Terry Yeast
When Terry Yeast got back into coaching in 2016 he wanted to help make Mercer County track a dynasty — and he has won five boys state team championships and two girls titles in the last eight years.
However, the Harrodsburg native was looking for a new opportunity/challenge and found out when he was offered a chance to become assistant principal/athletics director at George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester.
“I had never been on that campus and thought I was at a small college. It’s an opportunity to help build an athletic dynasty at GRC,” Yeast said.
He won’t say he’ll never coach again, but noted he’s an administrator in a school of about 1,700 students and will have plenty to do.
Yeast started teaching in the Mercer County system in 2003 when he was hired at Harrodsburg High School. He says leaving home is not easy.
His oldest daughter, Timberlynn, a multiple state track champion and all-state basketball player, recently signed to play basketball at Marshall — and this move puts him an hour closer to her in Huntington, W.Va.
“That is just a coincidence but a nice coincidence,” Yeast said. “Even though I drive through Winchester to get to Huntington, I swear that connection had not crossed my mind and then when Teigh had volleyball tryouts (at GRC), I reached out to Timberlynn and said she could just come down for lunch.”
Teigh, a sophomore, won three events at the recent Class AA state track meet and is one of the state’s top players in her basketball recruiting class. She’s already a two-year starter in basketball and helped the Titans win the 12th Region title last season.
“Teigh just goes with the flow. She is excited for a new opportunity,” Terry Yeast said. “She wants to contribute and be a three-sport athlete. But Harrodsburg is home for her and it’s a tough thing. I asked if she could handle the move but you don’t see her get rattled a lot. She’s excited and thinks it will be a cool thing.”
Teigh Yeast recently attended Kentucky’s camp and also played in an event in Louisville where South Carolina coach Dawn Staley watched her play.
“That was Teigh’s best game of the weekend. She is really starting to come into her own,” Terry Yeast said.
Teigh Yeast wants to eventually be an anesthesiologist and GRC has classes better suited to her needs. GRC also offers more dual credit college courses than Mercer.
“For her, that was just the icing on the cake,” Terry Yeast said.
Terry Yeast, who played football at Morehead State and coached track at both Kentucky State and Centre College, has been a fixture in Harrodsburg his entire life and says leaving is the “hardest decision” he’s ever made.
“It’s hard to say goodbye to some amazing office staff and teachers I have worked with over the last few years,” he said. “Those are family and people who love you for who you are. It’s absolutely tough to do but I know it’s the right thing for me and my family.”
