University of Vermont Athletic Hall of Fame
M. Joseph Barry 1961 - Basketball, Track and Field
Joe Barry, a 1982 UVM Hall of Fame inductee, was one of the top trackmen for coach Archie T. Post in the late 50's and early 60's at Vermont. The leading point man on the 1959 and 1960 teams, Barry averaged better than 20 points per meet during those seasons.
As a senior in 1960, he captained the team and set a University record for total points in a season, breaking a mark that had stood for 17 years. Barry garnered 25 points in one meet in 1960, scoring five first-place finishes. In the 1960 Vermont Intercollegiate Championship meet he set one state mark and tied another en route to four firsts. Barry competed in three field events, the pole vault, high jump and javelin throw, and ran the 120 and 440-yard hurdles.
Barry was the 1960 recipient of the University's Russell O. Sunderland Trophy, presented for "character, leadership and persistence in overcoming an obstacle." According to his mentor Archie Post, a UVM Hall of Famer elected in 1970, Barry "was a great leader and one of the best trackmen Vermont ever saw."
In addition to his four years as a Catamount track and field star, Barry was a member of the Vermont basketball squad in 1954-55.
In 1966 Barry returned to UVM as head coach of track, a position he held for four years. Prior to this he had served as track coach in the South Burlington and Burlington school systems, and at Oyster Bay (NY) High School. He left coaching in 1970 to join the faculty at Burlington High School.
Since then Barry has earned a master's degree from St. Michael's College (1972), and has done post-graduate studies at UVM, C.W. Post College, Nebraska Wesleyan University and the University of Massachusetts. He has been the recipient of several fellowships in physics and physical science form the National Science Foundation.
