Old Saybrook — Jan Merrill-Morin was asked the best thing about coming home again.

"Having dinner with my husband every night?" she said quizzically, before laughing. "Being able to talk (to him) in the same room? I can go play Scrabble with my sister? Little things are big things."

Merrill-Morin of Waterford, a former Olympic 1,500-meter runner, was an assistant coach for the cross country and indoor and outdoor track teams at Rutgers University from 2007 until last year, staying near the campus of the New Jersey school and returning home only during the summer months. She spoke to her husband, Jeff Morin, a retired Montville teacher, usually twice a day, she said.

Having left her position at Rutgers, Merrill-Morin has since been hired as the head boys' track coach at Old Saybrook High School — the Rams begin their first season under the new coach Tuesday with a meet at Valley Regional — and she also assisted the boys' and girls' track teams during the indoor season.

The Old Saybrook boys finished third in the Class S state championship last spring and are coming off an indoor season during which they won the Shoreline Conference championship. Rams senior Luke Sumby won Class S titles in the 55-meter hurdles and the pole vault indoors and replicated that success with a State Open championship in the hurdles.

For Merrill-Morin, there were changes from the collegiate level to high school, of course.

"Our first (indoor) meet, at Hillhouse, I'm used to coach buses and Cap (Peter Capezzone, boys' and girls' indoor track coach and girls' outdoor coach) and I had to share a seat the first meet," she said. "It's eight o'clock in the morning and the girls have the music going. I did learn some new songs."

But Merrill-Morin also has been impressed with the Old Saybrook program, from the careful preparation of the athletes to their welcoming nature, and has found a certain joy here.

"When we won the Shoreline, all the parents rushed us. People were taking pictures, the kids had their medals. It was special," Merrill-Morin said. "... This is really good stuff."

"Absolutely, she has been a Godsend," said Old Saybrook senior Hayley Brodeur, a sprinter on the girls' team, which combines its practices with the boys. "We never had a coach that was experienced with such a first-hand knowledge. We're so lucky. Her attitude and her determination ... I really like enlisting her advice."

Merrill-Morin, a graduate of Waterford High School and Connecticut College, formerly served as head track and cross country coach at Waterford and as an assistant track and cross country coach at the Coast Guard Academy.

She is the former world record holder in the 3,000 meters and two-mile events indoors and in the 5,000 meters outdoors. She also held the U.S. record in the 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000 meters. She was a finalist in the 1,500 at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and a gold medalist at the 1975 and 1979 Pan-American Games.

Originally, Merrill-Morin had no desire to coach.

"I didn't have any inclination toward it. I always wanted to be the athlete competing," she said. "I went way beyond my talent level to get where I got. I thought everyone has got to train hard like I did."

What Merrill-Morin discovered was that she has a great deal of perspective. She has experienced the most jubilant highs of competition, including hearing the Star Spangled Banner played in her honor on the medal podium, and the darkest lows, including injury.

She earned her master's degree in sports science from the United States Sports Academy in Daphne, Ala., in 2005 with an emphasis in coaching.

"I love coaching. It's a passion. I love coaching," Merrill-Morin said.

"I learned that I think I have a lot of experience. I see a lot of stuff. I can see if something's not right," she said. "The kids say, 'Coach, how did you know?' I just know. I can see if a kid's just off or they're on when they come through that gate (to the track). I know what it's like to limp."

She was impressed the first time she saw Sumby's meticulous warmup for a meet. Several team captains, including Sumby and Brodeur, introduced themselves to Merrill-Morin at a preseason meet-and-greet and promised that the athletes on their respective teams would work hard and have fun all at once.

She has enjoyed her collaboration with Capezzone, whom she credits with cultivating a successful culture at Old Saybrook. Merrill-Morin, though charged with the boys' team, coaches the middle-distance and distance runners for both teams, while Capezzone handles the sprints.

"I have a lot of experience. But he has a lot of experience," Merrill-Morin said. "I learn from him all the time. I find myself saying, 'That's why he's doing that.' ... I like that he gives (the athletes) the opportunity to teach others (on the team)."

Merrill-Morin's reflections on being back in southeastern Connecticut include being able to visit her mom, 94-year-old Josephine Merrill of Waterford, on a regular basis, going to the beach and being home for Easter for the first time in several years. She's resumed running a picturesque course at Harkness Park, just like in the old days, although she calls it more like "jogging."

And there's definitely one thing Merrill-Morin doesn't miss about being away.

"Once I hit a pot hole and got a flat tire off Route 1 (near Rutgers). It was dark and it was zero degrees out," she said, chuckling. "I called (Jeff) from New Jersey. I said, 'What do I do?' He said, 'Call AAA.'

"At least now when I get home, I know I'm in my home for the night."

Home at last.

Where the little things are big.

v.fulkerson@theday.com