LEWISTON – It used to be a joke.

“The first year I got here, I got the team up, I taught them speed dynamics, and I was explaining it to them,” and one of the kids said, ‘Coach, you don’t understand, we’re from Lewiston, we’re losers,'” Lewiston boys’ track coach Ray Putnam said. “I had to illegalize them calling themselves losers the first year. A lot of what I’ve done here is helping kids believe in themselves, helping their self-esteem, learning that they’re all just absolute champions, they just had to find their way.”

Putnam helped the track and field team find its way, scooping up the cross country running and indoor track teams along the way, turning what used to be a laughing stock of a program into one of the top programs in Maine.

And now, he and girls’ coach Kevin Russell, who’s been right alongside Putnam from the beginning, are stepping aside.

“I was kind of shocked when I got the letter earlier this month,” Lewiston Athletic Director Jason Fuller said. “To see (Putnam) go, that leaves some big shoes to fill.

“He basically built it from the ground up,” Fuller added. “He’s done a great job with the kids, both on the track and in the classroom, pushing them academically.”

Fuller could not officially comment on Russell’s resignation, as the paperwork has not been fully processed.

Russell confirmed, however, that he’d handed in his letter, too.

“My son is 10 now, and he plays hockey, and that’s getting to be full-time for us,” Russell said. “I’ve wanted to get an elite (track) team going, so I’ll probably work on that.”

Putnam took over the struggling outdoor track program in the spring of 2000. By 2006, he’d build a state championship squad.

“Freshmen year, it felt more like a club here,” former Lewiston athlete George Foster said. “You came if you wanted to hang out, but people started realizing on the team that we had something going. Of course there was still some fooling around and stuff, but when we realized there was a championship team hiding right in front of us, we started focusing.”

Foster graduated in 2007, and was a key cog in the Devils’ state title run, which the team capped with a two-point victory over Edward Little.

In addition to the 2006 outdoor track title, a Putnam-coached team won the Class A cross country running title in 2007, and was second at the 2005-06 indoor track state meet.

“In 10 years, the things he’s accomplished with the program are pretty monumental,” Fuller said. “The school’s first cross country state championship, the first outdoor track state championship, you can’t take anything away from what he’s done. he’s put a lot of time, a lot of hours above and beyond into this program and into the kids.”

“We pride ourselves on having one of the best graduation rates in the school,” Russell said. “Our team is one of the more diverse teams in the school. We get kids from all different backgrounds. We give a lot of these kids another family to be a part of.”

Putnam said he’s planning to sell his house and, possibly, move to New Mexico. Russell may be around to help coach in a volunteer capacity. But both agree the program is strong now, perhaps the strongest it’s been.

“I believe that the best team we will have in school history could be next year,” Putnam said. “My feeling is, when you leave something, you want to leave it strong. You want to be able to look back on it with pride. When you leave a place, how well you did is measured by how strong the program stays after you’re gone.

“This is a huge transition in my life,” Putnam continued. “I don’t think anybody knows me as ‘Ray Putnam,’ I think everybody knows me as ‘Coach Putnam.’ Even my mother gets confused sometimes.”

After this weekend’s state meet, and perhaps the New Englands later on, that will no longer be the case.

Ray Putnam’s highlights

Indoor track

KVAC coach of the year 2005-06

Maine Sunday Telegram Coach of the Year 2006

KVAC team champions, 2005-06

State runners-up, 2005-06

Cross country

Maine Sunday Telegram Coach of the year 2007

KVAC Coach of the Year 2007

KVAC Coach of the Year 2008

Regional team champions 2005, 2007, 2008

State champions 2007

State runners-up 2008

Outdoor track

State champions, 2006