Oceanside's Ryan part of strong core
Aaron Greenspan is specially equipped to be a jack-of-all trades when it comes to coaching track and field for the Oceanside High School girls’ team.
As a former decathlete at Brooklyn College, Greenspan competed in all of the seemingly disparate events that the competition combines — running events of various distances, long jump, high jump, pole vaulting, javelin, the shot put, and the discus toss — each with their own physical and mental demands: pure speed, explosive strength, mobility and aerobic endurance.
Greenspan knows all about the dedication and concentration it takes to prepare for every event that track and field can throw at a team and he’s teaching those skills to his Oceanside girls. In fact, Greenspan is willing to teach his kids everything he knows, provided they are willing to listen and work as hard as they’ve ever worked.
“We try to develop every event,” he said. “We try to teach every single event.” As a result the team, which Greenspan expects to number in the 40s next season, has competitors in every event imaginable, including the uniquely demanding triple jump.
When he was brought in to coach the team a year ago, Greenspan said his first order of business was to evaluate the Oceanside program. His second, he said, was to restore its rich tradition. To that end, he took on all comers, beginners and accomplished alike. And he began to teach.
He was pleased with what he discovered in the spring, a team comprised largely of freshmen and sophomores, and eager to work. “We trained six days a week, Monday through Saturday, for 2 ½ hours a day. We were outside every day, except when the weather was too bad to go out, and then we ran the hallways.” Greenspan admits his practices were rigorous and that his coaching techniques were not for everyone. “We lost a couple of kids, but those who stuck with us blossomed.”
One of those who blossomed was sophomore Katie Ryan, who won the Nassau Class AAA 1500-meter championship with a time of 4:55.4. She also finished fourth in the 800.
Ryan is part of a strong core that also includes Laura Dwyer, Woodlynn Daniel, Samantha Long, Joni Herman and Marlena Springstubb. Dwyer is an up-and-comer in both the 100-meter hurdle and 400-meter intermediate hurdle events. Junior Patricia Clark and sophomore Nicki Epstein compete in both the shot put and the discus.
Greenspan enjoys the teaching aspect of his job, but he doesn’t do it alone. His assistant coach, Dana Siegfried, works closely with the middle distance runners. “Dana is dynamic and a pleasure to work with,” Greenspan said.
