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Memorable Mondays: Top five coaches
Welcome to MSGVarsity.com’s Memorable Mondays, a summer-long series that looks back on the top players, games and moments from the past season and gazes ahead to 2012-13. As the summer goes on, we’ll compile all the lists and post them here: www.msgvarsity.com/mondays. New Lists will be posted every Monday at noon.
In Week 7 of Memorable Mondays, we look at five of the top coaches from New York City high schools.
Shawn O’Connor, Lincoln football: Lincoln isn’t just a basketball school anymore and Shawn O’Connor has a lot to do with that. He changed the football culture in Coney Island and made sure his team wasn’t concerned about the players who graduated from the previous year’s team – 26 in total – that suffered a heartbreaking two-point loss in the title game. The Railsplitters responded and the result was an undefeated season and the first city title since 1993.
Ruth Lovelace, Boys & Girls basketball: All Ruth Lovelace did this year was guide a Boys & Girls team with three transfers in the mix to a third consecutive PSAL Class AA title and then went to Albany and won the first New York State Federation crown in school history. Lovelace seemed to push all the right buttons down the stretch and has built more than a championship team, she has one of the city’s most successful programs.
Melvin Martinez, Grand Street Campus baseball: After another empty trip to the PSAL Class A semifinals, Melvin Martinez was ready to call it quits last year, convinced he was the reason why the Wolves hadn’t reached their potential. His players talked him out of retirement and they all talked about how they won the elusive city title for Martinez, who couldn’t hold back the tears after 17 agonizing years of waiting.
Ed Grezinski, Murry Bergtraum basketball: Ed Grezinski’s 14th championship was his sweetest because it had nothing to do with luck and everything to do with coaching. The season started with the tragic death of Tayashana (Chicken) Murphy, but Grezinsky guided the Lady Blazers through the grieving process and helped talented freshmen Ashanae McLaughlin and Alexandria Smith adjust to the rigors of varsity ball. Bergtraum took its lumps early, but Grezinsky never panicked.
Dominick Galimi, Fordham Prep swimming: A former captain and four-year letterman on the Fordham Prep swimming team, Galimi began coaching the Rams in 1997 and the team has enjoyed unprecedented success under his guidance. The Rams have won five CHSAA titles in the last six years and, after winning the first New York State Federation title in school history last year, Galimi led the Rams to a second consecutive state crown this year.
Join us throughout the summer as “Memorable Mondays” brings you more top 5 lists:
Aug. 13: Top five most memorable games from 2011-12
Aug. 20: Top five teams from 2011-12
Aug. 27: Top five teams to watch in 2012-13
Find them all at www.msgvarsity/mondays
Tri-State lacrosse Top 20: Week 4
NYC power rankings: Spring sports
All-Metro boys and girls basketball: 2012-13
2012-2013 All-City teams
