Gary ended a decorated running career in 2005. In 2004, he became the fifth former Buckeye to gain a bid to two separate U.S. Olympic teams and continued running by making the finals for the 11th-straight year at the 2005 USA Nationals.

A 1996 participant at the Atlanta Games, Gary placed second in the men’s steeplechase at the Olympic Trials with a career-best 8:19.46. Eight years later, his third-place finish at the trials gained an automatic bid on the U.S. team headed to Athens, Greece for the 2004 Olympic Games.

Gary also earned honors as a cross country athlete, winning the 2004 Track and Field News Cross Country Runner of the Year. He qualified for the U.S. team for the second-straight season in both the four-kilometer and 12-kilometer events and finished as the top American at the 2004 World Championships in the 4k. Gary’s 2004 qualification to the world championships in two events marked the first time a U.S. runner made both teams in consecutive years and moved his tally to 11 national cross country teams qualified for.

In 2003, Gary qualified for his sixth United States World Cross Country team by winning the 2003 U.S. 4-kilometer Cross Country Championship in Houston, Texas. That same year, he claimed a third-place standing in the steeplechase at the USATF Championships in June with a time of 8:24.82. Gary ended the year by representing the U.S. at the 2003 Outdoor World Championship en route to earning a No. 3 ranking by Track and Field News. During the 2002 outdoor campaign, Gary ran the fourth-fastest time by an American in the 3000m steeplechase. As a result of his performance, Gary was ranked among the Top 10 in the U.S. for the seventh-straight year.

As a student-athlete at Ohio State from 1992-1995, Gary was a six-event All-American, winning the Big Ten Outdoor 3000m steeplechase title in 1994, where he set the Ohio State and Big Ten record in the event. He was a three-time All-Big Ten selection and member of three Big Ten Championship teams (1992 outdoor, and 1993 indoor and outdoor).

Along with his numerous accolades in cross country and track, Gary has established himself as one of the nation’s elite coaches. Former Buckeye greats Rob Myers (1500m), Dan Huling (steeplechase) and Brian Olinger (Steeplechase) along with current Buckeye Jeff See (1500m) trained under Gary while preparing for the 2008 Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. Myers, Huling and Olinger advanced to the finals of their events before coming up short while See – just a sophomore at the time – missed the finals by one spot. Gary was selected to be an assistant coach for Team USA’s U23 team in July 2008 at the North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) meet in Toluca, Mexico. Joining him was See, who competed in the 1500m run. Myers and Huling finished the year having run the second-fastest times by an American in their respective events.

Gary’s third season as track and field coach was one of the more successful in recent memory. The Buckeyes finished second on their home track at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, claimed 13 Big Ten titles, qualified 19 individuals for regional competition and five individuals for the NCAA Championships. Freshman Thomas Murdaugh took home All-American honors in the 400m dash, while senior Jeff See was named an All-American in the 1500m for the second year in a row. In addition, the Buckeyes finished fourth at the Big Ten Indoor Championships and defeated rival Michigan at the Indoor “Dual.”

The Buckeyes enjoyed an historic 2008-2009 season under Gary’s leadership, as the cross country, indoor and outdoor track teams all finished in the Top Three at their respective conference meets for the first time in more than 65 years. Gary watched seven of his athletes take home Big Ten titles, while 10 earned All-Big Ten honors. He led the cross country team to its sixth NCAA appearance since 2000 and its 11th overall in program history.

In his initial campaign of the leader of the men’s track and field team, Gary guided the Buckeyes to a solid fourth-place finish at the 2007 Big Ten Indoor Championships. Ohio State benefited from championship efforts from See (mile), Anthony Cole (200m) and Lenny Jatsek (weight throw). Cole and See advanced to compete at the indoor national meet. During the outdoor season, the Buckeyes sent 14 individuals to the NCAA Regional Championships, led by sophomore sprinter Elon Simms who was an All-Big Ten performer in the 400m hurdles and anchored the 4x400m relay to a Top Five regional finish.

During his ninth season as Ohio State cross country head coach, Gary led the Buckeyes to perhaps the finest season in school history. He was named 2005 Great Lakes Region Cross Country Coach of the Year after he led the men’s cross country squad to a runner-up finish at the Big Ten Championships, third-place at the Great Lakes meet and an 11^th-place finish at the 2005 NCAA Championships. Individually, Brian Olinger was named Great Lakes Runner of the Year and earned his second-consecutive All-America award.

The 2004 track and field season saw a pair of Buckeyes score Top Four finishes in their respective events at the NCAA Championships. Under Gary’s tutelage, Rob Myers, now in his fifth season as a volunteer assistant at Ohio State, took fourth in the men’s 1500m run before placing third at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials in a then career-best time of 3:38.93. In addition, Aaron Fisher clocked a fourth-place time in the men’s steeplechase at the NCAA Championships, ahead of teammate Brian Olinger, who turned in a Top 20 performance.

In 2005, Fisher again claimed All-America honors in the steeple, while Olinger nabbed his first All-American award in the indoor 5000m before redshirting the outdoor campaign. As a redshirt, Olinger posted some of his top times in the steeple in 2005, highlighted by a fourth-place finish and career-best 8:28.44 at the U.S.A. Nationals in June and an 8:19.56 at the European meet in July. It was the second-best time by an American Junior. Gary mentored Olinger to his second-consecutive All-American season on the track in 2006.

Gary’s student-athletes carry their success into the classroom as well – 18 members of the 2009 track and field team were named Academic All-Big Ten, while five members of the cross country team claimed the honor. The cross country team was named 2009 Division I All-Academic for the eighth straight season.

A recent inductee into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame, Gary received a degree in English education from Ohio State in the fall of 1996. He is a graduate of Evanston Township High School (Chicago, Ill.) where he was a state champion in the two-mile and an All-Midwest selection in soccer. He currently resides in Columbus.