Track Coaches Careers Parallel Each Other

Coach Tom Patterson and Coach Sean Ryan, who each coach track and cross country at their schools, both worked in the services division at IBM before they got into coaching. Little did they know they also actually ran against each other in college, too.

As Patterson recalls, the two discovered the coincidence over a cup of coffee one morning at the start of a meeting.

“We got to talking about how participation in athletics helped us in our business career, discovered we were both runners in college, compared time frames and where we ran,” Patterson said. “We both remembered running in several cross-country meets where both Cornell and Lehigh participated, so we concluded we must have been in the same meets together.”

As for Ryan’s recollection of how they found out, he said it came up in normal conversation, giving them a bond that still stands today and has strengthened because they both decided to get into coaching.

“Tom and I are both passionate about running and the benefits it has brought and continues to bring to our lives,” Ryan said. “More importantly, we both believe in the benefits of high school and college sports to young men and women. My reaction to other runners is I have not met a runner I didn’t like and Tom is one of the best examples of the best a runner can be.”

Patterson ran all four years and all three seasons, cross country, indoor track and outdoor track, for Cornell University. During the track season he was primarily a middle-distance runner, 800 (back then it was the 880 yards) and mile, but competed in everything from the 400 and 400 hurdles up to the 3,000-meter steeplechase, depending on where the team needed him and coach wanted him to run. That’s where he said he learned about commitment to a team that he says had served him well in his professional career.

Ryan ran both cross country and track at Lehigh University.

“In cross country we ran five miles and in track my primary events were the half mile and mile,” Ryan said.

The two would meet up again when Patterson first got into coaching as a volunteer at Lakeland/Panas in the spring of 2009.

When asked if he thought it’s ironic that their careers on and off the course have intertwined, Patterson said that he doesn’t know if ironic is the right word. Rather, he said that he believes that things happen for a reason.

“It's a bit fascinating that our athletic and professional lives have been loosely intertwined over a span of 40 years, even though we didn't realize it until lately,” Patterson said. “For me, the big surprise was attending one of my first track meets as a coach, at the time as a volunteer at Lakeland/Panas, and Sean was there coaching Briarcliff. He retired from IBM before I did (Patterson in 2008, Ryan in 2004), so he has been very helpful in showing me the ropes since I became the Pleasantville coach last fall.”

Both local coaches believe that while winning is great, the first priority as a coach is to make sure the kids have a positive experience while running and learn from it.

“I admire how Sean has grown the Briarcliff program over the last few years [Ryan is in his third year coaching the Bears] and I've learned a lot from him to hopefully do the same at Pleasantville,” Patterson said.

Ryan thinks it is great that he and Patterson's careers have come together. A ’69 Briarcliff graduate, Ryan was all-county in both cross country and track and he says he enjoys the rivalry with Pleasantville.

“I don’t see it as ironic, I see it as fitting,” Ryan said. “Tom and I have many shared experiences and values. It is great to be partnered with him and to share ideas with him on how we can both improve what our schools do for our athletes. We both want the other to succeed because we both have the same objective, enriching the lives of the student athletes we coach.”

The Bob Smith Memorial Meet, named after a former track coach at Pleasantville, which Briarcliff competes in and its boys and girls squads , is an example of a rivalry that goes back to when Ryan ran for Briarcliff and even before that.

“From my perspective, it is a natural continuation of that rivalry,” Patterson said. “The athletes get to know each other each other over the course of competing for four years, so it creates a healthy competitive environment. At the start of our recent dual meet, the seniors met at the starting line prior to the meet to exchange handshakes.”

Ryan feels that type of sportsmanship is what makes the rivalry so great.

“The meet is a perfect example of the great fun our sport can be and the best of the local community,” Ryan said. “I am doing what I do today because of the coaches I had in high school and college. This is my way of giving back to them. I love seeing coaches honored in this way. I am sure Tom would say something very similar.”

He did.

“In my case, I was lucky enough to have had coaches in both high school and college that influenced me in developing as an adult, so I wanted to give back what I little I can,” Patterson said.