Ray Carey will go to the outdoor nations in North Carolina to watch his star athlete Joe Luongo compete in the 800 meters. Then, his spectacular 39-year career as St. John’s Prep track coach will come to an end. “I’ve been coaching here a long time — 109 seasons,” said Carey, referring to the cross country, indoor and outdoor seasons of high school track. “I don’t think anybody else at our school has ever done that. My wife Diane will not be teaching here next year, but plans to work at the school in some capacity. We’ve been talking about retiring for the last couple of years.” Carey’s final season has been a special one. The Eagles won the Catholic Conference with a perfect 7-0 record and finished fourth in Division 1. Some of their top performers qualified for New Englands. “We were 2-3 indoors after having a couple of bad injuries to key people,” said Carey, who lives in Marblehead. “We lost a couple of very close ones — we hadn’t had a losing season in a long time. It was so rewarding to see the boys bounce back and turn things around this spring. “It was an odd season with all the snow and cold that hung on (in March into early April). We couldn’t get to some events for quite a while, so (the team’s success) is a credit to all the hard work the kids put in. “I’ve been distracted while we were competing, but the last two weeks I started thinking about this being my last season,” admitted Carey. “There is never a perfect time to leave, and I’m going to miss it because it has been fun.” A few years ago Carey stepped down as the Eagles’ cross country coach, and John Boyle took over. He is leaving the program in good hands; assistant coaches John Boyle, Bill Boyle, John Klein and Dana Smith have all been with him for over 30 years and plan to stay on board. “We have a couple of younger people who joined our staff,” said Carey. “Working with them has been special. One of our former distance guys, Zach Lankow, who had a nice career at Stonehill College, brings a lot of intensity and passion. Tim McAuliffe has been helping out with the throwers, and next year he’ll be teaching in our new middle school, so he can play a more active role.” Carey also said that Steve Flanagan of Marblehead (the father of 3-time Olympian Shalane Flanagan) helps out at St. John’s Prep whenever he can. All these people have made Carey’s job easier. The list of former Eagles who have gone on to excel in college is a long one. “I’ve been very lucky to have such an experienced, knowledgeable staff,” said Carey. “And over the years I’ve been so fortunate to have so many hard-working athletes that are willing to listen to the coaches and work hard to improve.”
Inducted: 1998