Vincent J. Gonino, a former faculty member and department chair at Sheperd College, made a positive impact on the SUNY Cortland athletic program during his 20 years as a student-centered teacher, coach and, eventually, director of athletics. Gonino joined the Cortland Physical Education Department as an instructor and assistant football and wrestling coach in 1964. Within 10 years, he attained the rank of full professor. In 1967, he administered the College's General Physical Education Program.
Following a two-year graduate fellowship to earn a Ph.D at The Ohio State University, he returned to Cortland as an associate professor and head wrestling coach. He coached 18 All-Americans and had a 109-83-1 record as the Red Dragon wrestling coach from 1969-71 and 1972-83. He won the State University of New York Athletic Conference title and earned league Coach of the Year honors in 1978-79. His wrestlers were annually nationally ranked.
Gonino, a New York State Wrestling Coach Hall of Fame member, became president of the NCAA Division III Wrestling Coaches Association. He was the catalyst in bringing the 1982 NCAA national meets to Cortland. He was assistant director of athletics, men's athletics director and, in 1983, became Cortland's first athletics director for the combined men's and women's programs.
The Women's Athletic Association (WAA) presented him with a Red Letter Award for his contributions. He was C-Club executive director and also started and directed the College's summer sports camps. In 1974, he wrote The Story of Huntington Memorial Camp, a history of the College's Outdoor Education Center at Raquette Lake, where he assisted as class coordinator of the men's physical education classes. In 1984, the Cortland Youth Bureau presented him with its Citizens Award for his community interest and participation.
A native of Watertown, N.Y., Gonino earned bachelor's and master's degrees from The Ohio State University, where he was an All-Big-Ten and an A.A.U. Wrestling champion. He is the recipient of The Ohio State University Alumni Award. Gonino taught and coached in the Whitehall (Ohio) Public Schools and at Keystone Junior College in LaPlume, Pa. In 1984, he became athletics director and chair of the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Department at East Texas State University. In 1988, he was named chair of the Division of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Wellness and Athletics at Sheperd (W.V.) College. He was also a professor of recreation, leisure and sports studies and summer camps director. Gonino also qualified for the 1998 National Senior Olympics in shot put and discus.
UPDATE: Gonino passed away on November 11, 2002.
