Mike DiMauro: Wheeler's run a fitting final act for Ellen Turner

Mar. 11—Maybe fate's guiding hand planned this long ago. Or maybe it's plain old serendipity. But how fitting that the conscience of Wheeler High's last act comes at a time when The Little School That Could has never been more at the forefront of the region's collective conscience.

Ellen Turner, who recently announced this would be her final year as Wheeler's athletic director, her final year after 35 total years in No Sto, has watched life imitate art for a few weeks now. The basketball Lions continue the "Hoosiers" thing Tuesday night in the state semifinals, all while their outgoing athletic director has the time of her life.

"There was a lot of stuff going on, but at one point in the fourth quarter last week, I realized this would be my last home game in this gym," Turner was saying, recalling the shapes and forms of a second-round win over Sheehan in the fabled "gymatorium," the one that sold out in an hour.

"I knew the kids hadn't really been told the quarterfinals would be somewhere else. But I knew. I did have a little bit of a moment. I just kind of looked around. Maroon everywhere. Our student section was on the stage. They were so amazing. I took a moment to think that this is what I'll remember. The community support. My kids not losing their minds. The phenomenal support. In a small town, that's what happens."

Turner, born in Montville and educated at St. Bernard and later Springfield College, has been a pioneer for women in administrative positions, especially in sports. When she began as Wheeler's athletic director, a year after coaching them to the 1998 girls' basketball state title, only Tourtellotte (Deb Spinelli) and Woodstock (Ann Rathbone) had female athletic directors.

Today, some of the state's most respected athletic directors are women, notably Turner, Hildie Heck (Old Lyme), Kelly Maher (Cromwell), Trish Witkin (Glastonbury) and Elisha DeJesus (Middletown) among others.

"Ellen's love for Wheeler, our students and our school is so real and it runs deep," Wheeler principal Kristen St. Germain said. "There is nothing she wouldn't do for a Wheeler student, athlete or coach. Her shoes will be difficult to fill and her absence will certainly have a profound impact on our athletic programs but I am positive she will find a way to stay connected to her Wheeler Lions.

"For Ellen it isn't just about managing teams, players and coaches but it's about building programs that help shape athletes with character, and who represent our school with class. That is what she radiates in all she does and besides our friendship, that is what I will miss the most about her."

Among Turner's most notable accomplishments: A pied piper for the message that little schools are people too, you know. No other league in Connecticut affords its small public schools more respect and competitive balance than the ECC. The Lions have become the greatest example, recently winning the Division II ECC Tournament championship before what felt like the whole town at Mohegan Sun Arena.

That happens in exactly zero other leagues in Connecticut for a school with 222 students.

"We've made a statement in the ECC that we are the smallest school but we're going to compete," Turner said. "We have the (scheduling) opt outs, but I'd rather not do that. Go out there and compete. We're going to do that and do it in a classy way. I always say to them that if it's the fourth quarter and Wheeler's in the game, our knees aren't shaking. Maybe theirs are because they're about ready to lose the smallest school in the ECC."

Turner, who has that Energizer Bunny way about her, has been seen trying to stoke the student section during this state tournament run. One day last week, she recounted the conversation with a CIAC official, voicing her displeasure at Wheeler's playoff division among several larger schools. She was as impassioned as the day she began all those years ago, speaking 10 words per second with gusts to 50.

So why is this trailblazer with such a love for her school (and her fastball) leaving?

"Why now? I think I have accomplished everything I wanted to do at Wheeler," Turner said. "I'm not quite sure what I'll do, but I'm gonna have to do something because I'm used to going 24/7. I'm not going anywhere. My husband (Ledyard assistant principal Bill Turner) will still be working. I'll find something."

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro