Gregg Sarra is Newsday’s Multi-Media Sports Coordinator and is known as ‘Mr. High School Sports’ on Long Island. Since 1996, he’s also covered the New York Yankees, New York Mets, New York Jets, New York Giants, New York Islanders, Long Island Ducks and New York Dragons. As well as writing for Newsday, Sarra does three televised high school sports reports each week from the newsroom for News 12 Long Island and radio reports for WBLI/ 106.1 FM. Sarra’s own high school sports show, the Elite Sports Forum, can also be seen on Telecare each week.
Sarra has been named Newspaper Man of the Year 11 times by the Suffolk County High School Coaches Association, and received the Bob Zellner Award in 1999 from the Long Island Friends of Wrestling. In 2004, he was recognized by the New York State High School Football Coaches Association as the state’s sportswriter of the year.
The Dowling College Hall of Fame will not be Sarra’s first, as he is also a member of the Long Island Men’s Senior Baseball Hall of Fame, the Long Island Flag Football Hall of Fame, and the Long Island Stan Musial Hall of Fame for his athletic ability in baseball and football over the past 20 years. He won the Triple Crown Award four times in the Mens Baseball League and earned the Most Valuable Player of the NABF World Series in Louisville, Kentucky in 1999 at the age of 39. He was selected to Team USA East at the Nike World Games in Eugene, Oregon in 1998. Hardball Magazine featured him as one of America’s top over 30 athletes in 2001.
While at Dowling, became the Golden Lions first-ever All-Knickerbocker Conference selection in1983 after batting .447 and slugging 8 home runs as a senior. He also led the Conference with a 6-0 record on the mound and racked up an impressive 2.58 ERA during his final year of college baseball. Over his four seasons at Dowling, Sarra batted .383 with 157 hits, 43 doubles, and 21 home runs. He finished his career with an 11-0 pitching record over 91 innings and struck out 82 batters while compiling a 2.89 ERA.
Aside from working at Newsday, Sarra is also a volunteer baseball coach in the Connetquot Youth Association for children ages 6 through 15. His 13-year-old national baseball team, the Paveco Storm, finished second in the World Series in Mississippi in July 2004. He is also a volunteer football coach for the South Shore Chargers in the Police Athletic League.
Sarra and his wife, Katherine of 17 years, live in Ronkonkoma on Long Island with their four children, Gregg Jr., 13, Emily 10, Jeffrey 8 and Natalie 4.
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