Apollo names 3 new coaches for winter sports

September 17, 2019 | 12:52 am

Updated September 17, 2019 | 12:57 am

Apollo High School named three new head coaches for winter sports on Monday. | Photos by Ryan Richardson

Apollo High School introduced three new head coaches Monday, as they announced the hiring of Courtney Johns for wrestling, Katlynn Lanham for swimming and Blake Morphew for bass fishing.

Johns is taking over wrestling after the retirement of Lee Mitchell, while Lanham is now in charge of swimming after the retirement of Bill Duncan. Morphew is the inaugural coach for bass fishing, which makes its debut at AHS this winter.


COURTNEY JOHNS – WRESTLING
Johns was already involved in coaching at Apollo, as he’s spent the past few seasons as an assistant with the football team. He wrestled in high school and had the opportunity to continue in college, but chose to play football instead.

Johns said he has been looking to get back into his former sport.

“I’ve always wanted to get into wrestling,” he said. “It’s kind of hard to get into, so when the opportunity came up and said why not.”

The Eagles were very successful last season and even produced and individual state champion, but they lost several guys to graduation. Johns is hoping to keep building on the strong foundation left by Mitchell.

“Recruiting is the first step,” Johns said. “We’ve got six returning guys, so we’ve got 14 spots left that we’re working on recruiting. This year our biggest goal is to be able to compete.”

Athletic director Dan Crume said Johns was a good fit and the school was pleased to have a strong candidate in their system already.

“Having a background in wrestling was big even though he hasn’t coached wrestling, and that familiarity with our kids also played a big part,” Crume said. “We were pretty ecstatic when he had that background and he was already in the building.”


KATLYNN LANHAM – SWIMMING
Lanham is making a return to Apollo, as she swam for the program from 2008-12. She’s also got experience as a coach in this area after spending time with both Owensboro High School and the Owensboro Marlins for the last few years.

“I was involved with the swim world, and then coach Duncan said he was retiring and he wanted me to apply for the job,” she said. “It’s a huge honor for him to be the one that asked me to take his position.”

Lanham is excited to get started and has already begun the process of meeting the swimmers and getting them involved with training routines.

“My goal for this year is to have at least one individual and one relay team to swim at state,” she said. “I want to really focus on their events and strokes to improve them, but I am also really going to focus on cardio and abs and even some weightlifting to bulk them up a little bit and get them farther in the pool faster.”

Crume said the experience and familiarity with the program were a huge plus in hiring Lanham.

“She’s familiar with the program, and she’s excited about growing the program, which is awesome,” he said. “She’s been in the system at a high school, and she’s also managed the high school Marlins team, so that’s a huge benefit. She’s got a good balance of experience that is a big benefit for us.”


BLAKE MORPHEW – BASS FISHING
It’s an all new look for both Morphew and the team, as it’s the debut both for him as a head coach and for the program itself.

Morphew has helped for a few seasons at Ohio County and is now heading up the Apollo program since he has a son at the school.

With everything being brand new, Morphew said this year will mostly be about building interest and laying a foundation.

“There’s not really any expectations other than getting the kids involved in it and hope they like it,” he said. “Then we can grow from that. It’s a slow process.”

The competitive season begins in late February and runs through early May. Morphew said the goal for this year is simple:

“Go out and fish and have some fun.”

Crume said finding someone with some coaching experience was a big positive as the school prepares to launch a new sport.

“He had four years of helping another school in bass fishing,” Crume said. “That was a huge upswing for us. We’re excited that we’ve got him to come down and help us. Starting out, not a lot of people know a lot about bass fishing. He’s at least been in that circuit and seen how it works and understands it. We’re excited to have him because of that experience and that knowledge.”

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September 17, 2019 | 12:52 am

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