By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Her introduction to the Bridgewater State University track and field program came as a youngster nearly two decades ago.

Amy Delgado was about five years old when she would accompany her father, longtime BSU coach Ed Delgado, to practices and meets at Swenson Field.

"I pretty much grew up on the track at Bridgewater State," said Delgado, a Bridgewater resident. "I went to practice every day with my father, so that was great.

"I had a lot of fun. (The athletes) treated me like a little sister. In between workouts, they would play soccer with me and run around. It was like I was a member of the team."

Now, just like her father was for 22 years, Amy Delgado is a head track and field coach at Bridgewater State.

She recently took over the Bears' women's program after two years as an assistant coach and replaces Michael Salem, who became an assistant coach at Tufts University.

Delgado, a 2008 graduate of Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High, had been an assistant at BSU since graduating from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell in 2012, where she was a standout sprinter and a two-year captain.

"Pretty much being at Lowell, I worked closely with the coaches there and I really enjoyed working with them," said Delgado. "I knew when I graduated that I wanted to get into coaching and teaching."

Delgado is doing both, starting a job this month as a health teacher at Attleboro High School and will begin practice for the indoor college track and field season in October.

Times have changed from the days years ago when Delgado would join her father at practice.

"I know pretty much how Bridgewater has expanded over the years," said Delgado. "When he started, it was a small program. (Men's) coach (T.J.) Smith has done a great job building the program.

"I've seen how it went from a small program to a big one now, and the experience we have in bringing these kids to nationals, it's on a different level. Seeing where it started and where it's gone, it's been great."

Said Ed Delgado: "We didn't get the numbers of athletes that they do now. The school has really grown. It's good. They have 40 or 50 on each team now. We were lucky to have 40 on both the men's and women's teams."

Ed Delgado was a successful coach for 16 years at Brockton High School and earned a spot in the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Hall of Fame. He won six Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference cross country titles and an outdoor track title at BSU, guiding 12 athletes to All-America honors.

Delgado now has two children following in his footsteps in the coaching ranks. Son Mike Delgado, a New England champion at the University of Connecticut, has been an assistant coach at Boston University since 2008 after being an assistant at Stonehill College.

"I'm very proud of them," said Delgado, who coached his son and daughter at B-R and was recently an assistant coach at Stonehill and Wheaton College. "They've both done a very good job coaching."

Mike Delgado, who won New England titles in the 55-meter hurdles and heptathlon and was an All-Big East performer four times, earned the Terrier Staff Award for going above and beyond his duties at BU in 2012.

Amy Delgado has been working with the sprinters on the BSU men's and women's teams, and now she gets to call the shots for the women's program while continuing to coach the men sprinters.

Delgado will use lessons learned from watching her father through the years as she embarks on a head coaching career.

"I take a lot of his patience," said Delgado. "He's a very patient man. He's worked with so many different athletes. If I'm having a hard time with an athlete, he's an easy resource for me to help me work with them and better understand them.

"He's coached every event, so he can help anywhere, really. He has the background of throwing and jumping. He's a great resource to have on hand for all the coaches on staff and he's helped everyone as much as he can."

Amy Delgado earned All-Northeast-10 Conference honors as a sprinter and took part in the NCAA Division 2 Championships indoors and outdoors five times in a row from 2010-12.

The experience will come in handy as Delgado tries to improve the BSU program beginning this fall.

"It's very satisfying to coach," she said. "It's great to be involved. I really love working with the athletes. It's very similar to teaching. Getting them to the level of where I ran is exciting and seeing them compete at a high level has been awesome. We have a great group of athletes, ladies and men. I really love working at Bridgewater."

The tables have turned in the Delgado family and now it is the father, Ed, who will be watching the daughter, Amy, lead the Bears.

"He is still around helping me all the time with whatever he can, giving me advice," said Amy.

"The athletes really enjoy having him there and he tries to come at least once a week and give his input when needed. It's nice."