Legendary track, cross country coach Barry Binkley dies at 80
Barry Binkley, a coaching legend in the Northern Kentucky running community, passed away last week after 55 years in coaching.
Binkley, 80, had coached at several Northerrn Kentucky schools, most recently Simon Kenton High School.
He graduated from Woodward High School where he set the school record for the mile in a time of 4:36 and was district track champion in the 880 as a senior in 1959. He earned a full scholarship to run at Bowling Green State University where he set three school records and finished second in the mile at the 1963 Mid-American Conference championships.
Graduating with a teaching degree, he taught for 35 years.
His 55 years of coaching included four years at Elder High School where his teams never placed lower than seventh at the state meet. Binkley coached at seven different schools,
Crossing the river into Northern Kentucky in 1974 where he coached at Holmes High School, Binkley played a crucial role in establishing girls cross-country as a sport in Kentucky.
While at Holmes, he formed the first girls' team in Northern Kentucky, allowing girls to run races on their own (they previously ran with boys' teams) and was instrumental in inaugurating the Kentucky Girls State Cross Country program in 1975.
Starting in 1979, he spent the bulk of his career at Dayton High School where for 25 years he guided the Greendevils to five state championships and 15 state runner-up finishes. There were also a total of 20 conference, regional and sectional championships, and individually, his runners claimed a total of 42 state championships in track and cross country.
His success at Dayton was sparked in part by LaRosa's Hall of Famer Adrienne Hundemer (20 individual state titles) and Stephanie Edgar (14 individual state titles). The Greendevils' program won five state championships -- girls state track (1992, 1995), boys cross country (1983, 1985) and boys track (state Indoor 1994) - and recorded 14 state runner-up finishes. As an assistant coach, he won state titles in 2005 (Lloyd girls track) and in 2011 (St. Henry boys cross country).
Binkley was named Coach of the Year 10 times during his career by various organizations. He was an inductee of the Kentucky Track and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the Northern Kentucky Athletic Directors Hall of Fame and the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame.
In 2014 he was inducted into the LaRosa's High School Hall of Fame.
Binkley was also a founding member of the Ohio Valley Track Club, the Kentucky Track & Cross Country Coaches Association and Team Kentucky, along with working with the Flying Pig Marathon from its inception in 1999 until 2019.
In the obituary, Binkley “saw potential in all his students and athletes, and loved being able to get them to believe along with him. That he was able to share his passion for running and his gift of coaching with his athletes made him so happy. He touched many lives over his 55-year career and was proud of what ‘his kids’ accomplished either in athletics or in life. It didn't matter if you were his best athlete or his worst as long as he saw that you were giving him all you had. He was able to maintain relationships with many of those athletes over the years, who would often call or visit him, bringing him much joy.'
Tim King, the KTCCCA Assistant Executive Director and KHSAA state meet director for cross country and track & field said in a press release: ”How do you put into words someone that means so much to you? He was a mentor, a coach, a father figure, and most of all a friend. My heart is heavy and filled with sadness for the loss of him. I also remember all the times that we laughed and spent together. That brings a smile to my face. All I know is you will be missed. The trust and faith you showed me all these years is beyond measure. I thank you for everything. You truly were one of a kind. Your impact to so many is unbelievable. We spend our lives hoping to make a difference and you my friend made a huge difference for so many people."
In that same press release, a former athlete of Binkley’s Jamey Herbst said. “Coach became the person in our lives that pushed us to be better than we even knew we could be. We didn't give up, because he wouldn't give up. He wasn't afraid to ask the hard questions (‘What are you doing?), to make us take a good look at ourselves and figure out what we should be doing. He gloried in our successes and never let us dwell on failure. In a small town (Dayton) that wasn't known for greatness, Coach created powerhouse athletes and championship teams (wherever he coached, state titles were soon to follow).”
Binkley leaves behind his wife of 37 years, Janice, and his daughter, Dr. Molly Binkley Rimer and son-in-law Nick Rimer. He was preceded in death by his sister, Barbara Bushman.
A scholarship to honor Barry's life and career to award deserving senior track or cross country athletes at Dayton High School and Simon Kenton High School is being established. Make all donations payable to "Barry Binkley Scholarship Fund" c/o Dayton High School, 200 Greendevil Lane, Dayton, KY 41074.
A Celebration of Life will take place in the near future. Online condolences may be expressed on Facebook or at SerenityFuneralCare.com
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Legendary track, cross country coach Barry Binkley dies at 80
