St. Mary�s graduate Zack Burke, who captained the Saints� unbeaten MIAA title-winning team as a senior defenseman in 1996, has been elevated to coach Archbishop Spalding�s varsity lacrosse team after a year at the helm as the Cavaliers� junior varsity coach, athletic director Lee Dove said this morning.

The news comes only days before his wife, Jill, is scheduled to have an induced birth of their second child, Spencer, who is being named after Burke�s longtime friend, mentor and soon-to-be assistant coach, Spencer Ford, 31.

�Things are looking pretty good right now,� said Burke, 28, who has a 4-year-old son, Ethan; captained UMBC�s team under Don Zimmerman as a college senior in 2000; and plays defender for the Philadelphia Wings of the National Indoor Lacrosse League. �But it�s been a long journey, and it�s taken a lot of faith.�

Burke�s new position at Archbishop Spalding, whose junior varsity he coached to a 12-5 record after having gone winless the year before, ends a search that began in June after Haswell Franklin resigned saying he wanted to devote more time to his family.

�I had to hear from people that this guy or that guy were going to get the job,� said Burke, who emerged from a highly-qualified group of applicants. �But I just kept doubt out of my mind and didn�t allow the rumors to get to me.�

And that�s only a fraction of the story for a man whose life involves having repeatedly overcome significant odds, often turning tragedy into triumph.

�I can�t tell you how many times I�ve said to myself, �I can�t believe this is happening,'� Burke said. �But I'm a firm believer in things happening for a reason, and I�ve lived it. Now, hopefully, I have more of an opportunity to touch a lot more lives.�

Burke transferred to St. Mary�s for his 11th-grade year from Chesapeake, an Anne Arundel County public school not known for its lacrosse, �but didn�t get to play much as a junior,� he said. Yet the night before he was slated to play in his first game in a St. Mary�s uniform, Burke, then 16, endured the death of his father, Dan, 52, of a heart attack.

�My father had played big-time college football as a linebacker at Florida State, but he was on a business trip, and was really upset that he couldn�t make the game. We had actually had an argument that morning before he left, which I felt pretty bad about,� said Burke, whose brother, Matt, now rising junior at Archbishop Spalding, was only three at the time. �I didn't play in that game. I was devastated. Life changed for me forever at that moment. I realized from then on that I�d have to work for everything I�d get.�

The hard work paid off during Burke�s senior season while playing for then-Saints� coach Jim Moorhead, under whom �I was a team captain and sort of blossomed,� he said. Moments after defeating league rival St. Paul�s to complete the Saints� 17-0 championship season -- an achievement that helped Burke to earn a scholarship to UMBC -- the senior looked skyward, said a tearful prayer and, �I told my dad, �we did it.��

�The moon was huge and incredibly bright. And then, out of nowhere, Mr. Rick Diggs came over and put his arm around me,� Burke said of Diggs, the MIAA�s present executive director. �Mr. Diggs was a good friend of my father�s and he just told me, �I know that he sees you.� That was really a defining moment for me, and I know it�s sort of clich�, but I realized then that I could do anything that I wanted to if I put my mind to it.�

Two years ago in February, however, Burke was shaken, yet again, with the death of his mother, Pam, at the age of 59 as a result of breast cancer.

�She was healthy, life was great, she had just retired two weeks before she got diagnosed,� Burke said of his mother, who died eighth months after her diagnosis. �I was left with the burden of the whole family. My brother, Matt, was already a freshman at Spalding, and I wanted my brother to stay at Spalding and not Chesapeake because I didn�t� want to go down that road again.�

Burke had been building a home for Jill and Ethan, then 2, in Severna Park, �but ended up moving my family in with my brother and raising my brother� in Pasadena.

�I�m a firm believer in things happening for a reason. Like when my father died, my mom was like, �you've got to stay motivated, turn this into a positive,'� Burke said. �Before my mom died, my brother wasn�t where she wanted him to be and he needed a man to come in and show him how to be a man. I�m not sure yet, but before my mom died, I probably never would have coached. But I�ll be damned if I�m not using that to help my brother and other young guys who need help.�

After watching Spalding �go 0-for, my brother�s first year,� Burke decided he could no longer remain on the sidelines.

�I approached Spalding about the job, and then I called my friend, Spencer Ford, and said, �let�s get together and coach this team,'� Burke said of Ford, an attackman beside whom he won four club championships with the Annapolis-based Single Source/Smart Link team. �I said, �look, I know it�s just the jayvee, but let�s see what we can do.��

The Cavaliers� jayvee won 12 of 17 games overall, and eight of 13 against MIAA teams, including two wins each over Severn and St. Paul�s and one each over Calvert Hall, McDonogh and his alma mater, St. Mary�s.

�It started getting contagious, where the kids were excited to be there,� said Burke, whose other varsity assistant with Ford will be Eric Distin, a former All-American goalie. �The kids respected us , Spencer and I. A little bit of discipline and fundamentals went a long way.�

Burke�s perserverance finally was rewarded this morning with the call from Dove.

�We decided to promote from within and hire Zack Burke as the new head coach for boys lacrosse,� Dove said. �Zack and his staff did a stellar job for us, going 12-5 in the MIAA this past spring. He really gained the respect of the players and I got letter after letter of support at season�s end from the parents who were involved with Zack.�

Matthew Burke, who scored 30 goals as a crease attackman on jayvee, will be among those hoping to rise to the challenge on the varsity. Others include attackman Rich May, goalie Mitch Meredith, and the Cooper brothers, Brian and Kevin.

As a result of his experiences, Burke has devoted his life to giving back in other ways. His home-building company, Burke Development, for example, �rehabs homes in Baltimore City.�,p> �It�s a tough job, but it�s very rewarding. You go in and you find a house that�s not too good, and then, three months later, it�s brand new and somebody�s getting a really good house for a good price.�

�Lacrosse isn�t lucrative, believe me. I�m not making a lot of money playing by any means, but my parents always raised me to try and help people and do the right things,� Burke said. �But playing Division I sports changes your life, and I�m hoping to help others to have that same opportunity as a coach at Spalding.

�I want kids to come to me, I want to help them,� said Burke. �Coach Jim Moorhead and Rob White made us the No. 1 team in the country my senior year when I was there, and there�s no reason why we can�t make Baltimore be scared to come down to us again.�