited about it, I think it’s really cool. I think it’s unique, there’s a pride wrapped up in the actual mascot.”
Stoll also had the opportunity to coach his own son, senior Sam Stoll, through his four years as a Lion on the baseball team. Both share a love for baseball at Lawrence High, and the tradition that surrounds it.
“My dad has always loved LHS and he is very passionate about the school and the baseball program itself,” he said. “He pushes me the hardest because I am his son but also I also have a special bond with him.”
Head boys and girls swimming and diving coach Elle Weber noted that the athletes she gets to interact with are part of the reason why she coaches.
“I’ve been doing it for nine years now and there’s times where some of the kids in the water are pretty coachable and enjoyable,” Weber said. “They want to get better and it makes my job as a coach pretty easy.”
What all these current coaches can agree on is the LHS spirit that brought them back. Coaches, staff and students alike all agree that the age of Lawrence High, the longstanding traditions and the fighting spirit of the athletes gives them a reason to keep coaching.
“When adversity hits, the Lions show up. Nothing really holds us back,” Trowbridge said. “We are capable of being the smaller, slower, less talented team and dominating those who are bigger, faster, and stronger than us. And we’ve done it time and time again, and I love that.”
