Peter Oley taught at Irvington for 37 years and coached track and cross country at the high school for 50. He is a member of the Westchester County Sports Hall of Fame and the New York State Sports Hall of Fame. He won dozens of sectional and league titles and served as the Section 1 Cross Country chairman for 30 years. When he retired in 2007, his track team held a state record of 133 consecutive dual meet wins and several of his athletes had won state titles. The track at the school was named after him in 1987 and he helped pioneer many of the innovations--the race walk, girls' steeplechase, hammer throw--which have become standard in New York.
There is no question that his boundless enthusiasm, incredible memory, and love of kids all contributed to his remarkable success. Yet one of his most defining characteristics was a life-long desire to learn, and he always thought of his trips to the Green Mountain Running Camp--an Irvington tradition for over 25 years and still going--as the best learning environment a coach could experience. He loved everything about the camp--its pristine location, its hearty meals, its philosophy and approach, its bonding effect on his teams, its enlightened leadership--but what he enjoyed most was sharing stories with colleagues and learning all he could from the coaches and athletes who attended the camp. For him, attending the Green Mountain Running Camp was like a visit to running heaven--a treat he would look forward to every August and which would sustain him for the rest of the year.
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