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Winning has a nice ring to it By Graham Thomas Staff Writer n gthomas@nwadg.com A bby Ray stares at her collection of state championship rings and speaks honestly about how they make her feel. As a coach, she's happy to have been part of all of these championship teams in both girls and boys soccer and girls cross country. As an athlete, she would have loved to have had the chance to win just one. "I would have given just about anything," Ray said. "I would have run through walls for it." Ray never got that chance as a girls soccer player at Siloam Springs, advancing as far as the state quarterfinals. But as a coach at her alma mater, there's no doubt Ray and the teams she's helped lead have made the most of their op - portunities. Ray has been a coach on 11 state championship teams at Siloam Springs since joining the district as a teacher/coach in the fall of 2013, with the most recent title coming in May when the girls soccer team won its fifth straight Class 6A state championship. Ray was an assistant coach on all five of those Lady Panthers championship teams (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018). She also was an assistant coach for boys state titles in 2016 and 2017, and she's helped the girls cross country team win the last four Class 6A state titles (2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017). Ray is currently in possession of 10 state championship rings and will get her 11th along with the Lady Panthers later this fall. In a way, the run of success is mind-boggling to the former Lady Panther standout. "To be here and it happen every year but one for cross country (2013) and all the years for girls soccer, and boys soc - cer threw a few in, it's just like, I could have never imagined it," Ray said. "I still don't really grasp how you could be that dominant. "No I couldn't have imagined that. Because playing here, we dreamed of it. You know, it was our goal every year. We'd get to the quarterfinals, and that was as far as we got when I played." Ray's playing days Ray was a standout mid- fielder for Siloam Springs under head coach Jason Bowen from 2004-2007. In her four years as a Lady Panther, Ray was named All-Conference twice (2004 and 2007) and All-State twice (2005 and 2006). Playing alongside other standouts like Sarah Kidd, Kayla Hill, Siloam Springs had a cumulative record of 50-17-7 in Ray's four years, including a conference mark of 21-4-6. The Lady Panthers were AAAA-West Conference cham - pions twice (2005 and 2006) and league runner-up in 2004. But Siloam Springs could never solve the riddle of the state soccer tournament, losing twice in the first round (2004 and 2007) and twice more in the quarterfinals (2005 and 2006). "Every year we lost at state in the early rounds," Ray said. "I was devastated. I'm not a crier, and I would cry every single year because it was over. I say sometimes that the girls play soccer and the boys breathe soccer. I breathe soccer. So when we lost it knocked the air out of my lungs." Ray also participated in girls golf at Siloam Springs under coaches Jason McMahan and Brian Matchell. When her high school career ended, Ray signed with Cen - tral Baptist College in Conway, where she played four more years as a center defender. "I loved it," Ray said of play- ing college soccer. Bit by the coaching bug While attending college at Central Baptist, Ray started vol- unteer coaching soccer at tiny Conway Christian, a private school in the city. It was then that Ray fell head over heels for the coaching pro- fession. "I discovered that I loved coaching," she said. "At times, I liked it even more than playing. I was surprised by that." Ray's bachelor's degree is in psychology and she couldn't teach without a teaching license, so after graduating form CBC in 2011, she went on and got her master's degree at Central Arkansas. All the while, she continued to volunteer coach at Conway Christian under soccer coach Ancil Lea. "Ancil Lea helped me a lot," Ray said. "He was the guy who started the program at Conway Christian and taught me how to be a coach. He gave me the girls (team) and let me coach them." After getting her master's, Ray taught for one year at Con - way Christian and made the decision to head back home to Siloam Springs and pursue an employment opportunity in Si- loam Springs. "My mom had put in a prayer request that I needed a job in Northwest Arkansas," Ray said. "Jerri Price saw that and said to put an application in." In about a four-day period, Ray was interviewing for a job teaching seventh-grade so - cial studies at Siloam Springs Middle School, where she still is to this day. "It all happened in a four- day period from the moment I put in my application to the moment the school board ap - proved me," Ray said. "Funny thing is when I interviewed it was just for a seventh-grade social studies position. They asked me, do you think you can coach softball? I said, I think a coach can coach anything. "Thankfully it worked out that Kailey Porter wanted out of soccer, and they put me in the sport that I love. It was pretty cool how that all worked out." Ray joined the staff of her former coach, Bowen, as well as the cross country staff. "It was a little weird," Ray said. "It was a little scary, be - cause the kids, when I got here, thought (Bowen) was scary. One of the first questions they asked me was did he make you cry when you were here? I said no, he didn't make me cry. I thought that was hilarious." Ray said Bowen had mel - lowed tremendously from when she played for him nearly 10 years earlier. "He wasn't near as intense as when I played," she said. "So coming into that situation when I knew how intense he was, I was a little fearful, I guess, of how I'm going to work with this guy. He called me when I got hired and was super nice. He did a really good job of flipping that rela - tionship from player/coach to a professional respect. It worked out really well." Soccer success In five years as an assistant soccer coach at Siloam Springs, Ray has worked under three head coaches. But the revolving door at the top of the Panthers' Former Lady Panther Abby Ray has piled up state titles as an assistant coach Graham Thomas/Herald-Leader Siloam Springs alum and assistant soccer and cross country coach Abby Ray has won 11 state championships in five years of coaching at her alma mater. Ray, seen here with 10 state championship rings — four in girls cross country, four in girls soccer and two in boys soccer — will receive No. 11 and the fifth for girls soccer this fall. Bud Sullins/Special to the Herald-Leader Siloam Springs assistant soccer coach Abby Ray looks on as the Lady Panthers warm up before a playoff game in Russellville in May. See RAY on Page 8D HERALD-LEADER Wednesday, June 27, 2018 m D