By Alex Frazier
It won’t be just his expertise that will be missed.
No, students, coaches, school personnel and parents in the Central Bucks School District will miss the perpetual smile on his face, his pleasant nature, his optimism and his work ethic.
Thirty-three-year old Jim Cogan died last Wednesday in a horrific one-car crash on his way home on East Reliance Rd. in Telford.
An assistant track coach at Central Bucks West, Cogan coached the throwers on both the girls and boys track teams.
“It was refreshing to see Jim any day,” said Greg Wetzel, C.B. West cross country and indoor track coach and assistant to Tom Conboy in the spring.
Cogan excelled in throwing events as a student at Central Bucks East, particularly the javelin, which he won at most meets. He earned the gold medal in the 1995 Keystone State Games.
Soon after graduating from East, he returned to help coach.
Four years ago he came over to West.
“He did a nice job with all the kids he coached over at East and at West,” said C.B. West Athletic Director Sean Kelly. “He was somebody the kids gravitated to and he was somebody they listened to. The kids responded well to him.”
In addition to coaching track, Cogan worked for the Central Bucks School District’s grounds maintenance department.
“He was always around school,” said Kelly. “He worked a lot of events, a lot of security and game help. He was a very pleasant, hard working guy who was a joy to be around. There were not many days he didn’t stop in.”
A prime example of Cogan’s effectiveness as a coach was the performance of Matt McMurdo last year. McMurdo qualified for states in all three throwing events—a rare trifecta—and the only athlete at states that had done that.
In the javelin, he recorded the sixth best throw in the country, placed third at the Penn Relays and medaled at the state meet.
“Jim had everything to do with that,” said Wetzel. “To be excellent in all three (throwing events) makes it obvious how great a coach Jim was.”
Cogan also was a person you wanted to be around.
“He was the kind of guy that was always willing to listen and find the good in a situation,” said Wetzel. “He was a great guy to have in a program and a great role model because track and field was very important for him, and it was a great thing for the kids to see his obvious love of the sport.”
This season will be a tough one for the C.B. West athletes. Perhaps, like Cogan might have done, they can find some good in the tragedy.
“We’re lucky to have known him and the athletes he had were lucky to have benefitted for as long as they did,” said Wetzel. “It was better to have him for a season or for three seasons or whatever it might have been for each kid, than not have him at all.”
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