He may not want the attention, but UNCW track coach Jim Sprecher and his return to Wilmington may be the most exciting story for the UNCW track team this year.

Sprecher is the most successful track and field coach in UNCW history, and he is back for his second go-around with the team. He coached the team to three

CAA Men’s Track & Field Championships in his seven-year stint with the Seahawks before leaving in 2000 to coach his alma mater, Ball State.

But Ball State’s decision to scrap its track program along with UNCW’s coaching position opening again led to Sprecher happily returning to the Cape Fear region.

“Of all the places I have coached, UNCW was always my favorite place,” Sprecher said. “The atmosphere here is something that I missed. We have good athletes and good students in the program. That has always been the key to our success. We recruit good people, not just good athletes.”

Sprecher found himself enticed by the proposition of getting to finish what he started at UNCW.

“I came to Wilmington in 1993 when the program was still very young. I feel like we made a lot of progress during my seven years here, but we never reached our full potential. We can always get better, and that’s the challenge,” Sprecher said.

If the past is any predictor of the future, the Seahawks are destined for success. To go along with his three conference championships, Sprecher coached 37 individual conference champions, 173 All-CAA performers and two NCAA Division I national qualifiers. He also earned CAA Men’s track Coach of the Year for three consecutive years (1997-1999) and Women’s track coach of the year in 1994.

People see Sprecher as a proven winner and it hasn’t taken long for him to gain the admiration of his student athletes.

“He really knows what he is talking about. He is kind of intimidating and makes you really pay attention to what he says,” said freshman sprinter Andrea Scull. “I have a lot of respect for him.”

The Seahawks’ first winter meet was Jan. 10 at North Carolina. Sprecher said the meet was going to be a measure of the men’s and women’s teams’ progress.

“We look to improve at each meet, getting better each week,” Sprecher said.

The Seahawks’ next competition will be Jan. 30 at the North Carolina Invitational. UNCW will host the Seahawk Invitational, their lone home meet, Mar. 18-20.