River View’s Gray receives Fred Dafler Career State Coach of the Year award
River View High School’s track and field coach Mike Gray received the Fred Dafler Career State Coach of the Year award on Jan. 27 at the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches banquet. Pictured from left is Gray with Dafler. Contributed | Beacon
WARSAW – River View High School’s Mike Gray was recently honored with the Fred Dafler Career State Coach of the Year award.
“It’s not just for one or two years of success it’s for having success over the course of your career,” said Chuck Rinkes, River View’s principal.
Gray received the award from Fred Dafler himself on Jan. 27 during the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches banquet held at the Hilton Easton in Columbus. Dafler has been associated with the Ohio High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame for more than 30 years
“The award came as a surprise to me because the coaches in the eastern district put you up for it and then they consider how many athletes you’ve taken to the state meet, how many All-Ohio athletes you’ve had and how many times you were coach of the year,” Gray said. “It brought tears to my eyes when I found out I won because it’s the highest honor you can get as far as coaching track in the state of Ohio goes.”
He has been the head track and field coach at River View since 2003. Since then Gray has been named coach of the year seven times in the ECOL, Eastern District Coach of the year four times and OATCCC District 5 Track Coach of the Year five times. During his tenure the Black Bears have won eight ECOL titles, four district titles and at the regional level his teams have five top five finishes, including one regional championship and one regional runner up.
“I enjoy getting to know the kids and seeing them grow and helping them become a better person and be successful not just in track but as an adult,” Gray said.
He has sent 66 athletes to the state meet with 21 earning All-Ohio status and 28 athletes have competed at the state indoor meet with eight being All-Ohio finishes including two state champions.
“We get a lot of kids to the state meet,” Gray said. “A lot of times you are lucky to have one event to compete in, but we average four a year and we had seven events go three times and that is really unheard of. We tear it up in track. We’ve been very successful and I think we are the best kept secret in River View athletics.”
He also feels that his award doesn’t just belong to him.
“It’s not just my award,” Gray said. “It’s partly all the coaches I’ve coached with and all the athletes we’ve coached together. I couldn’t have done all this without them and God.”
Category: High School, Sports
