Veteran athletic trainer Jeff Bray, left, works on Ava Wilburn during a Keuka College women's soccer home game in the fall of 2011.

By John Boccacino/Sports Information Director

Jeff Bray is an avid motorsports fan, and when he arrived in scenic Keuka Park to accept a job as Keuka College’s head athletic trainer/assistant athletic director in the summer of 1992, he figured he was just making a pit stop.

Nearly 20 later, the man who came to campus on a two-year plan can’t imagine working anywhere else.

As he reflects on two decades of dedicated service to the Storm’s student-athletes, Bray can’t help but wonder how he ended up as the second-longest tenured member of the College’s athletics department.

To quote the Grateful Dead anthem, “Truckin’,” what a long, strange trip it has been for Bray.

Born in Sterling, Kansas, a small town that Bray said possesses a similar down-home feel to Keuka, Bray essentially grew up on his parent’s gas station before enrolling in Kansas State to study athletic training.

Bray has taped hundreds of professional athletes during a career that, among other stops, has seen him work the sidelines of NFL games, alongside pit crews for assorted auto racing events across the world, and behind the bucking chutes at top-flight bull riding competitions.

During a four-year stint in the NFL working as an athletic trainer with the Philadelphia Eagles — three as a summer intern and one as a paid professional — Bray taped Hall-of-Famer Reggie White, was part of a team that helped dynamic quarterback Randall Cunningham recover from various knee injuries, and worked alongside talented coaches such as Buddy Ryan, Jeff Fisher and Wade Phillips, to name a few.

Tom Coughlin, the Waterloo native who will lead the NFC champion New York Giants into battle against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI Feb. 5, was also a part of those Eagles’ coaching staffs during Bray’s time with the team.

Jeff Bray has worked as an athletic trainer for numerous auto races, including an open wheel race when he met Helio Castroneves, an IndyCar driver and three-time Indy 500 champion.

Bray worked alongside legendary actor/race car driver Paul Newman and the drivers of his Newman/Haas Racing Team when working in the Champ Car Racing Series. Division I schools, including Bray’s alma mater Boise State, have sought his expertise in the field of athletic training, making enticing job pitches in an attempt to land Bray’s services.

But through an athletic training career that has spanned more than three decades — the last two of them spent at Keuka — there is no place Bray would rather call home than picturesque Keuka College.

“One of the reasons it’s been easy to stay here is because Keuka’s just been a good place to be, with good people who provide a great college experience, be it coaches, parents, administrators, or the student-athletes. Coach Dave Sweet has been an outstanding mentor and has taught me all about the world that is Division III athletics,” said Bray, who became interested in physical training after watching his mother, Nettie, battle back from a debilitating stroke when Bray was 15.

“I really appreciate getting to know the families of the student-athletes here. At a Division I school you never really have any dealings with parents. Keuka is special from that standpoint, and as my kids get older that [relationship with the parents] means more to me, because not too far down the road it’ll be me handing my kids off to a college and I’ll want to feel as comfortable sending my kids off to college as the parents of our student-athletes feel when they send their children to Keuka.”

However, that opinion of Keuka took some time to formulate for Bray, who currently resides in nearby Penn Yan with wife, Kristen, and son Tyler, 15, and daughter Kelly, 13.

When Bray was offered the Keuka position, he had his reservations. Sweet, Keuka’s athletic director and head coach of the women’s basketball team, had been on campus for nine years and was working diligently to transform the Storm from a predominantly women’s sports-based program into a well-rounded, co-ed athletics department that produced championship-caliber teams on the playing fields, and accomplished students in the classroom.

Additionally, Bray had only worked with professional and Division I athletes at his previous jobs, and Keuka was a tiny Division III school smack-dab in the middle of rural Upstate New York.

The Storm didn’t even have a football team, a fact Bray felt was a prerequisite for any potential job. He previously had worked passionately with football teams at every stop along the way: from his student athletic trainer days at Kansas State, to his graduate work at Boise State, through his four-year stint with the Eagles, and his time spent as Illinois State’s head football trainer.

In the end, while the decision was Bray’s to make, his future wife Kristen held the ultimate card. She had grown up in the Buffalo area and was a successful basketball player at Canisius College. Even though the couple wasn’t yet married, Bray realized it was important for Kristen to be closer to her family.

So the couple came to an agreement. Kristen and Jeff would relocate and Bray would try out the Keuka position for two years, and if Bray was unsatisfied at the end of the two-year trial period, Kristen would relocate anywhere in the country as her husband searched for his dream job.

Twenty years later and, the rest is history. Bray said he “fell in love” with the job and the students, and while other colleges and universities have called for Bray’s services, the answer has always been the same: “Thanks, but no thanks.”

“I had a unique opportunity at a very young age to reach the pinnacle of our profession,” said Bray, who still carves out time in his busy schedule to work between 5-10 auto races a year as an athletic trainer.

“There are thousands of young athletic trainers, student athletic trainers that aspire to work in pro sports, and only a few get there. I had the opportunity and while I enjoyed my time in the pros, long-term I didn’t know if it was for me. After a lot of thinking, when this job became available I took it and while I couldn’t believe I was at this small college with no football, I owed it to Keuka to give it my best. After all these years this is where I’m supposed to be.”

To achieve peace of mind with his decision about his future, Bray turned to an important part of his past, Otho Davis, his mentor in the athletic training field. Davis was the long-time trainer in the NFL who had worked with the then-Baltimore Colts and was Bray’s boss with the Eagles when Bray secured a summer internship to study under the legendary Davis, who at the time was considered among the best trainers in all of professional sports.

Davis, who died from pancreatic cancer in 2000, was instrumental in swaying Bray to take the job with the Storm. While he was the influence who got Bray into professional sports, Davis also warned Bray of the dangers of working in an industry where off days are few and far between and the average work week could range from 80 to 100 hours.

Davis, who had four sons, rarely got to see his family due to the rigors and demands of the job, a factor Bray considered heavily when debating the pros and cons of the Keuka position.

As Keuka's head athletic trainer, Jeff Bray is responsible for attending to all injured players, whether they play for the Storm or the opposition.

In the end, the chance to help deserving Division III athletes won out. Now, fast-forward 20 years and Bray’s presence has become part of the fiber of a student-athlete’s life. Bray and his staff of athletic trainers work all Keuka College sporting events, ready on the sidelines should an injury befall a member of the Storm or the opposition.

“When I’m asked why I’m still at Keuka, ‘I say why not?’ If our point guard, [Jessica Bandrowski], sprains her ankle and is going to potentially miss some big games coming up, she’s as valuable to her team as [Boise State star quarterback] Kellen Moore is to his team,” said Bray, who used his NFL connections to secure the New York Jets old athletic training equipment when the NFL franchise decided to purchase new equipment in 1998.

“Sure, it’s not going to be in the USA Today or make ESPN that Bandrowski sprained her ankle and might miss a game, but she deserves to be treated like a professional athlete, too. But also, if I go to coach Sweet and say Bandrowski can’t play tomorrow, I’m not going to get the screws put to me [to get her ready to play] to the point that my ethics are pushed and her best interests are questioned in order to get a win.”

Bray’s influence on Keuka’s student-body is not limited to the various playing fields for the Storm’s 16 varsity sports teams. Bray also serves as an adjunct instructor and teaches two sports management classes.

Each fall, as part of their senior class projects, Bray’s sports management students organize the annual Storm Madness pep rally, a raucous affair that provides a first look at the men’s and women’s basketball teams to the campus and neighboring communities.

“Jeff has been my right-hand man for all these years, and he is immensely talented and certainly has a lot to offer to any college,” said Sweet, who credits Bray’s communication skills, problem-solving ability, and self-starter mentality as some of his best personality traits.

“He’s tuned-in well with the needs of our student-athletes and understands what we’re trying to accomplish as a small Division III college athletics program. We’re not all about wins and losses; we try to educate the student-athletes on the overall collegiate experience and Jeff has been extremely helpful, not only to the college but to me in particular.”

Applauding Keuka’s unique Field Period as one of the most beneficial aspects of a Keuka education, Bray backs the college’s required annual 140-hour long internship program that offers real-world work experience to students each year they’re on campus.

“Professionally, if you’re trying to get somewhere, don’t always think you’re going to get somewhere on your own,” said Bray, who originally learned of the Eagles’ summer trainer position through Jim Rudd and Hank Fijalkowski, his bosses while Bray was a student athletic trainer at Kansas State.

“There are people that can and will help you if they know where you want to go. I am a firm believer in our Field Period because I lived the internship route, that’s how I got into the NFL. Jim and Hank, my mentors, told me I needed to do an internship in the NFL, and at the time I was probably too stupid to ask questions. But if Otho, Jim or Hank told me to do something, I knew that was what I needed to do. Our students need to get out and have those workplace experiences, but students can’t have a broken want-to. You can’t be the one pushing them; they need the drive and motivation to succeed.”

Throughout the years, Bray’s dedication toward Keuka College and the Storm’s student-athletes has never wavered, and he is just as passionate about his job and this campus as he was July 1, 1992, the day he first reported for duty at Keuka.

“I think you’re missing the boat of life if you’re not passionate about something,” Bray said. “To this day, I’m still doing something I’m passionate about and that’s pretty cool.”

Keuka College's women's cross country team earned a fifth-place finish during Saturday's NEAC Championships, held at SUNY Cobleskill.

RESULTS

The Keuka College women’s cross country team placed all five runners in the top 40 among scoring runners as the Storm earned a fifth-place team finish during the 2011 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) championships, held Saturday at SUNY Cobleskill.

For the fourth time in eight meets, junior Elizabeth Gorman (Waverly, NY/Waverly) was Keuka’s top finisher, crossing the finish line of the 5K course in 22 minutes, 15.86 seconds, good for 19th place among scoring runners as the Storm finished with 154 points.

Host SUNY Cobleskill (36 points) came in first place, followed by Cazenovia (68), Wells (72), Morrisville State (107), Keuka, Penn State-Harrisburg (165), Penn State-Abington (172), Gallaudet (189) and SUNYIT (223).

Freshman Elizabeth Ryan (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) capped her strong finish to the season with a second-place finish among the Storm’s runners. Ryan finished 27th among scoring runners in a time of 23:12.46, followed by senior Stephanie Pontes (Pompton Lakes, NJ/Pompton Lakes), who was 35th with a time of 24:24.50; freshman Courtney Woolever (Vestal, NY/Vestal), who was 36th with a time of 24:36.34; and sophomore Tatiana Pena (Hicksville, NY/Hicksville), who was 37th with a time of 24:46.11.

More than 80 runners from nine NEAC schools competed in the annual league championships.

Keuka College's women's cross country team earned a 12th place finish during Saturday's CCOC Championships.

WOMEN’S RESULTS

The Keuka College women’s cross country team traveled to Seneca Lake State Park in nearby Geneva, NY to compete in the annual Cross Country Only Conference (CCOC) championships, and on a blustery Saturday afternoon, the Storm earned a 12th place finish out of 16 teams.

For the third time during the 2011 season, freshman Courtney Woolever (Vestal, NY/Vestal) was Keuka’s top finisher. Woolever raced the 5K course in 24 minutes, 16.17 seconds, to place 53rd overall, 44th among scoring runners.

After Woolever, freshman Elizabeth Ryan (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) crossed the finish line in 25:24.40 for a 59th-place finish; junior Elizabeth Gorman (Waverly, NY/Waverly) finished 69th with a time of 26:38.49; freshman Sarah May (Geneseo, NY/Geneseo) earned a 72nd-place finish among scoring runners with an effort of 27:30.07 while sophomore Tatiana Pena (Hicksville, NY/Hicksville) rounded out the top five for Keuka, racing in 27:47.76 for a 74th-place finish.

William Smith won the team title with 45 points, followed by Clarkson University (54), SUNY ESF (75), Cazenovia College (167), Hartwick College (185), D’Youville College (185), Paul Smiths College (186), Morrisville State (240), Penn State-Altoona (259), SUNY Canton (304), SUNY Potsdam (306), Keuka (318), Medaille College (337), Hilbert College (370), SUNYIT (381) and Penn State-Abington (416).

The Storm will return to action on Oct. 29 with the annual North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) championships, which will occur at SUNY Cobleskill.

Freshman Elizabeth Ryan was Keuka's top female finisher at the 31st annual Geneseo Cross Country Invitational.

WOMEN’S RESULTS

Freshman Elizabeth Ryan (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) earned her first-ever top finish among the members of Keuka College’s women’s cross country team during Saturday’s 31st annual Geneseo Cross Country Invitational, held at Letchworth State Park in Mount Morris, NY.

Ryan crossed the finish line of the 6K course in a time of 29 minutes, 27.1 seconds, good for 59th place among scoring runners as the Storm finished 10th out of 11 teams in the field, which featured 123 different runners.

Ryan was followed by junior Elizabeth Gorman (Waverly, NY/Waverly), who earned a 60th place finish after running in 29:37.2. The rest of the Storm finishers went as follows: freshman Courtney Woolever (Vestal, NY/Vestal) ran the course in 31:07.4 to finish in 61st place; freshman Sarah May (Geneseo, NY/Geneseo) earned a 64th-place finish with a time of 31:56.7 and senior Maddie Reynolds (Clinton, NY/Clinton) rounded out the Keuka finishers with a time of 32:46.9, good for 66th place.

Host Geneseo claimed the title with 23 points, followed by Hamilton College (82), LeMoyne College (109), Houghton College (122), William Smith College (129), The College at Brockport (141), Daemen College (162), the University of Rochester (188), SUNY Canton (302), Keuka (310) and Medaille College 323).

The Storm takes a week off before returning to action Oct. 15 with the annual COCC Championships, held at Seneca Lake State Park.

Freshman Courtney Woolever finished sixth in Keuka College's dual meet with Wells College.

WOMEN’S RESULTS

The Keuka College women’s cross country team placed three runners in the top seven finishers during Wednesday afternoon’s dual meet with Wells College, but the Storm fell to the Express 19-37.

For the third time in five races, junior Elizabeth Gorman (Waverly, NY/Waverly) was Keuka’s top finisher, as Gorman crossed the finish line of the 3-mile course with a time of 24 minutes, 29.32 seconds.

Host Wells placed four runners in the top five. A pair of Keuka freshman finished close behind Gorman: Courtney Woolever (Vestal, NY/Vestal) placed sixth with a time of 24:50.90 while fellow freshman Elizabeth Ryan (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) was seventh with a time of 25:06.45. The rest of the Keuka finishers included freshman Sarah May (Geneseo, NY/Geneseo), who placed ninth with a time of 27:39.04; and senior Maddie Reynolds (Clinton, NY/Clinton), who crossed the finish line in a time of 27:58.75.

The Storm will travel to Letchworth State Park at 11 am on Saturday afternoon to participate in the annual SUNY Geneseo Invitational.

Junior Elizabeth Gorman was Keuka's top finisher for the third time in four meets during Saturday's Harry F. Anderson Invitational.

WOMEN’S RESULTS

The Keuka College women’s cross country team traveled to Roberts Wesleyan College for the annual Harry F. Anderson Invitational, and facing some of the top competition in the region, the Storm placed 11th out of 12 teams Saturday morning.

Junior Elizabeth Gorman (Waverly, NY/Waverly) was Keuka’s highest finisher, earning a 66th-place finish among scoring runners with a time of 23 minutes, 47 seconds for the 5K course. This is Gorman’s second consecutive race where she earned the fastest Keuka finish during the 2011 season.

Gorman was followed closely by freshman Elizabeth Ryan (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes), who placed 67th with a time of 24:14. Fellow freshman Courtney Woolever (Vestal, NY/Vestal) placed 68th with a time of 24:24, followed by freshman Sarah May (Geneseo, NY/Geneseo), who raced in 25:41, good for 72nd place, and senior Maddie Reynolds (Clinton, NY/Clinton), who was 73rd with a time of 26:42.

There were 133 finishers from 12 different colleges from all across the eastern region of the country.

Host Roberts Wesleyan won the team title with 22 points, followed by the University of Rochester (56), Penn State-Behrend (84), Mercyhurst (107), Gannon (123), Nazareth (153), Gordon (199), SUNY Fredonia (242), Wells (261), D’Youville (279), Keuka (346) and Hilbert (384).

The Storm returns to action with a 5 p.m. dual meet Wednesday night at Wells College.

Elizabeth Gorman led Keuka at the Hobart Invitational with a 26th-place finish.

WOMEN’S RESULTS

The Keuka College women’s cross country team traveled down the road to Geneva to compete in the annual Hobart Invitational Saturday, with the Storm women posting a fourth-place finish. More than 55 female racers from six colleges competed on the course located on the Hobart campus.

Junior Elizabeth Gorman (Waverly, NY/Waverly) led the Storm women, finishing the 6K course in 28:31, good for 26th place. Freshman Courtney Woolever (Vestal, NY/Vestal) placed 30th in 29:01; freshman Elizabeth Ryan (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) placed 35th in 29:39; senior Stephanie Pontes (Pompton Lakes, NJ/Lakes) finished 38th in 30:21 and freshman Sarah May (Geneseo, NY/Geneseo) rounded out the top five with a 40th place finish of 31:26.

William Smith won the team title with 32 points, followed by SUNY ESF (45), Wells (102), Keuka (116), Morrisville State (117) and Penn State-Abington (132).

The Storm return to action on Saturday, Sept. 24 with a trip to the annual Harry S. Anderson Invitational, hosted by Roberts Wesleyan College.

Both Keuka College's men's and women's cross country teams earned ninth-place finishes during Saturday's SUNY Oswego Invitational.

2011 WXC Oswego Results

2011 MXC Oswego Results

Inclement weather and flooding forced the Keuka College men’s and women’s cross country teams to call an audible for the second meet of the 2011 season.

Both cross country teams were originally supposed to compete in the SUNY Cobleskill Invitational, but torrential downpours and flooding forced the Storm to seek different options for competitions this weekend.

Keuka ended up competing in the SUNY Oswego Invitational, and both the men and women earned ninth-place finishes. The men scored 248 points while the women had 268 points.

Freshman Robert Fogle (Lockport, NY/Lockport) was the top Keuka finisher, completing the 8K course in 29 minutes, 34.80 seconds, good for 38th place among scoring runners.

Fogle was followed by freshmen Lee Bottoni (Prattsburgh, NY/Prattsburgh), who was 43rd in a time of 30:12.48; Alex Pollinger (Arkport, NY/Arkport), who was 48th in a time of 30:52.75; Samuel Capozzi (Alpine, NY/Odessa-Montour), who was 56th with a time of 31:27.93; and Shane Devlin (Manchester, NY/Red Jacket), who placed 63rd with a time of 32:41.25.

On the women’s side, Keuka was paced by freshman Courtney Woolever (Vestal, NY/Vestal), who for the second straight meet was the fastest Keuka finisher. Woolever placed 49th, running the 5K course in 24:11.05. The Storm runners were packed tightly together, as Keuka’s top five runners were separated by 11 places and just two minutes and 22 seconds.

Junior Elizabeth Gorman (Waverly, NY/Waverly) was 50th, racing in 24:23.19; senior Stephanie Pontes (Pompton Lakes, NJ/Lakes) was 51st, finishing the race in 24:31.91; freshman Elizabeth Ryan (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) was 58th with a time of 26:09.39 while fellow freshman Sarah May (Geneseo, NY/Geneseo) rounded out the top five with a 60th place finish in 26:33.93.

There were 148 male competitors and 113 female competitors at Oswego. Ithaca swept both the men’s and women’s team championships. In the men’s race, the Bombers scored 34 points, followed by Utica (47), SUNY Oswego (78), SUNY Cobleskill (89), SUNY ESF (151), Morrisville State (195), Hobart (206), SUNYIT (245), Keuka, Bryant and Stratton (305), Wells College (307) and SUNY Potsdam (332).

In the women’s race, Ithaca scored 22 points, followed by William Smith (78), Utica (83), SUNY Oswego (93), SUNY Cobleskill (140), SUNY ESF (167), Wells (209), SUNY Potsdam (239), Keuka, Morrisville State (277) and SUNYIT (314).

The Storm return to action Saturday in the annual Hobart College Invitational, held on the Hobart campus in nearby Geneva, NY.

Senior Stephanie Pontes was Keuka's second-fastest finisher during the season-opening Wildcat Cross Country Invitational.

Women’s Results     Men’s Results

The Keuka College men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to Utica Saturday afternoon for the fifth annual SUNYIT Wildcat Invitational, and the women placed seventh as a team while the men finished ninth.

Keuka’s women scored 206 points while the Storm men finished with 180 points as 13 women’s teams and 14 men’s squads opened the 2011 season.

In the women’s race, William Smith placed first (24 points), followed by Paul Smith’s (100), Wells (123), Hudson Valley Community College (132), Cazenovia (135) and SUNY Canton (193). Following Keuka was Penn State-Abington (217), Morrisville State (218) and Potsdam 232).

In the men’s race, SUNY Canton won the title with 50 points, followed by Morrisville State (103), SUNYIT (139), Paul Smith’s (139), Broome (143), Hudson Valley CC (152), Hobart (161) and Onondaga Community College (177). Sage (269), Penn State-Abington (297), Wells (309) and Potsdam (333) finished behind Keuka.

Among individual female finishers, freshman Courtney Woolever (Vestal, NY/Vestal) was Keuka’s highest finisher, placing 30th among scoring runners in a time of 25 minutes, 35.2 seconds for the 5K course. Senior Stephanie Pontes (Pompton Lakes, NJ/Lakes) was 36th, finishing in 26:03, junior Elizabeth Gorman (Waverly, NY/Waverly) was 37th in 26:08, freshman Elizabeth Ryan (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) was 51st with a time of 28:35 while senior Maddie Reynolds (Clinton, NY/Clinton) placed 52nd in a time of 28:45.

Freshman Lee Bottoni (Prattsburgh, NY/Prattsburgh), competing for the first time with the Green and Gold, placed 21st in 21:59.7. Bottoni was followed by fellow freshmen Robert Fogle (Lockport, NY/Lockport), who was 23rd in 22:04; Alex Pollinger (Arkport, NY/Arkport), who was 36th in 23 minutes; Samuel Capozzi (Alpine, NY/Odessa-Montour), who was 38th in 23:14; and Shane Devlin (Manchester, NY/Red Jacket), who finished 62nd in a time of 24:52 for the 6K race.

Keuka’s cross country teams return to action Saturday at SUNY Cobleskill.

The Keuka women's cross country team will feature a mix of talented returners and exciting newcomers.

Over the offseason, Keuka College cross country head coach Katie Marcella made it a prime goal to recruit talented youths to boost the numbers of both her men’s and women’s squads.

The Keuka women graduated talented Chelsea Socha, who carried the Storm to a third-place finish at the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) championships while securing a second-place finish. Socha would go on to qualify for the NCAA’s Division III Atlantic Regional championships, placing 41st among the nation’s top runners.

While Socha’2s immense talents will be hard to replace, Marcella’s women’s team will feature several talented returning harriers, led by junior Elizabeth Gorman (Waverly, NY/Waverly), senior Stephanie Pontes (Pompton Lakes, NJ/Lakes) and senior Maddie Reynolds (Clinton, NY/Clinton). Gorman and Pontes each logged top-30 finishes during the 2010 NEAC championship meet. Gorman posted seven third-place team finishes and one second-place team finish while Pontes added six fourth-place team finishes to go with one third-place and one fifth-place finish.

Gorman’s top time in a 5K race was 23:24 during the Oct. 16 William Smith Invitational while Pontes’ best effort came during the NEAC championships, when she raced in 24:04, an improvement of four minutes and 53 seconds off of her season-opening 5K performance during the SUNY IT Invitational.

Newcomers Sarah May (Geneseo, NY/Geneseo), Courtney Woolever (Vestal, NY/Vestal), Elizabeth Ryan (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes), Tatiana Pena (Hicksville, NY/Hicksville) and sophomore Hannah Capozzi (Alpine, NY/home schooled) make up the rest of the 2011 women’s squad.  

Gorman and Pontes will serve as Keuka’s co-captains.

“We have a great freshman class,” said Marcella, who enters her third season leading the Green and Gold.

“I am very excited about having the number of runners that we have this year. It really has been a rebuilding (effort) these last few years. … I’m excited to see what we can do this year. … We have strong returning runners and I expect to be right in the mix in the NEAC.”

Keuka opens its season on the road Saturday at the fifth annual SUNY IT Invitational.