AUBURN - Bob Calimeri certainly earned his own accolades on the athletic field.
The 1958 West High School graduate had four years of varsity football as well as a year of wrestling and a year of track to his credit.
“Like a lot of kids at that time I grew up going to West High playing baseball,” Calimeri said. “I played Little League and Babe Ruth league and then football in high school for four years. But one of the things that really stands out to me is my junior year in track, we set a new record in the 800 relay and we came in fourth at states that year.”
Calimeri will be inducted into the Auburn High School Hall of Fame in November.
After graduating, Calimeri went on to what was then Auburn Community College before heading to SUNY Albany earning his bachelor's and master's degrees, but did not get involved with any collegiate athletics.
In 1963, Calimeri returned to Auburn to begin his 33-year teaching career.
“I'm home grown,” Calimeri said. “I returned to my alma mater - West - and began teaching biology.”
It was in 1964 that Calimeri began to make what has come to be considered his greatest contribution to Auburn athletics, when he took the opportunity to begin coaching the freshman football team. Calimeri would spend the next few seasons with the freshman squad before moving on to be the JV head coach.
“We were 3-3-1, 3-3-1 and 5-3,” Calimeri said. “We had a lot of success. We never had a losing season. But then I took a sabbatical and went to the College of Environmental Science and Tony Locastro took over JV and they went undefeated.”
In 1975, Calimeri was offered the chance to coach girls track.
“I'll never forget it,” Calimeri said. “I was in the math office and the athletic director came up and asked me, so I said I'd give it a chance.”
Calimeri said that in his first season after a loss to Seneca Falls he wasn't sure how things were going to go But gradually things began to grow.
“We had some strong teams,” Calimeri said. “We'd do well in the sprints and the field events, but we'd lose eight or nine points in the distance races. We really didn't have a cross country program.”
It was through the efforts of a former student, Al Wilson, that this situation began to turn around.
“He really started the cross country program,” Calimeri said. “And that is when we began to excel - when we began building up our distance runners.”
From 1986 to 1988 Calimeri's teams racked up nine league championships and nine sectional championships. The team brought home two New York state championships in those two seasons, including two Federation championships and one Eastern States championship.
“I was elated,” Calimeri said. “I was so happy to be able to be involved with those kids. They were tremendous athletes and to be able to be a part of that success was a great honor.”
In 1989, Calimeri decided that it was time to retire from his successful coaching career.
“I had been a coach off and on for 22 years,” Calimeri said. “For the past three years I had coached cross country, indoor and outdoor track. I wasn't home too often and I was pretty fatigued after three years of year-round coaching.”
Calimeri retired from teaching in 1996, but still stays busy, teaching a math course at Cayuga Community College and occasionally lending a hand to students at Tyburn Academy who are preparing for math exams.
Calimeri has also found time for new passions, such as learning to play guitar and joining a writing group at Stella Maris in Skaneateles.
In 2004, Calimeri published his own book, “Forget the Novocaine, Doc -- I was a Teacher,” which conveys stories from his teaching days.
Calimeri said that he also stays busy playing golf, reading and spending time with his family.
“I've been married for 44 years to Barbara Klink,” Calimeri said. “We have two great children, Susan and Christopher, and now I'm just enjoying my retirement.”
While almost two decades have passed since Calimeri was a coach. Those years and experiences will never be far from his heart.
“It feels really good to be in the hall of fame,” Calimeri said. “It is nice people think enough of me and my time coaching to include me. We had some excellent athletes that really excelled and helped with all of our success and it is because of them that this honor has been bestowed upon me.”
If you go
What: Auburn High School Hall of Fame induction ceremony
When: Saturday, Nov. 3, 5:30 p.m.
Where: Springside Inn
Tickets: Available at YMCA, Lewis Restaurant, AHS athletic office, Balloons Restaurant
Contact: Dick Williams, 252-3618.
“Like a lot of kids at that time I grew up going to West High playing baseball,” Calimeri said. “I played Little League and Babe Ruth league and then football in high school for four years. But one of the things that really stands out to me is my junior year in track, we set a new record in the 800 relay and we came in fourth at states that year.”
Calimeri will be inducted into the Auburn High School Hall of Fame in November.
After graduating, Calimeri went on to what was then Auburn Community College before heading to SUNY Albany earning his bachelor's and master's degrees, but did not get involved with any collegiate athletics.
In 1963, Calimeri returned to Auburn to begin his 33-year teaching career.
“I'm home grown,” Calimeri said. “I returned to my alma mater - West - and began teaching biology.”
It was in 1964 that Calimeri began to make what has come to be considered his greatest contribution to Auburn athletics, when he took the opportunity to begin coaching the freshman football team. Calimeri would spend the next few seasons with the freshman squad before moving on to be the JV head coach.
“We were 3-3-1, 3-3-1 and 5-3,” Calimeri said. “We had a lot of success. We never had a losing season. But then I took a sabbatical and went to the College of Environmental Science and Tony Locastro took over JV and they went undefeated.”
In 1975, Calimeri was offered the chance to coach girls track.
“I'll never forget it,” Calimeri said. “I was in the math office and the athletic director came up and asked me, so I said I'd give it a chance.”
Calimeri said that in his first season after a loss to Seneca Falls he wasn't sure how things were going to go But gradually things began to grow.
“We had some strong teams,” Calimeri said. “We'd do well in the sprints and the field events, but we'd lose eight or nine points in the distance races. We really didn't have a cross country program.”
It was through the efforts of a former student, Al Wilson, that this situation began to turn around.
“He really started the cross country program,” Calimeri said. “And that is when we began to excel - when we began building up our distance runners.”
From 1986 to 1988 Calimeri's teams racked up nine league championships and nine sectional championships. The team brought home two New York state championships in those two seasons, including two Federation championships and one Eastern States championship.
“I was elated,” Calimeri said. “I was so happy to be able to be involved with those kids. They were tremendous athletes and to be able to be a part of that success was a great honor.”
In 1989, Calimeri decided that it was time to retire from his successful coaching career.
“I had been a coach off and on for 22 years,” Calimeri said. “For the past three years I had coached cross country, indoor and outdoor track. I wasn't home too often and I was pretty fatigued after three years of year-round coaching.”
Calimeri retired from teaching in 1996, but still stays busy, teaching a math course at Cayuga Community College and occasionally lending a hand to students at Tyburn Academy who are preparing for math exams.
Calimeri has also found time for new passions, such as learning to play guitar and joining a writing group at Stella Maris in Skaneateles.
In 2004, Calimeri published his own book, “Forget the Novocaine, Doc -- I was a Teacher,” which conveys stories from his teaching days.
Calimeri said that he also stays busy playing golf, reading and spending time with his family.
“I've been married for 44 years to Barbara Klink,” Calimeri said. “We have two great children, Susan and Christopher, and now I'm just enjoying my retirement.”
While almost two decades have passed since Calimeri was a coach. Those years and experiences will never be far from his heart.
“It feels really good to be in the hall of fame,” Calimeri said. “It is nice people think enough of me and my time coaching to include me. We had some excellent athletes that really excelled and helped with all of our success and it is because of them that this honor has been bestowed upon me.”
If you go
What: Auburn High School Hall of Fame induction ceremony
When: Saturday, Nov. 3, 5:30 p.m.
Where: Springside Inn
Tickets: Available at YMCA, Lewis Restaurant, AHS athletic office, Balloons Restaurant
Contact: Dick Williams, 252-3618.
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