For Ken Garry, it’s all about the memories

December 9, 2024 Andy Furman

Ken Garry (left) and former student Abel Corces. Photo courtesy of Andy Furman

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Ken Garry remembers like it was yesterday.

It was the threesome: Dan Lynch, Jr., Ed Savold and Garry.

“We used to play basketball in Danny’s driveway just about every Saturday morning,” Garry told the Brooklyn Eagle from his home in White Lake, New York. “And, if it wasn’t basketball, it would be two-hand touch football and stickball in front of Danny’s house.”

And sometimes Danny’s dad — the legendary Dan Lynch, Sr — would join in for a few plays.

These young athletes would eventually excel into Hall of Famers in their respective sports.

Savoldi is a Xaverian High School Hall of Famer who continued his baseball career at St. Francis College — Lynch is a member of the Nazareth High School Hall — he, too, played baseball and later coached the sport at Brooklyn Heights College.

But — Garry — the St. Francis Prep grad — well, he was a three-sport coach — baseball, basketball and cross-country/track and field.

And he did it from 1976 until 2000 — a span in which he tutored six state champions and two Eastern State champs.

At Monticello (N.Y.) High School.

“My dad bought a summer home in White Lake, New York, after I graduated Brooklyn College,” Garry said. “I was certified in both Physical and Driver’s Education and, since I was familiar with the Monticello area — White Lake is seven miles away — I looked for work there.”

Garry coached cross-country from 1976-1989 and track and field from 1980-2000. In between, he taught Physical Education at the Middle School, Driver’s Ed. in the high school, and found time to coach Eighth grade modified basketball.

“That eighth-grade team went undefeated in ’72-’73,” Garry recalled. “And in the spring, I coached JV baseball.”

But running — cross-country — was his true love. “Stuart Levitt taught track and field while I was at Brooklyn College,” Garry said. “He was a 1963 Division I NCAA champion. He, along with other Brooklyn College staffers, transmitted their love of the sport to me.”

Yet, Garry was not even a runner while a Brooklyn College student. “I swam for BC,” he said, “and I swam at St. Francis Prep and was a member of their two-time city championship teams.”

Garry was a member of the Prep’s class of 1966 — when the school was located at 186 N. 6th Street in Williamsburg.

186 North 6th St., Williamsburg, the former home of St. Francis Prep, Ken Garry’s alma mater. Photo via Google Maps

But that very first fall cross country team of 1976 at Monticello High did not go as planned, according to Garry. “I started running to motivate the team,” he said. “I soon found out I was faster than most of the kids on the team. I knew I had to start from Block One.”

He did, and he said it took him about 2-3 seasons to get things rolling.

“I recruited kids from my Phys. Ed. Classes,” he said. “I wanted kids who were willing to work hard and come to practice daily.”

The results proved the skeptics wrong — from 1976 to 1989, Ken Garry produced an Orange County Champion and three runners-up titles while coaching both the boys and girls at the high school.

“We became a real factor during one stretch when we didn’t finish less than second in the conference,” Garry said.

The three-sport coach dropped basketball in 1980 and handled indoor track through 1988.

And, he said, the hardest part of coaching? Cutting kids. “That was never easy nor fun. I always felt bad about it, but I was always fair.”

Garry retired in 2007, but not before he served as the school’s Athletic Director for 19 years — the first 16, he was a teacher and coach. He coached boys outdoor track and field until 2000 and produced six state and two Eastern State champions.

He was recently elected to the Friends of Section 9 Hall of Fame for service in the field of cross country and track and field — and in March of next year, he will be one of the newest members of the New York State Athletics Administrators Hall of Fame, in Saratoga, New York.

The Friends of Section 9 Track and Field Hall of Fame recognizes distinguished track and field and cross-country athletes, coaches, and officials for their outstanding achievements.

Since the inaugural banquet in 2017 over 40 people have been inducted.

Ken Garry dedicated 35 years to the students of Monticello.

Garry presently works as a SOCAT — Southern Catskills Track and Field Official.

Memories: Ken Garry has ‘em. He rattles off the name Miguel Castillo, a kid he had coached since sixth grade. “He wanted to be a runner,” Garry remembered. “He practiced daily, worked hard, and ran the 1,000 meters at Rockland CC in 2:30.5 — still a school record. And, in 1985, he was the New York State 800-meter champ.”

But it was Garry’s brother who told him, “If I put as much time and effort in studying the stock market as I did in studying track and field, I would be a wealthy man,” Garry said.

“But,” the coach quickly added: “I am a wealthy man; I have all these memories of my track and cross-country days.”

And all those memories of those Saturdays with his Hall of Fame buddies.