Sag Harbor - A year after its tireless search for an athletic director came to a close, the Sag Harbor School District is back in the same position. Bill Madsen, who was hired as the district's athletic director and supervisor of buildings and grounds last August, resigned from his position earlier this month to become the athletic director at Eastport-South Manor.

Madsen cited a lengthy commute - 75 minutes each way from Rocky Point - as the biggest reason for the change. He and his wife considered moving east but she would then take on a sizable drive each day to her teaching job in Brentwood. The commute to ESM will be under a half-hour.

"It really came down to quality of life and being able to spend time with my son," Madsen said. "Having an infant when I took the job, I didn't understand fatherhood and it became too much."

Madsen fills the AD vacancy at ESM where the school has football, wrestling, lacrosse and is at the Class AA level for many of their sports. The school is just a half-decade old and Madsen called the facilities "incredible." His final day in Sag Harbor is slated for July 3. "He brought enthusiasm for the role of athletic director and the knowledge of how to be an effective coach and how to run an athletic program," Superintendent Dr. John Gratto said. "His enthusiasm and passion for sports was evident to his students and everyone he came in contact with."

Last year, a committee screened seven or eight candidates before sending two finalists' credentials to Gratto, who conducted the last round of interviews before settling on Madsen. That process will be followed once again once the deadline for applications - Wednesday, June 24 - passes. As of Thursday, three applications had been received and "a number of people" had expressed interest per the superintendent, who expected to receive upward of 30 resumes for the vacancy.

"I would say that their gain is our loss," Gratto said. "He's done a great job in the dual role, and I'm disappointed to see him leave."

Controversy surrounded the dual position - both athletics and buildings and grounds - because many thought they needed to be two separate positions if the duties were to be carried out successfully. Gratto indicated that Madsen was fine with the 60/40 split - 60 percent athletics and 40 percent facilities. The position being advertised is structured as such, unless a qualified candidate can't be found, at which time a discussion to split the roles will occur.

"I talked to him about the viability of that position, and he agrees that it's constituted quite well," Gratto said.

On his watch, the Pierson baseball team won the Class C county championship, while the girls soccer, field hockey and softball teams were Class C finalists. Both the boys and girls basketball teams qualified for the playoffs. Madsen drew up a short-term and long-range plan for the athletic department and focused his attention on further developing the existing sports in the district while also building out even more. Madsen embarked on discovering the means necessary for fielding lacrosse at Pierson rather than to send lacrosse athletes to The Ross School.

Since taking the position at ESM, Madsen has been meeting with coaching staffs on site to go over his expectations for each team. "I was treated very well here," Madsen said. "Dr. Gratto, the board, Mr. Nichols, they really been treated extremely well. I was able to run the athletic department and building and grounds, and nobody really interfered. To get that much support in that short amount of time. You have to gain trust, and obviously I did that quickly."

Despite the success, the wear and tear from the commute home took its toll. Prior to Madsen's hiring, retired administrator Dan Nolan and Mike Burns, a former coach and AD at East Hampton, filled the position in the interim.

"I would have been pleased if Bill had stayed longer, but we're at a geographic disadvantage in a sense," Gratto said. "In Bill's case, he cut his commute from an hour and 20 minutes to just 20 minutes and he made more money. I can't fault someone for wanting to increase their quality of life in that way. I would take one year of a talented person and that's what we got. It was good for the school district. Ideally we'll get a similarly talented person who will stay longer, but I'll take talent over time anytime."