CHARLESTON, S.C. – This summer The Citadel Athletic Department is highlighting a number of our coaches in a series titled Coach's Corner. The videos will post each Wednesday morning throughout the summer and are intended to help Bulldog fans and supporters get to know our coaches away from competition. Each Coach's Corner episode features the coach reflecting on his or her background, goals and experiences, in addition to their attraction to The Citadel and coaching our cadet-athletes. Links to previous Coach's Corner posts can be found at the bottom of this article. This week we feature Erin Leonard. 
 
Rapid Fire
Last movie you saw in a theater: The Shack
Favorite professional team: Atlanta Braves
Last book you read: The Da Vinci Code
Favorite meal: Steak and potatoes
Favorite musician: Need to Breathe
 

 
1. Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee.
 
2. How many siblings do you have?
The sports I played growing up, just about everything. Basketball, softball, golf, track, cross country. Anything I could do outside.
 
3. Who was your favorite athlete as a child?
My favorite athlete as a child probably was Chamique Holdsclaw from the Lady Vols or anyone that Pat Summit coached.
 
4. How did you first get interested in your sport, was there a certain person who influenced you?
There was definitely someone who influenced me at my sport. I started doing cross country in middle school because all of my friends did it and I realized around eighth grade that I was okay at it and the high school coach actually had a meeting for all of the rising freshmen to come try out or just meet the coach. I wanted to play basketball, that's all I wanted to do, I had no interest at all in running but I went to meet him. And then my first day of high school, second period class I walk in and he's standing at the door and he looks at me and says, "where have you been?" And honest story, I cut my foot on an oyster and had six stitches and I look at him and said "uh, I have stitches in my foot I can't run" he said when do they come out, I said next week, he said okay I'll see you next week. And I called my basketball coach and I said hey, I'm not going to play fall ball, I'm going to run cross country. And that's how it all started
 
5. What is the best concert you have ever been to?
The best concert I've ever been to was Need to Breathe, hands down. I saw them when I was at Western Carolina they came and did a free concert at our basketball arena there for the first time, and then I saw them play at the Family Circle Cup on Daniel Island and then actually going to see them tonight open for Tim McGraw. I'm a pretty big fan.
 
6. Tell us about your most memorable vacation:
It probably would be, I guess it's considered a vacation, but a few years ago I got the opportunity to go with FCA, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, to Israel and Palestine and work some camps over there and get to know the people over there. It was unbelievable so if that counts as a vacation that would definitely be it.
 
7. What is the best sporting event you've ever attended?
Growing up I was a huge Lady Vol basketball fan, growing up in Knoxville, so watching them play UConn in a sold out arena for women's basketball in early 2000's was always pretty awesome. So I would say the Lady Vol basketball games were some of my favorites.

8. What is something on your bucket list you haven't been able to check off yet?
Obviously New Zealand is one that's been up there. I've always had a dream of snowboarding in the Alps so maybe that one can get up there at some point and doing that.
 
9. What is your favorite place in Charleston?
Favorite place in Charleston, gosh there are so many to choose from. Even though I probably have a love/hate relationship with it I love Hampton Park. I'm over there all the time. I also love taking my hammock over to Brittle Bank Park back where no one is around and setting that up, so that's two of them. And then doing runs along the battery, you can't beat.
 
10. What would you consider your greatest athletic achievement?
I think athletically the greatest achievement would have been my first year here at The Citadel in cross country, we'd never put five girls under 20 minutes in a 5K and 20 minutes is always kind of one of those barriers, and my first season I had an awesome group of girls that just bought into everything we were doing and we put seven girls under 20. And we scored five, so five was always big, but to have all seven was pretty huge so that one's definitely up there.
 
11. How did you get into coaching?
I've always loved track obviously, and I've always had a heart for college athletes and college students in general and when I was in grad school I had the opportunity to get to know some of the coaching staff there and get to work with their head coach and he was able to bring me on as a volunteer assistant and he just kind of taught me a lot of stuff about it and encouraged me to keep pursuing it. He was the one who helped me get this job and helped me really stay in coaching.
 
12. What attracted you to The Citadel?
They were in our conference when I was at Western and I was familiar with them but the military aspect of it and what the kids went through was always really interesting to me so getting the opportunity to come and learn what our athletes go through as a cadet and as a student athlete really intrigued me and really challenged me in a way I had never been challenged at Western. We had it pretty easy with the athletes that were there, they could set up their own schedules and basically make track a priority and here that's not the case. So getting to grow as a coach and learn to adapt and adjust to new challenges that I'd never been faced with before was an exciting opportunity and just getting to be in Charleston, you can't really beat that either.
 
13. What do you enjoy most about the culture at The Citadel?
I love the resilience that our kids have. That no matter what, they push through and they fight and they're dealing with stuff that most people in our conference would never have to deal with, like getting phone calls that their rooms have been searched and the barracks are on lockdown and that's what they're dealing with the night before a meet. When most other athletes are just thinking about hey am I going to run well tomorrow and the fact that our kids can go through that and still go out and compete and be competitive and just overcome barriers that most people don't have to face is always a really exciting thing to watch. And just the resilience of our athletes.
 
14. Tell us about your most memorable experience so far at The Citadel:
The most memorable experience so far, definitely putting seven girls under 20 was up there athletically, but I think personally for me was having a dad come up to me at a meet and tell me that you know, his daughter was a fifth year senior I'd been working with her for as long as I'd been here, and just him come up and thank me and say I can't tell you how much it means that you've been there for my daughter and I know in 20 years if she were to name her top five most influential people you would be one of them. And that just really hit me; that's why I love coaching and that's why I do what I do. I love the track part of it but getting to shape these athletes lives during one of the most impressionable times of their lives is pretty important and pretty special and that's what I love the most about what I get to do.
 
15. What's the best part about coaching?
Relationships for sure. The relationships I get to build with my athletes, the coaching staff, and everyone I'm around. And like I said getting to just shape and make an impact on these kids' lives in a way that's more than just running. I love the running part as well but I really love getting to teach and grow and mold and shape and get to watch them turn into young professionals who are successful. That's what matters the most. To watch these athletes grow and be successful and compete in PR and perform, and then all of a sudden they grow up and they're professionals and they're successful in the work place because of the values that they learned as an athlete and watching them succeed on down the road. It's by far the most enjoyable part of coaching. Getting to watch what you teach them translate not only on the track or on the course but in the rest of their life as well.
 
Coach's Corner Schedule
May 31 - Jody Huddleston
June 7 - Sandra Worman
June 14 - Chuck Kriese
June 21- Jack Marchant
June 28 - Lori Bonacci
July 5 - William Smith 
July 12 - Craig Mosqueda 
July 19 - Erin Leonard 
July 26 - Rob Hjerling 
Aug. 2 - Kris Kut 
Aug. 9 - Ciaran Traquair 
Aug. 16 - Stevi Robinson 
 
For more information on The Citadel XC or Track & Field, follow @CitadelOlympic or visit CitadelSports.com.