Shame on Erie School District!

Central Tech Cross Country families;

 I would really like to thank those who supported me over the last 6 years as your coach of the cross country team.  I would also like to thank those who helped us with the countless fundraisers so your sons and daughters can always look back at the fun times.  I will cherish the memories of taking the trips like the Tiffin Cross Country Carnival and many others. Central Tech XC team was the only team in Pennsylvania 4 years in a row to be invited to attend the Tiffin race and we won it once. The trophies we put in the trophy case at Central Tech and the medals we put around over 50 runner’s necks during  the 6 years.  The memories of three trips I made to the PIAA State Championships with Nicole, Danny, and Shelby and their friends who went to cheer them on will never be forgotten. As one of only a few coach’s state wide to say I ran and coached in the PIAA championships it has been a great run that has come to a quick end.

 The family picnics; Halloween; bowling, and putt-putt parties, as well as numerous gatherings around a bonfire will always be remembered. The Awards Banquets that were free to the teams and their families, and the school director who attended (thanks Mr. Herdzik you will always get my vote) were always well attended and a special event for the runners.  The families were always a part of our program and we never left anyone out. 

Building this program didn’t come easy since 2001 when the school board wanted to shut down cross country from Central Tech to the countless times they wanted to shut down sports as a whole at Central Tech.  The Central Tech cross country team still had larger numbers than the other two high schools combined but, never did they once try to eliminate their cross country programs.  Families worked hard with plenty of help from team members to get their friends to run and former volunteer coaches such as Mike Moorehead, Dan Vereb, William Penn Barger, and last but not least Coach Sheldon who guided this program for eleven years from the bottom with only ten runners to 20 plus when he left to serve our country over seas. Our numbers continued to grow with a team high of 39 runners three years ago even though the school district always tried to eliminate our team at Central Tech. Coach Sheldon battled hard ten years ago so we could still have this team today.  I would also like to thank my friend and Coach Jay Pratt of McDowell for always giving me a hand while I was learning to become a better coach, one that my runners and  our cross country families would be proud of.  I am hoping the tradition stays alive with the new coach and the numbers stay high so they can compete with the best. 

                                                                            Thanks for the memories

                                                                                                   Gary Eller

(This an open letter to parents of current and former cross country runners at Central Tech from Gary Eller who recently resigned. It is common knowledge I am a big fan of the job Eller did with the Falcon xx team.  The Erie School District cannot afford to loses coaches such as Eller because of situations I consider political. I told two school board candidates about Eller at the radio station this morning. Dedicated coaches are hard to find nowadays and this ism a flat out shame. JAMES R)