Jerry Blow - Nyack 1978
Home was a moving target for Jerry Blow. He attended four different school districts in junior high and high school, lived in a group home and with friends for various spells, and endured an unsettled family environment while growing up in Rockland.
But there’s one place he indisputably felt right at home: the track. From Spring Valley to Nanuet to Clarkstown South to Nyack, Jerry motored past one outclassed foe after another and staked his claim as one of the greatest sprinters in Rockland County history.
His list of honors is long and impressive. He won the New York State 60-yard dash title indoors and was 100-meter runner-outdoors in 1978. He earned nine Rockland County championships, including the 100-yard crown four straight years and the 60-yard dash twice. Jerry set five individual County records, four of them in the 60, and ran on four record-setting relays. He won nine Section 9 class titles, including three at 100 yards, and eight State Qualifier races, including three in the 60. Jerry also was an Eastern States silver medalist in the 60 and 100 yards.
Known for his hair-trigger start, Jerry led off Nyack’s state runner-up 880 relay in ’77 – a unit that set the County and Section 9 record of 1:28.9 at the State Qualifier. He also ran on the Indians’ third-place 4x200 in ’78, and finished third in the 60 his freshman year. He broke or tied the state freshman 60-yard record three times and dipped under 10 flat in the 100 yards more times than any other Rockland sprinter. His personal bests also continue to rank high on the all-time County lists: 9.6 for 100 yards, tied for second; 10.5 for 100 meters, third; 6.2 for 60 yards, tied for third; and 21.9 for 220.
Jerry got started in track “by accident,” he recalls. As a Spring Valley Junior High seventh grader, he got into trouble one day and was told he should take up a high-energy activity like track as a constructive outlet. So he gave up baseball, a more passive sport, and opted for the sprinting events in track. An immediate success in the 100-yard dash, he continued his blossoming running career after transferring to Nanuet Junior High, where he thrived under the tutelage of his first true track coach, Colin Minga.
Jerry spent part of the winter season his freshman year at Nanuet before the school district realigned its borders and he ended up at Clarkstown South. The Vikings were only too happy to accept a sprinter of his enormous talents and Jerry starred for South through his sophomore year, after which he moved to the Nyack school district for his last two years. Joining the Indians’ tradition-rich sprints corps turned out to be an ideal match for his abilities, but the initial transition proved challenging. Fortunately, the track team’s statistician, Hope Johnson, helped ease the transition immensely, Jerry says.
“I’m a very shy person, and here I was going to yet another high school, about to become teammates with someone I had been strong rivals with,” says Jerry, whose chief nemesis was soon-to-be-teammate Otto Pearson. “Hope broke down barriers for me meeting people at the high school. She smoothed the waters and made it easy for me.”
Jerry thrived both on the track and in school – he graduated with honors from Nyack – despite some tenuous family conditions. Besides living in a group home in Haverstraw for a while, he also was sheltered by Art Lebofsky, one of his coaches at Clarkstown South, and the family of Bill Aney, who was the stepfather of Dave Coffey, his best friend and teammate at Nyack.
“When I was having difficulties in my junior and senior year, they took me in and I lived with them,” he says with gratitude. “Without these compassionate people, I wouldn’t have been able to complete my education. They helped me keep my head on straight to compete and provided a stable environment to allow me to excel in school. I never would have made it to college without their help.”
Jerry appreciated Lebofsky’s positive and encouraging attitude at a time when he needed direction in his life. “Number one, he was a great coach. Number two, he was a great educator, helping me to understand that you need to keep a balance, to have strength of mind with strength of body. And number three, he was a great advocate for the academic development of minority students.”
Jerry received an appointment to West Point and competed with distinction for the Black Knights for three-plus years. He set a school record in the 60-meter dash (6.80) in his sophomore year, won the 100 at the Heptagonal Championships in 10.73, ran a 200 leg on Army’s winning sprint medley relay in the IC4A division at the 1980 Penn Relays, and also traveled to Europe to compete on a combined Army-Princeton team against national squads in Ireland and England.
Misfortune struck, however, in the summer before his senior year when he fractured spinal vertebrae in a car accident and could not receive the required medical approval to earn his military commission. Jerry completed his college education at St. Thomas Aquinas, which accepted his credits from West Point. He graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics.
For the past 13 years, Jerry has worked for Bank of America and its predecessor company, NationsBank, including executive positions in technology management, nationwide call-center operations and global technology. He currently serves as global risk executive for payments, insuring compliance with all laws in the 28 countries in which Bank of America does business.
Jerry, who turns 50 in June, lives in the Charlotte suburb of Huntersville, N.C., with his wife of nine years, Stacey. He has two stepsons, Jason, 28, and Justin, 26.
For young student-athletes who may be battling some tough circumstances in their lives, Jerry has some sound advice distilled from personal experience: “Even if you’re going through difficult times, you can end up in a different place from where you started. Despite the challenges, you can succeed.”
But there’s one place he indisputably felt right at home: the track. From Spring Valley to Nanuet to Clarkstown South to Nyack, Jerry motored past one outclassed foe after another and staked his claim as one of the greatest sprinters in Rockland County history.
His list of honors is long and impressive. He won the New York State 60-yard dash title indoors and was 100-meter runner-outdoors in 1978. He earned nine Rockland County championships, including the 100-yard crown four straight years and the 60-yard dash twice. Jerry set five individual County records, four of them in the 60, and ran on four record-setting relays. He won nine Section 9 class titles, including three at 100 yards, and eight State Qualifier races, including three in the 60. Jerry also was an Eastern States silver medalist in the 60 and 100 yards.
Known for his hair-trigger start, Jerry led off Nyack’s state runner-up 880 relay in ’77 – a unit that set the County and Section 9 record of 1:28.9 at the State Qualifier. He also ran on the Indians’ third-place 4x200 in ’78, and finished third in the 60 his freshman year. He broke or tied the state freshman 60-yard record three times and dipped under 10 flat in the 100 yards more times than any other Rockland sprinter. His personal bests also continue to rank high on the all-time County lists: 9.6 for 100 yards, tied for second; 10.5 for 100 meters, third; 6.2 for 60 yards, tied for third; and 21.9 for 220.
Jerry got started in track “by accident,” he recalls. As a Spring Valley Junior High seventh grader, he got into trouble one day and was told he should take up a high-energy activity like track as a constructive outlet. So he gave up baseball, a more passive sport, and opted for the sprinting events in track. An immediate success in the 100-yard dash, he continued his blossoming running career after transferring to Nanuet Junior High, where he thrived under the tutelage of his first true track coach, Colin Minga.
Jerry spent part of the winter season his freshman year at Nanuet before the school district realigned its borders and he ended up at Clarkstown South. The Vikings were only too happy to accept a sprinter of his enormous talents and Jerry starred for South through his sophomore year, after which he moved to the Nyack school district for his last two years. Joining the Indians’ tradition-rich sprints corps turned out to be an ideal match for his abilities, but the initial transition proved challenging. Fortunately, the track team’s statistician, Hope Johnson, helped ease the transition immensely, Jerry says.
“I’m a very shy person, and here I was going to yet another high school, about to become teammates with someone I had been strong rivals with,” says Jerry, whose chief nemesis was soon-to-be-teammate Otto Pearson. “Hope broke down barriers for me meeting people at the high school. She smoothed the waters and made it easy for me.”
Jerry thrived both on the track and in school – he graduated with honors from Nyack – despite some tenuous family conditions. Besides living in a group home in Haverstraw for a while, he also was sheltered by Art Lebofsky, one of his coaches at Clarkstown South, and the family of Bill Aney, who was the stepfather of Dave Coffey, his best friend and teammate at Nyack.
“When I was having difficulties in my junior and senior year, they took me in and I lived with them,” he says with gratitude. “Without these compassionate people, I wouldn’t have been able to complete my education. They helped me keep my head on straight to compete and provided a stable environment to allow me to excel in school. I never would have made it to college without their help.”
Jerry appreciated Lebofsky’s positive and encouraging attitude at a time when he needed direction in his life. “Number one, he was a great coach. Number two, he was a great educator, helping me to understand that you need to keep a balance, to have strength of mind with strength of body. And number three, he was a great advocate for the academic development of minority students.”
Jerry received an appointment to West Point and competed with distinction for the Black Knights for three-plus years. He set a school record in the 60-meter dash (6.80) in his sophomore year, won the 100 at the Heptagonal Championships in 10.73, ran a 200 leg on Army’s winning sprint medley relay in the IC4A division at the 1980 Penn Relays, and also traveled to Europe to compete on a combined Army-Princeton team against national squads in Ireland and England.
Misfortune struck, however, in the summer before his senior year when he fractured spinal vertebrae in a car accident and could not receive the required medical approval to earn his military commission. Jerry completed his college education at St. Thomas Aquinas, which accepted his credits from West Point. He graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics.
For the past 13 years, Jerry has worked for Bank of America and its predecessor company, NationsBank, including executive positions in technology management, nationwide call-center operations and global technology. He currently serves as global risk executive for payments, insuring compliance with all laws in the 28 countries in which Bank of America does business.
Jerry, who turns 50 in June, lives in the Charlotte suburb of Huntersville, N.C., with his wife of nine years, Stacey. He has two stepsons, Jason, 28, and Justin, 26.
For young student-athletes who may be battling some tough circumstances in their lives, Jerry has some sound advice distilled from personal experience: “Even if you’re going through difficult times, you can end up in a different place from where you started. Despite the challenges, you can succeed.”