Before becoming M-A’s cross country coach and a P.E. teacher, Eric Wilmurt was a timid high school student who juggled friends, jobs, school, and sports.
From first through eighth grade, Wilmurt attended a private Catholic school in Hayward, California, which required a lengthy commute from his home in Dublin. When high school started, he opted to end the commute and attend Dublin High School instead. “It was great. I was able to spend time with friends, play more sports, and have less time traveling,” Wilmurt said.
Wilmurt was a social butterfly in high school, moving between social cliques. “There was the waivers, and there was the rockers, and then there was the smokers, and then there was the studious kids. And I didn’t fit into any of those groups until I turned into an athlete and I hung out with them. But I had groups of friends from all those categories,” he said.
Wilmurt enjoyed his humanities courses, such as his creative writing English class, but initially believed he would pursue architecture because of his love for the arts. “I loved sitting down in front of the drafting board and drawing for the period,” he said. “I did like art, but I found that I spent so much time working on art that I didn’t have when I was playing a sport. My professors would say, ‘Hey, you need to spend more time working,’ and I didn’t have two more hours in the day.”
Wilmurt remained busy throughout high school, working numerous jobs, including delivering flowers at a law firm, working as a Toys R Us employee, running a summer camp, and—most memorably—his lifeguarding job. “I had to get my lifeguarding certificate, and I was also having a really hard time in math because I really didn’t like the teacher at all. I was really excited to go with my best friend to take a one-week lifeguarding class at the local high school pool,” he said. “I got there, and it was my math teacher, that I absolutely hated, who was the main instructor ready to teach us all the things we needed to know about swimming and lifeguarding. I just about died.”
Wilmurt reflected on his favorite moments from high school, emphasizing how senior year was his favorite. “I started coming out of my shell more, and there were fewer people older than you that were kind of stealing the spotlight,” he said. He also enjoyed taking apart and reassembling cars, including a Mustang, with his friend, whose father was a mechanic.
An avid athlete in high school, Wilmurt participated in basketball, swimming, and track and field. “I really enjoyed swimming, but when I found track and field as a sophomore, I realized that’s exactly where I wanted to be. And I stayed with that ever since,” he said. He joined the track and field team because someone urged him to try it out, and now strives to offer the same encouragement to M-A students. “When I got here and started asking people to come out, they did. You can build a championship team just by talking to people,” he said.
During Wilmurt’s senior year of college, he decided to start working with his high school’s track and field team. “I really enjoyed working with them and showing them the basics, and they improved a ton. I did that for a number of years, and eventually I said, ‘You know what, I should just get into teaching,’” he said.
His own running experience allows him to relate to the students on the cross-country team and guide them through the ups and downs of high school.
Wilmurt’s advice to M-A students: “Don’t wait for someone to tell you to get started. All the information is available to you. There are people who want to help you, but no one’s gonna do the work.”
