Coach Neal Levy Wins NY State Girls Cross-Country Coach of the Year Award
Congratulations to Coach Neal Levy of the North Shore School District for winning the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS) Girls Cross-Country Coach of the Year Award for New York State. Mr. Levy has coached the distinguished Vikings Varsity Women’s Cross Country Team since 2004. Last year, the Vikings celebrated their 200th consecutive win, were Nassau County Class III Champions, and defeated the other 18 teams in the County and won by an outstanding 77 points. Overall, 10 girls received All-County Status, and an additional four girls received All-Conference. Under Coach Levy, the Vikings have won 17 Cross-Country County Championship since 2006 and 2 State Championships. (2010 and 2011).
Since Coach Levy began at North Shore High School, the Cross-Country, Winter Track and Spring Track Teams have won 40 Nassau County Championships. Additionally, last year under Coach Levy, the North Shore Girls Winter and Spring Track Teams won the “Class C” Competition by a record number of points. In addition, the Vikings had an undefeated regular season of 14-0.
Some general criteria for this award include:
- Coached during the 2023-2024 school year
- Coached 10+ years (not a must)
- A good win/loss coaching record (not a must)
- Served on league and/or sectional committees for their sport
- A positive role model within their school and community
Besides his teams’ historic accomplishments, Coach Levy is the organizer of several major invitationals and most notably the Autism Awareness Invitational which proceeds are donated to the National Autism Society of Long Island. He is very involved in the Long Islands running community as he volunteers his time to present workshops on training, coaching and the focus on the whole athlete (mental, emotional, and physical).
During the year, Coach Levy consistently advocates for improvements in the sport and for the benefit of the athletes during his presentations at the Athletic Director meetings. Coach Levy is the Girls Cross-Country Coordinator for Section 8 (Nassau County) Athletics. His passion for all athletes, regardless of ability, is inarguable, as he is the driving force behind Section VIII’s novice race held each cross-country league meet. The novice race is a modified distance designed for student athletes that are either physically, emotionally, or otherwise unable to compete in the traditional 5k/3.1 miles cross-country distance.
High school coaches from across the country have been selected as nominees for the 2023-24 National Coaches of the Year by the NFHS Coaches Association. The NFHS, which has been recognizing coaches through an awards program since 1982, honors coaches in the top 10 girls’ sports and top 10 boys’ sports (by participation numbers), Winners of NFHS awards must be active coaches during the year for which they receive their award. For more information, visit the NFHS website at www.nfhs.org.
Congratulations to Coach Neal Levy on being recognized as NY State Girls Cross-Country NFHS Coach of the Year. Go Vikings Go!
Photos by Shelly Newman