“I was basically done as a decathlete,” Corbillon said from his office in the Nutter Center. “I wanted to stay in the sport, so I thought I would become a psychologist.”
At the same time, he was moon-lighting coaching track, at Lakehead University in Canada and at Florida A&M, across the street from Florida State.
“Then the opportunity came here,” Corbillon said. “I never finished my Ph.D.”
The new track coach at Wright State, Sylvia Kamp, hired Corbillon, but after three years, Kamp left for another job. In a rush and a financial bind, WSU offered the job on an interim basis two weeks before the last cross country season.
“I wasn’t taking a risk,” Corbillon insisted. “Everything was to be built here. Since I’ve been here, we have moved forward.”
Corbillon has had some good athletes, but as facilities go, WSU isn’t top of the line. There is a makeshift outdoor track across the road from the softball field. There is roomy McLin Gym with an overhead running track, but that has to be shared with other sports.
“You’ve got to be creative,” Corbillon said. “I don’t think we’re as bad as everyone thinks. We use the Fairborn High School outdoor track, and it’s only a few minutes away. And the McLin Gym is huge. We already started the indoor season at Capital in Columbus on Dec. 12. We didn’t have a full team, but we broke three school records.
“We’ve got Cassandra Lloyd (in the hurdles) and Tiffany Brigham (sprints) and Erica Kemp (pole vault) and Kylie Kopp (long jump) and Heather Parrish has blossomed as a triple jumper.”
Lloyd and Brigham are from Springfield, Kemp from Troy and Kopp from Tipp City (Bethel). Parrish is from North Carolina.
Corbillon does not have any paid assistants, but he does have a couple of volunteers, and, being a former decathlete, he knows all the disciplines. He also thinks Ohio is a good recruiting base.
“I think this is one of the best places in the world to do what I do,” Corbillon said. “Wright State is in a good situation.”
Preseason honor
Sophomore pitcher Michael Schum was named a preseason All-America by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. The submarine closer posted 13 saves last season as a redshirt freshman with a 1.95 ERA in 74 innings.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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