Hall of Fame
Peter Oley is one of the most successful outdoor track and cross country coaches the state has ever seen. He broke into the coaching ranks in 1956 at Irvington High School as a track coach after being hired as a teacher in the Irvington district. It wasn’t long before Peter’s teams broke records and put Irvington track on the map. His 1957 team won the Western Westchester League Championship and Section I title while breaking numerous school records along the way. Over his 50 years of coaching high school track, Coach Oley’s outdoor track teams won 13 consecutive Rasbeck Relays and Peter personally accumulated a 422-47 career record putting him fourth in the state today.
In 1958, he founded the school’s first cross country and winter track teams. Coach Oley again proved success as a cross country coach at Irvington racking up a 278-75 career record in the sport, eighth in New York State, along with 13 consecutive league titles and an impressive 133 dual meet win streak that closed out his career.
Overall, his track and cross country teams captured a combined 27 Section I titles and helped Peter earn 12 Coach of the Year accolades.
Oley also contributed off the field to track and cross country by serving as the President of the Westchester Coaches and Officials Association and in 1960, being appointed as Section I cross country chairman, a position he held for 30 years.
In 1990, the Irvington School district honored Coach Oley by naming its new $450,000 all weather track the “Peter K. Oley Track” after their famed coach. A year later, Sports Illustrated featured Peter in its “Faces in the Crowd” section for his dual meet victory streak, then in 2002, he was inducted into the Westchester Sports Hall of Fame.