Each spring, a week or two after the boys lacrosse season ends, Mike Siegert sits down to reflect. He evaluates the previous couple of months, taking time to remember the moments that have kept him coming back as Centennial's coach for more than three decades.
In recent years, those sit-downs have come to include deciding on whether he will return the following spring to do it all again. And this year, after 32 seasons leading the Eagles, Siegert has decided it's time to walk away.
"When I sat down and finally let myself think about it in detail, I really felt like it was the right time," Siegert said. "This was a really fun season. We had a great staff, a group of really hardworking kids, and we did some great things. To be honest, it wasn't nearly as tough a decision as I thought it would be.
"I feel like I can leave now and have nothing but positive memories, which is the way I always hoped it would be."
The Eagles went 15-4 this season before losing to Hereford in the Class 3A-2A state final. Siegert's final season also included a county championship.
Siegert has been around since the beginning, coaching Centennial's lacrosse program since the school opened in 1977. Before that, he spent three years at Wilde Lake coaching junior varsity football and lacrosse.
Siegert led Centennial to six state titles. Four of those championships (1998, 2002, 2004 and 2005) came during the current state-tournament format, which started in 1990, and the other two (1980 and 1981) came back when it was the Class B-C regional/state championship.
In 32 seasons at Centennial, all but one of them coaching varsity, Siegert amassed a career record of 323-154. The Eagles won 10 county championships and finished runner-up seven times.
Siegert says he will remain at Centennial as a math teacher next fall.
"I've had a great ride," he said. "Now it's time to start that next chapter of my life."
