When Westbury High School boys’ track coach, Donald Ross, received the news that he’d won the award for Section 8 “Track Coach of the Year,” he was sick with the flu. The longtime coach was surprised at the honor and he needed someone to pick up the award for him at the honorary dinner at the Crest Hollow Country Club.
“I’d already been to the fall awards dinner and to tell you the truth I wasn’t expecting to receive the honor,” said Ross, who has been coaching track and field for 35 years in the district. “I had a bug at the time and a couple of the other coaches picked up the award for me. But I’m very appreciative to earn this distinction.”
According to the Section 8 guidelines, in order to achieve the honor of Coach of the Year, coaches must meet a certain set of criteria. These include team performance, how well the team does in their conference, events covered, the coach’s tenure and the number of contributions to Section 8.
Ross has covered all the bases and helped his team earn first place in their conference in the 2014 indoor season. The team also placed first in the 2013 indoor season.
“We’ve had a lot of strong athletes on our teams the past few years,” said Ross. “Not only are they strong athletes but they are doing solid academically as well.”
Ross places a strong emphasis on student academics and has helped many of his kids earn scholarships to big name colleges. Some of those colleges include Penn State University, University of South Carolina, University of New Haven and SUNY Cortland.
“Nobody wants to give anyone anything for free and these kids have to prove they’re worthy of earning these scholarships,” said Ross. “On my team we’re looking for kids who are doing well academically as well as athletically. Education is our bread and butter because a solid education and a diploma and a degree can mean a good job.”
Westbury Athletic Director Doric Capsis said coach Ross is dedicated to the sport of track and field 365 days a year.
“His philosophy, which I wholeheartedly agree with, is to provide the students with competitions beyond the league meets which will challenge our athletes and bring forth their greatest achievement,” said Capsis. “He does not rest on past accomplishments nor does he allow his teams to do so.”
Capsis added that the coach’s college-bound student athletes continue to do well at the collegiate level because of the preparation they received from the Westbury High School track program.
Ross, who is a 1974 graduate of Westbury High School, said that he could probably coach track and field at the college level, because of all of the knowledge he’s obtained over the years.
“I could probably hang with the best of them at the college level but I have very strong ties to this school and that is why I stay,” said Ross. “My ultimate goal is to help any kid I can do they best they can as a human being.”
