Sam Paniccia and Proctor High School athletics were inseparable for better than 30 years. Born on September 11, 1938, Paniccia had a short flirt with baseball while attending Proctor in the mid-1950s, but he soon found his greatest success while running track and cross country. He was a member of the 1955 cross country team that went undefeated in dual meets and won the Section III title.

After earning a bachelor's degree at the University of Buffalo, Paniccia returned home to become a program director and coach for the Catholic Youth Organization from 1962-1968. Also in 1962, he was appointed assistant track coach at Proctor. In 1968, Paniccia joined Proctor's physical education staff fulltime and was elevated to head cross-country coach.

Over the course of the next 26 years at Proctor and one season at Utica Free Academy, he compiled a 50-18 record in cross-country, including eight Central Oneida League championships and 10 city championships. He guided his teams to 14 invitational titles, as well. Proctor was unbeaten in cross country (20-0) for four consecutive seasons, 1976-1979.

Paniccia was director of the E.J. Herrmann Invitational from 1969-2000.

Formerly known as the Proctor Invitational, Paniccia insisted that the event-the second oldest scholastic invitational in New York State-be renamed in honor of Proctor's legendary coach and the meet's founder, Ed Hermmnl1. The invitational now attracts more than 1,200 athletes each year. In 1988, he received the Section III Cross Country Coaches Award for service.

He was Proctor's head varsity track coach from 1970-1985, then continued for another two years at Utica Free Academy. The two schools later merged at Proctor. His teams won Section III track championships in 1984 and 1988. He also coached indoor track at Proctor for five years.

Paniccia's efforts have been widely recognized by the community. He was a two term president of the East Utica Optimist Club and was named Man of the Year in 1983- 84 and in 1988-89. He was inducted into the Optimist Hall of Fame in 1996. In 1986, Paniccia received the Rotary Club's Outstanding Educator of the Year Award. The T.R. Proctor Parent's Association honored him in 1997.

After his retirement from coaching, he became a volunteer coach of the Proctor track team, 1998-2000. He also served on the board of directors of the Boys And Girls Club of Central New York. In 1998, he became a member of the SUNY Sports Hall of Fame. He also established the Santo Paniccia Scholarship Award in 1998 for a graduating Proctor student.

In 2002, he was selected to carry the Olympic torch as it passed through Utica. In 2003, he received the Utica Kiwanis Club's Len Wilbur/James Blackshear Award for community service.