OATCCC Hall Of Fame
Gary White

Gary White grew up in a coaching family watching and learning from his father, Bob, who was a 30 year football coach in Middleville, Michigan and an inductee into the Michigan High School Coaches Hall of Fame. After a three year coaching stint at Kansas Lakota under Myron Cline, who Gary acknowledges as his mentor, he was ready to make a run at his own program. In 1988, Gary took over the track program at Pemberville Eastwood with the philosophical intention of making Eastwood track one of the most competitive programs, not just in the Suburban Lakes League, but in the region and in the state. Lessons learned, mission accomplished. Eastwood won their first SLL title in school history in 1997 and went on to win 13 more titles prior to Gary’s retirement in 2011 at one point sporting a streak of eleven championships in a row and going undefeated in dual meets in his last seven years of coaching. Gary’s teams also went on to win five Dis- trict titles and two Regional Championships. Success came on the shoulders of such outstanding athletes Jimmy O’Brien (State Champion in the 4 x800M and 800M as well as three other All-Ohio honors in the 4 x 400M and 1600M); sprint specialist and eight time state quali- fier / five time All-Ohio athlete Cody Seifert; pole vault specialist Crosby Schemenauer (State Runner-up in ‘08 and State Champion in ‘09); and four-time State Champion and eventual National Champion thrower, Justin Welch. Eastwood made their first trip to the State Runner-up awards ceremony in 2003 following that up with another Runner-up title in 2008. In 2009, the Eagles took one more step up the podium winning the State Championship in 2009 and then repeating the feat in 2010. During this run, Eastwood also dominated the Division II/III Indoor State Championships winning the titles in 2008, 20 09, and 2010. Gary also helped host the District Meet at Eastwood High School and also served on District and Regional Games Committees.