LEE BRENTNALL
Suffern High School
Class of 1953
Lee Brentnall was a gifted young athlete. A member of the Suffern High School Sports Hall of Fame, when he was inducted into that proud assembly he was praised for his contributions as a four-sport athlete. He played football, basketball, baseball, and ran track. He made All-County teams in three of the sports he played,
As a track athlete, he bravely chose the endurance events, where, by the standards of his day he truly excelled beyond the norm. For those who like numbers, Lee Brentnall ran 30 races in the mile and 880 yards. He won 25 of them and in the other five he was second place, never third. He was, as people say today, a podium guy – always walking away with a big medal. His percentage of wins over second-place efforts was .83333333! Anyone from third place down was inconsequential to that statistic. Those running against him inevitably watched Lee win that race.
His era of competition was 1951-1953, an era when dual meets were the norm and the clutch events were the Rockland County championships and the Section 9 championships. You ran to win and not necessarily to post a time or set a record. Lee Brentnall was incredibly competent at winning, and especially at championship time.
In 1951 most of Lee’s success was at 880 yards. He was the Rockland County champion, winning in a time of 2:08.0. He then won the Section 9 Class B championship with an identical time. His personal best performance was in a dual meet with Haverstraw, when he won in 2:07.2.
In 1952 and 1953 he shifted his focus more to the mile. Over his three years in the event, he had 21 races, with 19 victories and two second-place outings. At a time when breaking five minutes in a high school race was an accomplishment of note, Lee Brentnall broke five minutes in every mile race he ran as a schoolboy. His personal best in the event was on June 4, 1952, in a dual meet against archrival Ramsey when he ran 4:45.0. His only two losses were in dual meets against New York Military Academy in 1951 and Newburgh in 1953. However, his story was about the wins he had.
Lee was the Rockland County champion in the mile in 1952 and 1953, and duplicated that feat in the Section 9 Class B meet, repeating as mile titleholder in 1952 and 1953.
At the 1953 New York State championships at West Point, Lee ran the mile leg in the Intersectional relay, bringing Section 9 from 6th place into 4th place at the tape. (This was one year before Roger Bannister revolutionized the mile event by breaking the four-minute barrier in 1954.) Not bad for a guy everyone thought of as a great basketball player!
Lee graduated from Cortland State University and made his way back to Suffern where he became a physical education teacher at his alma mater, Suffern High School. Between 1965 and 1969 he was assistant track coach with Ralph Consiglio, and assistant basketball coach with Ed Kolakowski. He later became the varsity basketball coach, but he is probably best known for his long tenure as director of athletics at Suffern High. In that role he organized and guided the expansion of sports offerings and the opportunities for female athletes. He was incredibly well respected by his athletes, coaching staff, administrators, and faculty colleagues.
No matter who you were in the spectrum of things educational, he saw you as a coach to everyone who you served. His famous and wonderful warm greeting to one and all, be it the English teacher or a custodian, was “Hi coach!” He encouraged everyone to be the winner he was with his cheerful demeanor.
As a track athlete, he bravely chose the endurance events, where, by the standards of his day he truly excelled beyond the norm. For those who like numbers, Lee Brentnall ran 30 races in the mile and 880 yards. He won 25 of them and in the other five he was second place, never third. He was, as people say today, a podium guy – always walking away with a big medal. His percentage of wins over second-place efforts was .83333333! Anyone from third place down was inconsequential to that statistic. Those running against him inevitably watched Lee win that race.
His era of competition was 1951-1953, an era when dual meets were the norm and the clutch events were the Rockland County championships and the Section 9 championships. You ran to win and not necessarily to post a time or set a record. Lee Brentnall was incredibly competent at winning, and especially at championship time.
In 1951 most of Lee’s success was at 880 yards. He was the Rockland County champion, winning in a time of 2:08.0. He then won the Section 9 Class B championship with an identical time. His personal best performance was in a dual meet with Haverstraw, when he won in 2:07.2.
In 1952 and 1953 he shifted his focus more to the mile. Over his three years in the event, he had 21 races, with 19 victories and two second-place outings. At a time when breaking five minutes in a high school race was an accomplishment of note, Lee Brentnall broke five minutes in every mile race he ran as a schoolboy. His personal best in the event was on June 4, 1952, in a dual meet against archrival Ramsey when he ran 4:45.0. His only two losses were in dual meets against New York Military Academy in 1951 and Newburgh in 1953. However, his story was about the wins he had.
Lee was the Rockland County champion in the mile in 1952 and 1953, and duplicated that feat in the Section 9 Class B meet, repeating as mile titleholder in 1952 and 1953.
At the 1953 New York State championships at West Point, Lee ran the mile leg in the Intersectional relay, bringing Section 9 from 6th place into 4th place at the tape. (This was one year before Roger Bannister revolutionized the mile event by breaking the four-minute barrier in 1954.) Not bad for a guy everyone thought of as a great basketball player!
Lee graduated from Cortland State University and made his way back to Suffern where he became a physical education teacher at his alma mater, Suffern High School. Between 1965 and 1969 he was assistant track coach with Ralph Consiglio, and assistant basketball coach with Ed Kolakowski. He later became the varsity basketball coach, but he is probably best known for his long tenure as director of athletics at Suffern High. In that role he organized and guided the expansion of sports offerings and the opportunities for female athletes. He was incredibly well respected by his athletes, coaching staff, administrators, and faculty colleagues.
No matter who you were in the spectrum of things educational, he saw you as a coach to everyone who you served. His famous and wonderful warm greeting to one and all, be it the English teacher or a custodian, was “Hi coach!” He encouraged everyone to be the winner he was with his cheerful demeanor.