Varsity Coaches

Head Varsity Basketball Coach Jim Comarata has over 20 years of basketball coaching and training experience with area grade schools including St. James, St. Ignatius, St. Jude, Queen of Peace, St. Margaret of York, and Sacred Heart. He has also coached several grade school and high school level AAU teams. He will begin his first season coaching the Mercy McAuley Wolves in 2022-23!

Coach Tim Bley has 12 years of experience coaching high school cross country and distance track and field, as well as high school classroom experience. In addition to over 38 years as an avid runner, Coach Bley is a certified personal trainer who has helped train athletes to run distance road races, and he has personally competed in 13 marathons.

Coach Bley is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati, with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and a Master of Arts in Education from the College of Mount Saint Joseph. He is also a Cincinnati Police officer who has had leadership roles in fitness training for the Police Academy and the Cincinnati Police department. Coach Bley and his family are active members of St. Jude parish, and his family has a strong commitment to Mercy education and the Mercy McAuley community.

Coach Kelly Fay is a Lead Dance Instructor at Emerge Dance Academy, where she enjoys teaching all ages. She designs outreach programs through Emerge and has been working as a lead instructor at Emerge for the past six years, with a total of about 14 years experience teaching dance. She has a significant amount of experience in dance competition, both as an instructor and participant. She was a member of the dance team in high school and as a student at Mount Saint Joseph. Coach Fay is excited to build and begin a dance program at Mercy McAuley High School. She is a graduate of Mount Saint Joseph University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication.

During Mercy McAuley's inaugural season, Coach Ernie Petrie led the team in qualifying for Districts, and he was also named GGCL Coach of the Year. Prior to joining the coaching staff at Mercy McAuley, Coach Petrie served as McAuley’s varsity head coach for 21 years and as the JV coach for 20 years. Under his leadership, McAuley’s golf team had 19 winning seasons and ranked in the Top 10 of the coaches poll for 19 of 21 years. Coach Petrie's team earned GGCL Co-Champ and Coach of the Year titles in 2007. In 2015, one of his players qualified as an individual at the state competition, and the team qualified for the state tournament in 2016. His teams have qualified for the GGCL District tournament for 11 years, and four players qualified as individuals in other years. Several of his players have been named to the GGCL All-Star team each year.

Prior to joining Mercy McAuley, Coach Dave Joerger served as Mother of Mercy’s varsity lacrosse coach for 11 years and the Assistant Athletic Director and Physical Education teacher for six years. He also served as the head baseball coach for Panel Barn Baseball Club for 10 years. Coach Joerger also founded, coached and supervised Westside Lacrosse, a summer instructional program for girls in grades 8 – 12. He has also coached and supervised year-round instructional lacrosse clinics through River’s Edge for girls in grades 5 – 12.

During Mercy McAuley's inaugural 2018-19 season, Coach Karen Wiesman led the team in earning the GGCL Champion title, and she was also named GGCL Coach of the Year. Before joining Mercy McAuley’s coaching staff, she coached softball at McAuley, first as JV coach from 1997 – 2002, followed by head varsity coach from 2003 – 2018. While varsity coach, Coach Wiesman compiled a 241-115 win/loss record. In 2016, she received the Sportsmanship Ethic and Integrity Award, and she was named GGCL Coach of the Year in 2010, 2011, 2015 and 2016. Coach Wiesman is also an art teacher at St. James School in White Oak.

During Mercy McAuley's inaugural 2018-19 season, Coach Gordon Benning led the team in finishing second in the GGCL. Prior to joining the coaching staff at Mercy McAuley, Coach Benning served as McAuley High School’s track and field varsity coach during the 2017-18 school year. During this season, his track & field athletes won three GGCL championships, and one student won the GGCL Field Event Athlete of the Year. He also served as an assistant track and field coach at McAuley and St. Xavier, and was the head track and field coach at Summit Country Day for four years.

Coach Denise Harvey, a 1991 alumna of Mother of Mercy High School, will begin serving as head varsity volleyball coach in the 2019-20 season. Coach Harvey has over 20 years of secondary education experience in the classroom, as a school administrator, as a coach and in athletic administration. In addition to serving as the Head Volleyball Coach at Mercy McAuley, she is also Assistant Principal for Student Programs (including athletics). Prior to her roles at Mercy McAuley, Denise served as Mother of Mercy’s Head Varsity Volleyball Coach since 2000, where she earned a state title in 2007 and achieved her 300th win in 2017. She also served as Mother of Mercy’s Athletic Director since 2011 and Assistant Principal for Student Affairs since 2014.