Cameron Gary’s track and field career is full of accomplishments.
The former track star at San Diego State University still holds the school record in the triple jump and was also a Western Athletics Champion. Gary also competed in the 1984 Olympic trials, although he did not qualify for the Olympic Games.
“I’ve won a lot of [track and field] awards but I only keep two at my house,” he said. “My Olympic Trials and my scholar athlete award.”
Gary said his scholar athlete award is important to him because in college he lost a year of eligibility because of bad grades. He said he worked hard to get his grades up and the award is a reflection of his hard work.
Now at 56-years-old, Gary is passing down his expertise to youth and high school students through his business, CTG Development.
“Our goal is to get these kids ready to be able to compete at the high school level and hopefully at the college level as well,” Gary said. “Perhaps at some point some of these kids may be future Olympians one day.”
Gary started CTG Development 17 years ago with its primary focus of teaching martial arts mixed in with a little track and field. However, since he has been retired from a 30-year career in law enforcement, CTG mainly focuses on track and field training and very little teaching martial arts.
Not every athlete he trains comes from track and field; some of San Diego County’s top basketball and football players have used CTG Development, which believes in building strength and speed.
“My primary focus is to make kids fast,” Gary said.
Gary, a USA Track and Field Level 3 certified coach, admits his techniques are not atypical approaches as he said he does not waste time on endurance training.
“People are shocked when I show them how little we run,” he said. “I never send my athletes out for long runs, I never let my athletes jog. We don’t do any of the things track coaches do.”
The Otay Ranch resident said training youth and high schoolers usually is not a problem since they are hungry for success.
“These kids are highly motivated,” he said. “A lot of them want to get scholarships [for college].”
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Cameron Gary was a long jump record holder. Gary holds the record in the triple jump.The Star-News regrets the error.
