Ron Woodley of the EPHS Class of 2008 was a three sport student-athlete and honor student while at EPHS. As a member of the Townie Football team, Ron was a two time All-State pick and helped the Townies to a Super Bowl Championship during his Junior Year. Ronnie was also Captain of the Indoor and Outdoor track teams and placed among the top finishers in Rhode Island. Currently, Ronnie is in his Senior Year at the University of Rhode Island where he has twice been the Atlantic 10 champion in the Triple Jump.
What did you go on to do after leaving EPHS and what are you doing currently?
Currently, I am a Kinesiology major at URI. After my days at EPHS I went on to receive an athletic scholarship to play football at URI. I was red shirted (sat out a year) due to an injury. At the end of the year, I realized that the program wasn't for me and decided I wanted to transfer to play football at another school until one of my friends suggested I try out for the track team. I spoke with the coaches and tried out. Soon after, they told me they were impressed with my athletic ability and gave me a spot on the roster. In my first year of track, I placed in an event at every championship meet I competed at. Outdoors my first year I ran on the 4x100m relay that placed Third at the meet. Also that year, I won the Triple Jump at the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship and earned Conference Rookie of the Meet honors for placing in the Long Jump, 4×100 Relay, and winning the triple jump. The next week our team went on to win the New England Championship where I placed in all three events again.
Last year I made huge improvements. Our team won the conference meet indoor and outdoor. Also, Indoor I won the Triple Jump at the A10 conference meet and the New England meet where I jumped my best at 50' 7" to place me on 3rd on URI's all time jumping list. Furthermore I placed fourth out of all the Division 1 east schools at the IC4A meet. Outdoor I ran into a nagging injury of tendinitis and only placed 2nd in the triple jump, 3rd on the 4x100m relay and 5th in the long jump. The next week at New Englands, I also placed 2nd in the Triple Jump. I still have a year and a half left of elegibility and I aspire to break the triple jump indoor and outdoor record with the four seasons I have left. When I graduate, I hope to be a physical education teacher along with being a football and track coach.
What are your most memorable experiences from EPHS?
My high school experience was great I loved lightening the mood in the classroom (not in a class clown manor) and liked every teacher I had ever had and they all seemed to love me. If I had to choose my most memorable moment, it would have to have been when our football team won the state championship. I chose this moment because we were really a team and we all put in the hard work that year to become a championship team as well as bonding together as friends. That is something that I will never forget for the rest of my life.
If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?
If I could do it all over again, I would have tried to make the experience longer! On a more serious note, I don't believe I would change anything. I enjoyed my time at EPHS and made the mistakes that all high school teenagers make along with having all the fun that comes from high school.
How has the experience you had at EPHS helped you succeed?
The experience at EPHS has shaped the student I am today at URI and will one day help me to gain my college degree. Also, EPHS has helped me become a leader in and out of sports which I feel is a necessary trait in what people call the real world.
What is some advice you would give to current EPHS students?
If I had to give advice to current EPHS students I would just tell them that in life, your're going to have success and failure. I know the feeling of failure and pain, but he feeling of success and happiness far exceeds the feeling of failure. So in your life you can do anything you want to do you just have to be ready to fail a few times before you reach your success.
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