Moving on

When Denis E. Cochran-Fikes announced at this spring's track banquet that he would not be back next year, "a lot of people were heartbroken," says men's track Captain Brad Bunney.

Cochran-Fikes, who has been the men's and women's indoor and outdoor distance coach and the women's cross country coach for the last two years, will be stepping down to continue his duties as assistant athletic director next year.

"I don't think I can meet the teams' needs--I just don't have enough time," Cochran-Fikes says.

"I have regrets--coaching has been great," he adds, "but I firmly believe it's the best thing to do right now."

Bunney calls Cochran-Fikes "the best coach I've ever worked with," adding that the "program will really miss him."

As assistant athletic director, Cochran-Fikes will continue scheduling fall and spring sports as well as time allotments for indoor athletic facilities.

"Coaching has certainly been a challenge. It's time-consuming and mentally and physically demanding," Fikes says, explaining. "Every time the athlete goes up to the line the coach goes too."

Bunney recalls Cochran-Fikes "great sense of humor," which the runner says "a coach needs when working with people on an individual level."

Cochran-Fikes, who coached the 1982 women's cross country squad to fourth place in the NCAA championships, is one of four coaches stepping down at the end of this year.

At age 65, Robert S. "Pappy" Hunt, the women's track and cross country coordinator, will be retiring because, he says, "coaching is a young man's game."

Meanwhile, Vicki Hays, the women's varsity swimming coach, will be leaving Harvard, with Princeton Coach Maura Costin '80 taking her place.

And Steve Pike, the only head coach the men's and women's water polo programs have ever had, will be stepping down. No replacement has been named.