SCHENECTADY - Joe Bennett, a seasoned coach, is optimistic about a revival for the Schenectady indoor and outdoor track and field teams. He recalls the glory days when his Patriots were regularly clinching championships.
Bennett’s successful four-year tenure began when he resumed coaching the Patriots in 2015. The pinnacle of this period was the boys’ 2018 outdoor season, where they clinched the second of three consecutive Suburban Council Gray Division dual-meet titles, outperformed Shenendehowa at the SC meet, and secured second place at both the Section 2 Group 1 meet and the William F. Eddy Memorial Track and Field Meet, which they hosted.
“2018 was our golden year. The team was fully committed and we were on a roll. We had a balanced team of sprinters, jumpers, throwers, and distance runners,” Bennett reminisces about the spring of 2018, when Maazin Ahmed, Keegan Cochrane, Trebor Davis, and Lamont Walters were the stars. “We had a decent run in 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic halted everything in 2020. When we resumed, we had a fresh batch of kids to train.”
Despite the Schenectady boys and girls experiencing sporadic success in the early 2020s, Bennett is hopeful of a collective leap forward in the upcoming seasons, which he will observe from the sidelines rather than the coach’s box.
The 55-year-old Rotterdam resident, a Mohonasen High School and Cortland State graduate, has retired from his coaching role after 21 years of training Schenectady runners, jumpers, and throwers. However, he plans to continue teaching physical education at Schenectady High School for one more year — his 33rd — before retiring.
“Our team usually consisted of 70 to 80 kids, but this year, we had around 100. The interest is growing,” Bennett said. “We have potential coaches, a new track at Mont Pleasant, and many of our underclassmen have had great seasons. I couldn’t be leaving the team in a better position.”
The father of three has also coached varsity football at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons and Schenectady, and served as a lower-level football, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling coach at Schenectady. His most significant impact, however, was with the Patriots’ varsity track and field teams. From 2015 to this past season, his athletes clinched 36 Section 2 indoor and outdoor relay and individual-event championships.
“I always aspired to be a physical education teacher and coach,” said Bennett, who has been part of the Schenectady teams for over 70 seasons since joining the high school’s athletic staff in 1992 as a part-time physical education teacher, JV football coach, and varsity track and field assistant. “I knew this was my calling since my high school days. I’ve had a fulfilling coaching career and a successful teaching career. I’m not burned out. I just believe it’s the right time to step down.”
STATE CHAMPIONS
Bennett guided Schenectady to four boys’ indoor state championships, with Ahmed winning the 2018 1,600-meter race by a hair’s breadth before his spring success that included a second Eddy Meet mile victory and wins at the SC meet (3,200) and Section 2 Group 1 meet (1,600).
“The result was so close that it took a while to be displayed on the board,” Bennett said of Ahmed’s state title. “Most distance runners don’t know about dipping at the line, but Ahmed, having been around sprinters, knew enough to dip and win.”
Bennett has coached numerous talented sprinters including Sheri-Dawn Roberts, Sakura Murray, Niomi Rogers, Alika Jackson-Bergin, Corey Anderson, Sakim McNeil, and Verrol Jackson. Jackson was one of Bennett’s earliest star performers, winning the state indoor 55 hurdles crown in 2003. In 2001, as a freshman, Jackson anchored Schenectady’s state indoor win in the 4×200 relay with a thrilling come-from-behind dash after legs by Mike Capra, Cean Olsen, and Robert Salisbury.
“Verrol took the baton when the race was wide open. Coming off the final turn, he made a wide swing and sprinted home,” Bennett recalled. “Everyone else was in lanes one and two, but he made a move like a seasoned or collegiate runner to clinch us a state championship.”
Isaac Menis of Schenectady ran the last 1,600 meters in a stunning comeback to win a title with the Section 2 intersectional relay team at the 2019 state indoor meet.
“He ran the last leg for the team, moving from third to first to win the championship. He ran like never before,” Bennett said. “It was a fairytale moment. It’s your last indoor meet, and your dad [longtime track assistant/cross country head coach Ed Menis] is your coach.”
Bennett can talk endlessly about the years-long boys’ 400 relay rivalry between Schenectady and Colonie. It culminated at the 2019 state outdoor meet when the Patriots (Anderson, Jeremiah Davis, Malakai Myles, and Trebor Davis) clocked a second-place 41.75 behind Colonie’s 41.39 in the Federation finals. Those times remain the best two in the event in Section 2 history.
“That was a bitter pill to swallow. We ran the second fastest time in Section 2 history. Unfortunately, we were second to Colonie,” Bennett said. “Every meet was a head-to-head battle [Schenectady won at the Group 1 meet that year]. We were fast because of Colonie, and they were fast because of us.”
Bennett said he will miss the adrenaline rush of those major competitions, and much more.
“The joy of coaching is watching the kids improve as a whole,” said Bennett, who was a football lineman and weight thrower in his playing days at Mohonasen. “Having those casual conversations with the kids, watching them compare their stats and immerse themselves in the sport, that’s what makes it special.”
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Agree: It’s sad to see him go, but he’s done so much for the program.
Agree: He will be missed, but he deserves some well-earned rest.
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