Jaspers’ new distance running coach has come a long way

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It was back in May of 2011, and Kerri Gallagher thought she had given the sport of track and field all she had.

She had just recently put the finishing touches on a stellar track career at Fordham University, where she still holds several records. While running for the Rams, Gallagher, who was a two-time captain of Fordham’s cross country and track teams, set six school records, won four Atlantic 10 titles, still holds the conference records for the indoor 1,000 meters and mile, as well as for the outdoor 800 meters, and earned the Hobbes Family Award in 2014 as Fordham’s Female Student-Athlete of the Year.

And she will be inducted into Fordham’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017.

So as you can see, Gallagher had a fairly full resume during her days at Rose Hill. But graduation brought the seeming end of her running days. The “real” world beckoned. It was time to make a career, earn some money and put track in the rear view mirror. So she landed a job at Morgan Stanley and the 9-to-5 grind was about to replace the thrill of the run.

“I didn’t even know running after college was even an option for me,” said Gallagher, the newly-minted head coach for Manhattan College’s men’s and women’s cross country, mid-distance and distance programs. “I had no idea.”

The potential cushy gig at Morgan Stanley lasted but a few weeks, as the pull of competing drew Gallagher back to track and field. She left the financial firm and took a job as an assistant track coach at American University in Washington D.C., working under legendary coach Matt Centrowitz, while also continuing her track career. It was a tough decision but one she has never regretted.

Native New Yorker

“I grew up in New York and went to college in New York and I was always comfortable here,” said Gallagher, a native of Belle Harbor in the Rockaways. “I was always independent growing up, but at the same time you know your family is always there and you know that is very comforting. So for me to go to a new city – I mean, I went to Fordham but it felt like I went across the country – that was big. Most of my life has been within the five boroughs. I had a pretty clear view of what track my life was going to take at least for the next couple of years, while I was at Morgan Stanley. But something was drawing me back to running. So when I made the decision I knew … was the right one.”

Upon her return to competitive track, Gallagher represented the United States in the 2015 IAAF Championships, won the mile at the 2015 Penn Relays, reached the semifinals at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, participated in three U.S. Championships, placed second in the Wannamaker Mile at the 2016 Millrose Games and reached the semifinals of the Olympic Trials this past July, coming up just short of reaching the Rio Olympics. It was a goal she may have achieved, had it not been for a medical issue that sidelined her for an extended time.

Olympic dream

“I did pretty well, considering the year that I had,” Gallagher said. “I made it to the semifinals. My goal was to make it to the finals but I actually had to have my appendix out in April and I had to take four weeks off. I couldn’t cross train, I couldn’t run or do anything, so it was four weeks of doing nothing – which left me with just about seven and a half weeks to get ready for the Olympic Trials. My goal was to make the Olympic Team this year but I had to reevaluate that goal … But it was still a pretty good performance.”

A good performance for sure, but one that still stings a little, as Gallagher now watches the Olympic Games she hoped so much to be part of.

“I had a lot of support from my family and I appreciate all that support so I can look back and be very proud that I even made the Trials,” Gallagher said. “But as an athlete, you want to be as competitive as you know you’re capable of being. So it was kind of a double-edged sword where I was proud of having gotten to the Trials, but at the same time I’ve trained for five years, so you’re no longer happy just showing up, you want to compete. So I’m kind of balancing the two between not being disappointed and at the same time wanting a little more out of it.”

But while others compete on track and field’s greatest stage, Gallagher is about to embark on a new adventure herself – as a 27-year old head coach for a Division I college program with a rich history in track and field.

Opportunity knocked

“A couple of weeks ago I didn’t even know if I would continue coaching. But then this opportunity came up,” Gallagher said. “It’s funny that these things keep happening every couple of years, where these opportunities come up quickly and out of the blue. It feels like a perfect fit. I think my experience as a New York City high school and collegiate athlete and now my experience as a professional are really unique, and I think they will be very beneficial to me with the athletes I’m working with. I think they will relate well to my background and where I’m coming from. But I did not expect at 27 to be a head coach.”

Gallagher said she thinks her reputation on the national and international stage will bring a certain amount of credibility with her to Riverdale, as she begins her new job at Manhattan this week.

“I’m comfortable knowing I have the experience to compete on a higher level and that I’ve worked my way up the coaching ranks, too,” Gallagher said. “They will see that I have been in the arena and I’ve worked my way, so I think that will help. There will be some time for us to adjust and get used to each other, but I’m confident we will all get along well.”

Traveling track star

Track has taken Gallagher, who said she spent “90 percent of [her] life within the five boroughs,” to places she might have otherwise never seen, such as China, Monaco, Belgium, Italy, Canada and other locales. But while she puts any further travel plans on hold because of her new job at Manhattan, she will be sitting in front of her TV watching her friends in the track world go for the gold in Rio.

“Oh, I’ll definitely be watching and rooting for Matt Centrowitz,” Gallagher said of the son of her coach at American University. “He’s been somebody I’ve gotten to know in the last couple of years through my relationship with his dad. I really appreciate his friendship so I’ll be rooting really hard for him in Rio.”

Centrowitz will be competing in the 1,500-meter race.

But although she is now a head coach, Gallagher was quick to point out that her “running days are not over.” She plans to be rather busy as she juggles her new head-coaching job, while continuing her track career.

Double duty

“I’m actually still going to be pursuing my professional career side by side with coaching at Manhattan,” Gallagher said. “It will be an adjustment, I’m aware of that. I’ve been coaching at American for almost four years now, so I’m comfortable that I’ve gotten the logistics and the timing down, as I’ve spent a lot of time alongside coach Centrowitz. I’ve learned a lot about how to manage both running and coaching. So I’m excited [about] what my running will bring to the team and what my coaching will bring to my running. I think they are going to complement each other very well.”

Gallagher, as was mentioned, is a Fordham grad. So will it be a little strange now as she dons the green and white of Manhattan instead of Fordham maroon? Maybe a little.

“I’ll always be rooting for Fordham, but I’ll just have to make sure our Jaspers are just a little bit better,” Gallagher said, laughing. “I’m wishing them all the best, but I’m wishing us a little bit better. My sisters are going to be running for St. John’s, they will be going into their freshman year this year, so there will be a lot of mini-rivalries going on for me.”

Exciting challenge

Gallagher was set to begin her career at Manhattan this past Monday morning at 9 a.m. And while she said she hopes her first day goes better than the day she was on campus for her interview – “When I was there for my interview, the door to the office was locked, so I never got to see my office,” Gallagher said – she is excited for the new challenge in front of her.

“It’s almost like at the beginning of a race where it’s good nerves,” Gallagher said. “I’m anxious to get started and really get going. I’m excited to get there and I really think we’re going to have a lot of fun ahead of us in the next couple of weeks. I’m very much looking forward to getting started. I’m excited to be a New Yorker again.”

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