Kerri Gallagher
Episode 141
11 OCT 2021
The Director of Cross Country, Track and Field at Manhattan College in New York. In July 2016 she had been named head coach of Manhattan’s men’s and women’s cross country, mid-distance and distance programs. An elite-level professional runner, she represented the United States in the 1500 meters at the 2015 IAAF World Championships. She had finished third in the 1500 at the USATF Outdoor Championships to qualify for the World Championships in Beijing, China, among other international competition. In her days as a student-athlete she set six school records and won four Atlantic 10 titles competing for Fordham University and was named to their Hall of Fame Class of 2017.
Notable guest quotes:
“Our faith was definitely central to my experience growing up. We were praying regularly as a family. We were going to Mass on Sundays and on holy days… I was very blessed to have such a great family support system.”
“Matthew 28:20. I put that in my Twitter bio pretty recently… ‘I am with you always.’ That was just a very succinct truth that I think is currently just speaking to me and it’s just kind of grounding me in relationship with Jesus right now.”
“That was a priority for my parents to put all nine of us through Catholic school, grade school and high school. At the college level it was our choice. But I did decide to attend Fordham University, which is a Jesuit university.”
“God knows us better than anybody ever could, better than we know ourselves.”
“I had actually recently at that time started volunteering with the Sisters of Life in New York City and one of the Sisters that I had been working with… made some helpful suggestions to me… and one of them was to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament, to go into a church and just sit in front of the tabernacle.”
“This was the first time I approached Jesus in complete need, without a pre-determined solution.”
“I think that was the first time I was open to a relationship with Jesus where it was two ways now. It wasn’t just Him inviting and me blocking. There was just this really beautiful experience of Him caring for me.”
“What athletics is about, in my opinion, is the opportunity for personal encounter.”
“Hindsight tells me that there was a very prayerful approach to a lot of what I was doing. I just didn’t necessarily have the awareness of it.”
“We have the faith and the knowledge that God is using it for His good, if our intention is to be in line with His Will.”
“I have so much confidence that athletics is such an avenue for encounter with God.”
“I am co-leading our young adult group at my local parish and that has been such a gift in my life.”
Related link:
Kerri’s bio on Manhattan College website
