More About Ray Kondracki
Ray Kondracki began his coaching career at Clarkstown South High School in 1984. Over the past 35 years, his teams have won a total of 11 sectional championships and 14 league championships. In addition to these titles, he boasts 151 cross country league wins and 150 league wins in outdoor track, each making him the 3rd winningest coach in Section 1 history. These have earned him 13 Rockland County Coach of the Year awards. His coaching successes don't end in Section 1, as he's coached 11 New York State champions and 9 National champions as well as the 1998 Spring Track State Championship winning team.
Outside of coaching at South, Ray held volunteer coaching, officiating, and coordinating positions at the Rockland County Special Olympics from 1980-2000 and was the International Special Olympics Track Coach in both 1986 and 1990. He has served as Director of Camp Venture for children with and without special needs every summer since 1991.
Born and raised in Blauvelt, Ray graduated from Tappan Zee High School before attending STAC, graduating with a B.S. in Special Education in 1981. He then earned an M.S. from San Diego State University and began his tenure teaching and coaching at Clarkstown South High School. He currently resides in Pearl River, NY with his wife, Cathy, and three sons, Chris (25), Bryan (22), and Kyle (20). In 2010, Kondracki was inducted into the St. Thomas Aquinas Hall of Fame, ingraining himself in college history.
More About Marianne Balogh-Sims
Marianne Balogh-Sims was a member of the St. Thomas Aquinas College the cross country team. She was the first woman to join the all men's team and paved the way for a women's team to be formed. As a competitor she held several course records (King's Invitational 1980 and the District Meet at Roberts Wesleyan in Rochester 1980) . In 1983 she earned a trip to the NAIA Cross Country Championships in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Marianne has been employed by the Archdiocese of New York as an elementary school teacher for 34 years. She originally taught second grade at Saint Joseph School in New Windsor, NY and presently at St. Stephen-St. Edward in Warwick, NY. While teaching she has also coached basketball, track and cross country at various levels. She has also inspired young women by coaching with "The Girls on the Run" program.
Her love for running continues today with her participation in local road races, and inspiring her young students to be fit and healthy.She fulfilled her dream of running a marathon in Lake Placid, NY in 2010 and The Hambletonian in Goshen, NY in 2013. She will continue to run and inspire the youth into the foreseeable future.
Marianne Balogh-Sims is resident of Walden, NY in Orange County where she lives with her husband Ed. It is also where she raised her son Zachary. She attended Valley Central High School. After graduating in 1980 she attended STAC pursuing a Bachelor Degree in Elementary Education. Upon graduating in 1984, Marianne furthered her education at SUNY New Paltz graduating in 1993 with a Masters in Elementary Education.