By Jeanne Sager
WHITE LAKE – May 17, 2002:
Name: Erin Garry

Age: 18

Hometown: White Lake

School and grade: Monticello High School, 12th grade.

Family names: Garry’s parents are Ken and Diane Garry. She has a sister, Meghan, 17, and a brother, John, 13.

Favorite sport: Cross country.

Ultimate athletic goal or dream career: “I just want to stay fit,” Garry said. “I want to keep up with sports, they’re an important part of my life. I’d like to work for NASA one day.”

College plans: Garry will be attending Cornell University in the fall to study engineering.

Favorite school subject: Chemistry.

With a high school athletic director for a father, one might expect Erin Garry’s family to be full of athletes.
But, the Monticello senior said, she’s the only one who has made sports a way of life.
“My sister has more athletic ability than me, but I’m the one with more drive,” she explained. “I love competing.”
Garry ran her first race when she was just two-years-old at the Grahamsville Gallup. Now on the verge of graduating as one of her class’ valedictorians, Garry is looking to be awarded a “doctor of sport” for her varsity letters.
Garry has run cross country each fall, maneuvered the ski hills in Nordic skiing each winter and tackled the 800, 1,500 and 3,000 meters each spring on the track.
She’s been to the state tournament twice for her skiing skills, finishing fourth this year in Section IX despite difficulties with the sport.
“It’s hard for us skiing in Section IX because we don’t get as much snow as some of the other schools further north,” she explained.
Because of her father’s position as the Monticello Central School athletic director, Erin first got into sports because she felt it was expected of her.
But as she got more involved, she explained, she fell in love with running.
“I love running,” she noted. “I can do it whenever I need to release my energy.
“The road’s always open – no one can tell me to stop running.”
Garry has enjoyed the discipline running and the other sports have given her. Developing as a runner has taken a lot of time and effort, instilling a work ethic that has transferred over into Garry’s school work.
“I’ve always had good grades, but when I got involved in sports, I didn’t slack off because of the discipline,” she said.
In addition to sports, Garry plays the violin in her school orchestra and chamber music program, sings in the choir and is a member of National Honor Society.
She works on the weekends at the Villa Roma Resort in Callicoon, putting her athletic background to good use as a lifeguard and children’s swimming instructor.
“I like being busy,” Garry explained. “I can’t sit still – it’s not in my nature to do that.”
When she heads to Cornell University in Ithaca this fall, Garry hopes to join the school’s ski team because she knows other members of the team.
She doesn’t expect to run for the school because, “there’s just so much time in the day,” but Garry hopes to continue playing sports throughout her life.
“I’d like to stay fit and stay involved,” she noted. “I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have sports.”