Fisher Hires Mike Garger as Cross Country and Track Coach
Mike Garger is the newest addition to St. John Fisher College’s athletic coaching staff. Garger will be the head coach of the College’s men’s and women’s track and field, and men’s and women’s cross country programs, which will begin competing in the 2011-12 academic year.
“I’m very excited to have Mike join our department. He has a great deal of energy and excitement, and I’m confident he will work hard and build a successful program,” says Bob Ward, who has served as the College’s Director of Intercollegiate Athletics since 1987. “I wish him the best of luck and look forward to working with him.”
Garger, who recently resigned as the head coach for track and field and cross country at Fredonia State University, is best known for his success at the high school level.
While at Geneseo High School, his boys’ and girls’ cross country teams were each 42-0 in his final year (2009), including Section V championships for each. Over his 13-year career at Geneseo, his teams were a combined 381-95. An All-Greater Rochester Coach of the Year, Garger’s 2007 girls’ team won the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class D championships, the first state team title in Geneseo High School history.
Meanwhile, the Geneseo girls’ track and field team won 13 straight Section V crowns, ending with the Class C championship last May. His boys’ team also took the Class C crown in May of 2010 as well.
A native of Westchester County, Garger attended John F. Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers, N.Y., where he excelled in distance running. He finished 12th as a sophomore, fifth as a junior, and eighth as a senior in the state Class B cross country championship meet. He moved on to SUNY Geneseo to study History and Secondary Education. Again, he made his mark as a distance runner for the Blue Knights. He broke the Geneseo indoor track 5,000-meter record and earned a place in the SUNYAC Cross Country Hall of Fame.
Garger’s coaching career began back in 1992, when he began a three-year stint as SUNY Geneseo assistant cross country coach. He landed a teaching job as a Secondary School Social Studies teacher in 1995 with the Geneseo Central School District. He was named head coach of the Geneseo High School cross country teams in 1996 and of the track and field teams in 1998. He also coached girls’ track and field for one season (1995) at Mount Morris High School.
In addition to the 2007 state title, Garger’s girls’ cross country teams at Geneseo have been Livingston/Genesee County League champs and Section V Class D champs from 2004 through 2009. His boys’ cross country teams won the Livingston/Genesee County League title in 2004, 2007, and 2009 and the Section V title in 2004, 2005, and 2009. Both teams have been recognized annually as NYSPHAA Scholar-Athletes and he has numerous individuals win county, sectional, and state cross country medals.
In addition to the 13 straight girls’ track and field sectional team titles, Garger’s boys’ teams won sectional crowns in 1999, 2001, 2005, and 2010. Both teams are undefeated in league meets for over a decade. Like the cross country teams, his track teams have claimed NYSPHSAA Scholar-Athlete awards through his tenure. Altogether, Garger has guided 151 individuals and 20 relay teams to Section V championships since 1996. He also won a Section V girls’ team title during his one year at Mount Morris.
Mike and his wife, Carolyn, have three daughters -- Kennedy, MacKenzie, and Paige.