REBECCA QUIMBY LIBERMAN
Suffern High School
Class of 2001
Track was not Rebecca Quimby Liberman’s first love, but it became her ticket to a Hall of Fame athletic career. Becca started out as a swimmer in fourth grade and continued year-round in the sport until eighth grade, when she branched out to indoor track in the winter and outdoor track in the spring. “I was on the varsity swim team in eighth grade and wanted to cross-train so I tried out for the track team and fell in love with it,” she says.
Maintaining that three-sport routine for five years, Becca put together one of the finest portfolios of any Suffern girls’ athlete. A first-team All-County selection all five years in winter track, Becca had immediate success in the long sprints and middle distance, capturing the New York State public schools and Federation crowns in the 600-meter run as a sophomore in 1999. She also contributed a leg to the Mounties’ 4x400 relay that won a State title indoors during her junior year, and cruised to Eastern States 800-meter gold medals as a freshman and sophomore.
All told, Becca won 47 individual titles, either championship or invitational level, and was a catalyst in three County team championships for Suffern.
Indoors, she claimed eight Rockland County, four State Qualifier and three Section 1 Class A individual titles, as well as one relay crown in each of those meets. Although more than two decades removed from her high school career, she still ranks in the top 10 all-time in Rockland in four events: 600 yards, 1:25.76, No. 4; 500 meters, 1:17.7 (en route), No. 4; 800 meters, 2:15.52, No. 9; and 600 meters, 1:35.0, No. 10. She also posted swift times of 2:42.7 for 1,000 yards and 3:01.9 for 1,000 meters.
Becca rates her State titles and Millrose Games 4x400-meter relay outings as top indoor highlights, while competing at outdoor Nationals as an eighth grader was “a pretty awesome experience.”
Her fall seasons were just as spectacular, as she excelled in the sprint events in swimming, mainly the 50- and 100-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly. She set a handful of school records, competed at the State meet in the butterfly and sprint freestyle, and capped her career as Rockland County athlete of the season for girls’ swimming and New York State Scholar-Athlete recipient as a senior.
Becca believes her swimming-running regimen was mutually beneficial. “It was always an interesting transition after swim season back to the track,” she says. “It would take a little time to find my land legs and vice versa.”
Becca enjoyed both winter and spring track immensely but found the indoor environment more exhilarating. “There is nothing that tops the atmosphere of the Armory when the stands are packed,” she enthuses. “I also loved the atypical training atmosphere for the indoor season. We spent most practices in the halls [of Suffern High School] and it upped the fun competition at practice.” She is still friends with many of her relay partners, and cites Misty Scott, a 2015 Hall of Fame inductee, as an inspiring role model. Teammates such as Nina Minasi, Melanie Piccolo, Tracy Estriplet and Jenn Strysko “were quite the awesome group to train and compete with,” she says.
Hall of Fame coaches Joe Biddy and Tom McTaggart guided Becca in the winter and spring, respectively. She considers Biddy the greatest influence on her as a track athlete. “He saw potential in me and knew when and how to push me to be my best, but also knew when not to push.” She also credits the role of her parents, Chris and Evan Quimby, “who fully supported me but never made me feel pressured.”
Injury is an ever-present risk in competitive athletics and Becca was not immune from that threat. She suffered from exercise-induced compartment syndrome, which required a surgical procedure to cut and remove the thin connective tissue called fascia that lines the muscles in her lower legs to relieve pressure and treat loss of circulation in the affected area. She underwent these procedures twice, after her sophomore years of high school and college, and endured a rehab of several months each time. The injury hampered her during senior year at Suffern as well.
Becca competed for two-and-a-half years at Penn State and was training to return after her second fasciotomy procedure. However, the second recovery proved to be more challenging than the first from four years prior, and she was forced to give up track. There was a silver lining, though, “ I ended up meeting my husband my first semester as a non-athlete, so it worked out."
Becca, who is 38, graduated from Penn State with a bachelor’s degree in advertising and a minor in psychology, and has worked in the advertising and marketing field since college. She resides in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband of 14 years, Max, and children Cole, 6, and Paige, 2.
This is the second Hall of Fame induction for Becca; she was enshrined in the Suffern High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
Maintaining that three-sport routine for five years, Becca put together one of the finest portfolios of any Suffern girls’ athlete. A first-team All-County selection all five years in winter track, Becca had immediate success in the long sprints and middle distance, capturing the New York State public schools and Federation crowns in the 600-meter run as a sophomore in 1999. She also contributed a leg to the Mounties’ 4x400 relay that won a State title indoors during her junior year, and cruised to Eastern States 800-meter gold medals as a freshman and sophomore.
All told, Becca won 47 individual titles, either championship or invitational level, and was a catalyst in three County team championships for Suffern.
Indoors, she claimed eight Rockland County, four State Qualifier and three Section 1 Class A individual titles, as well as one relay crown in each of those meets. Although more than two decades removed from her high school career, she still ranks in the top 10 all-time in Rockland in four events: 600 yards, 1:25.76, No. 4; 500 meters, 1:17.7 (en route), No. 4; 800 meters, 2:15.52, No. 9; and 600 meters, 1:35.0, No. 10. She also posted swift times of 2:42.7 for 1,000 yards and 3:01.9 for 1,000 meters.
Becca rates her State titles and Millrose Games 4x400-meter relay outings as top indoor highlights, while competing at outdoor Nationals as an eighth grader was “a pretty awesome experience.”
Her fall seasons were just as spectacular, as she excelled in the sprint events in swimming, mainly the 50- and 100-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly. She set a handful of school records, competed at the State meet in the butterfly and sprint freestyle, and capped her career as Rockland County athlete of the season for girls’ swimming and New York State Scholar-Athlete recipient as a senior.
Becca believes her swimming-running regimen was mutually beneficial. “It was always an interesting transition after swim season back to the track,” she says. “It would take a little time to find my land legs and vice versa.”
Becca enjoyed both winter and spring track immensely but found the indoor environment more exhilarating. “There is nothing that tops the atmosphere of the Armory when the stands are packed,” she enthuses. “I also loved the atypical training atmosphere for the indoor season. We spent most practices in the halls [of Suffern High School] and it upped the fun competition at practice.” She is still friends with many of her relay partners, and cites Misty Scott, a 2015 Hall of Fame inductee, as an inspiring role model. Teammates such as Nina Minasi, Melanie Piccolo, Tracy Estriplet and Jenn Strysko “were quite the awesome group to train and compete with,” she says.
Hall of Fame coaches Joe Biddy and Tom McTaggart guided Becca in the winter and spring, respectively. She considers Biddy the greatest influence on her as a track athlete. “He saw potential in me and knew when and how to push me to be my best, but also knew when not to push.” She also credits the role of her parents, Chris and Evan Quimby, “who fully supported me but never made me feel pressured.”
Injury is an ever-present risk in competitive athletics and Becca was not immune from that threat. She suffered from exercise-induced compartment syndrome, which required a surgical procedure to cut and remove the thin connective tissue called fascia that lines the muscles in her lower legs to relieve pressure and treat loss of circulation in the affected area. She underwent these procedures twice, after her sophomore years of high school and college, and endured a rehab of several months each time. The injury hampered her during senior year at Suffern as well.
Becca competed for two-and-a-half years at Penn State and was training to return after her second fasciotomy procedure. However, the second recovery proved to be more challenging than the first from four years prior, and she was forced to give up track. There was a silver lining, though, “ I ended up meeting my husband my first semester as a non-athlete, so it worked out."
Becca, who is 38, graduated from Penn State with a bachelor’s degree in advertising and a minor in psychology, and has worked in the advertising and marketing field since college. She resides in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband of 14 years, Max, and children Cole, 6, and Paige, 2.
This is the second Hall of Fame induction for Becca; she was enshrined in the Suffern High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.