Pandemic Papers: An interview with Greg Masto

There are certain unalienable truths about Greg Masto’s memorable four-year run as a member of our Marist College cross country and track family.

--Yes, he had the freakish ability at times to run faster for 3,000 meters during a steeplechase race than in a flat race (indoors) with no barriers or water jumps. That’s just downright bizarre.

--Yes, it is true that I initially resisted his seemingly absurd plan to do the rarest of track and field doubles – 3,000-meter steeplechase and high jump – in the same meet.

--Yes, it is true that, not surprisingly, I was wrong. Masto could jump – and not just over the water pit and steeple barriers. He scored actual points for us at the MAAC Championships in the high jump, in the process creating a cult following on our team and maybe beyond.

--Yes, it’s true there were more people wildly cheering for Masto in the high jump (an event he didn’t even practice, other than in high school) than in for the event for which he trained, the steeple.

--And yes -- dammit yes! – Greg Masto majored in “playing video games’’ at Marist College.

Oh. All right. Not really, with the last one. But come on. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story, or an endless loop of bad jokes from a wiseass coach. But really: Gaming and game design – at the time a nascent field within the communications major – was a daring move for a young Greg Masto coming out of Guilderland High School. He gambled on this new field of study and the gamble paid off. He has since made a career of it and met his wife in the industry. And talk about a pandemic-proof industry? What better way to spend your shut-in time than playing video games! So, Masto is doing just fine, thank you.

OK. All lighthearted humor aside, Greg Masto was another in a long line of fine citizens to grace our program. He added spice and personality to our team. He’s a loyal alum, fiercely faithful to his Red Foxes (and yes, his beloved Miami Dolphins, too). He’s another in a long line of golden era boys, guys that inhabited our team during our finest hours in all three seasons. While several records from that era have been broken, the sustained success of the late 2000s/early 2010s is something that laid the groundwork for our current team. Taking a quick glance back at some of those meet results, one thing we came to realize is that the MAAC was nowhere near the league it is now in terms of depth and talent. On the men’s side, it was a five-team league in track. Sheesh.

As happens with many alums (Masto is Class of 2010), we’ve only kept tabs on Masto through Facebook or occasional emails or texts. It was a recent email from him, telling us he was thinking about the program after the cancellation of the fall season, that led to this Pandemic Papers interview. Thanks for reaching out, Greg, and for being so loyal to our program.  

Going way back, how and when and why did you start running and did you play other sports growing up?

My introduction started in middle school with the local races while also trying out for basketball and soccer. I always prided myself as being fast on the court or in gym class so to actually put it in practice helped. It was also an early reminder that just because I was the fastest in my friends’ group didn't mean it translated to organized events. 

Tell us about your high school running career? When did you start and what were some of the highlights there?

I started my freshman year on the Guilderland team. I had met Coach Oates from running in middle school. It seemed like a great way to play a sport and meet new people. Freshman year wasn't too much of a highlight as I was still figuring things out and I ended up injuring my knee early in the track season.

I really found my stride my sophomore year as the team would take the top 3 JV to travel with the varsity to sectionals. Once I saw I could contribute I made it my goal to stay on varsity. I think this was also the first year I broke 5 mins in the mile and felt like This also opened me up to more events like the steeple chase and high jump. Steeple just interested me because of the barriers and difficulty. I would always get into my head during track runs and laps so focusing on the next barrier really helped.

High jump I just loved. It was easy to focus and encouraged me to work on strength on top of the distance running.  I was always the strange skinny kid at the large meets since it was usually sprinters or some mid distance people but rarely distance runners coming off of the mile run to then go jump. It's always a fun morale boost when I could win in the dual meets or certain opens. This opened up to my track coach having me start with the Pentathlon. The most points were made in the 1500m, high jump, and long jump so even though I had an embarrassingly weak shot put, I could make up for it in the other events. 

High School highlights:

• Running Van Cortlandt Park the first time, my first "big" meet. Schools from all over and it was awesome being in that environment plus it was an absolute downpour. 
• Federations meet my senior year. Best team Guilderland had put together at the time and I managed to help score for the team to finish 8th. To make it all that way was an awesome experience, longest xc season of my career and awesome work went into it. 
• Senior year Sectionals: Pentathlon - 4th Place. I was happy with my effort but I just missed finishing top 3. While the placement was disappointing it was the most points I had scored in a Pentathlon and I left it out there. 

We had a pretty loaded team as far as distance running so I tried to score points in other events where we didn't have as many. That's where steeple chase and high jump came in. I had continuously played other sports recreationally so I developed 

Refresh my memory with the recruiting process (I honestly don't remember). What schools were you considering and how did you ultimately choose Marist?

I looked at Marist, SUNY Plattsburgh, Niagara, and LeMoyne. I wanted to continue with XC and track but also was looking for the best course work. I liked the other schools but I have to give a shout out to Kris Geist ('05 alum) as he gave me a great visit and the team was very welcoming.  The big thing about Marist was it was trying to grow this new concentration within the Communications department. The Gaming/Interactive Entertainment field was a risk but I wanted to take it as I had never thought of a career in games until I attended. 

Talk about your academic career at Marist. We always busted your chops that playing video games was your major (and now a large part of your career!), but was that a consideration in choosing Marist and looking back, how much of a positive impact did Marist academics have on you?

"Playing video games" wasn't EXACTLY the major, but it probably didn't help that I graduated with a police officer, a member of the Peace Corps, and a priest. I did get bonus points at that banquet for having the "coolest" job. 

The course work and ability to work in the video game industry was a big plus. It was still early on but if I could work towards a degree in Communications that had the focus I had a shot. The academics helped a lot, I was consistently on the MAAC all academic team and I was able to intern with Vicarious Visions (Albany studio) where I would eventually start my career through QA. 

 I use what I've learned with my capstone project in my current producer role.

 You had an adventuresome running and track career here. Tell us some of your highlights (you better include stories about your high jumping!) and fondest memories of your four years as a Running Red Fox.

Adventurous is definitely a word. I knew my position on the team that I came in on the slower side. This was a strong team and it helped having fast teammates where I could push myself.  I know I was a headache for you and would get in my own head when I could run a 3K steeplechase faster than an open 3K.

Freshmen MAAC championships Outdoor Track was a definite highlight. It was an adventure just to get to the meet as our bus popped a tire and we needed to quickly run to Rider so we didn't miss the event. It was a smaller field but I managed to finish 5th, hit my best steeple at the time and actually score points for Marist. 

It was fun, but like high school I wanted to continue to contribute, I knew it would be difficult to help Marist as we were getting faster runners every year.  I pitched the high jump idea after I saw the MAAC results from my freshman year. I couldn't win but I could at least steal some points. You were skeptical as I had some goofy ideas in the past but if I could get to at least get close to the 6-foot range I can at least gain us a point. I had a blast doing it, I'm sure some people thought I was doing it as a joke but I genuinely liked that event. It's a fun little morale booster knowing I managed to grab some MAAC points as a high jumper.  

Other highlights:

• Outdoor Metropolitan my sophomore or junior year - I believe I hit my best time in steeple (10:04 ) shoutout to Mike Rolek attending and running the warm up with me +  giving me a pump up speech.
• Junior Year Albany invitational - Having my best XC race on my hometown course (27 min range I think?). A nice bonus was this was the final one before the MAAC Disney trip. We had a stacked team and while it was great to make it to Florida, I was extremely proud to have it in my hometown. The BBQ at my parents house was well worth it. 

It was an incredible time and I'm glad I got to meet some awesome people. Jerk Squad was always a highlight, I'm positive I pulled a robbery on that rookie of the year award Conor is still bitter over. 

Tell us about your post-collegiate path -- athletically, career-wise and personally. You've done a lot!

Athletically, I did take some time off, gained too much weight, turns out the fried Buffalo chicken diet wasn't going to cut it in my 20s (and now 30s). I remember being unable to finish an Albany Marathon and being upset with myself that I just went home and text apologized to you as you had completed the race. Now I've been trying to run every other day and was going to the gym. I'm not quite at where I want to be weight wise but I'm getting there and feeling better. 

After Marist, I was with Vicarious Visions for three years in either a QA  (Quality Assurance) or IT capacity. Yes, I did test the games but it's not an easy job by any stretch. Any defects, crashes, all come through QA, they are the last line of defense and games don't ship without a good QA team. The Bay Area move came when I saw an opening with Telltale. I was toiling a bit and I wanted to take the next steps for my career It was awesome and scary, I had been dating my now wife for almost a year and we did long distance (thank God for skype and League of Legends) before she moved in and also found an artist position at another game company. I am very lucky to have met Sarah, not only did I find a career in video games but I also met my wife while working on them! She is awesome and I'm proud of the work she has done in her own career. 

In addition to Telltale I also worked a year with Visual Concepts who created WWE2K (wrestling being another interest that my teammates eye rolled). Combining two of my favorite interests was awesome. The perks were fun and it was a new challenge with trying to do a yearly release game. It was great being in the industry and to go backstage to a wrestling event but I did learn that there is a lot of churn and burnout that I am hoping we as an industry can improve. 

What is your current job and how has the pandemic affected your work life?

I am currently an Associate Producer with Red Storm Entertainment. We are under the Ubisoft umbrella, and we now live in Morrisville, North Carolina! I'm working on an unannounced project but I hope when I'm allowed to talk about it, people will be excited. I'm working with some awesome developers and I feel this is going to be home. 

Fortunately for my wife and I, the pandemic hasn't affected us like other careers. We are lucky that our jobs allow us to work from home (people still need and want to play video games) and we are well equipped for that. Sarah and I are both tech savvy (she built her own PC) so we were prepared for a long-term wfh situation.

How has the pandemic affected all other areas of your life? What positives and negatives can you glean from it? How is your family in New York doing?

Personally, it's changed things a little. We don't travel as much and when we do we try to be cautious or keep it to either exploring trails or new areas. Being on the east coast again I've been talking with my former teammates a lot more and we had planned some trips to head back home. My parents are still in the Albany area and happily retired, they actually just finished selling their home and will be moving (but remain in upstate).

My brothers are also in the area, the youngest being a chef in Saratoga. Business did come to a halt with COVID but they are open again and it allowed him to work on new recipes. If you're ever in the Saratoga area when the world is normal, check out Seneca (Yep I'm plugging everything). 

Staying positive, I've been playing and finishing a lot more video games! On a serious note, it's allowed us to seriously start saving. We love this area and see our future here so every little bit to put towards a potential home has been great. I've also been video chatting with some alums like Colin Johnson and it's great to catch up and see how everyone is doing in their lives. 

The negatives are unfortunate. I'll try and keep my ranty Facebook nature away but this pandemic really shows the immaturity of people. There are some amazing people we have met down here but we will still run into folks that (August now) don't take this seriously or outright deny it.  We haven't witnessed full on meltdowns but the deniers will make sure you heard them. Not everyone will think like you and I echo what others have said, it would be great if we worked together instead of against one another. It's gotten embarrassing and the world is laughing.  

As I ask all alums, try to put yourself in the shoes of our recently graduated seniors. What message can you send to them about losing out on the final few months of their college careers?

You should be proud of your college careers. It's understandable to be disappointed but nothing will take away the awesome work you have done at Marist. Continue to cherish the times you spent with your teammates and continue to stay in touch. Met some of the best people at Marist and it's those memories and connections that will define you.  

Looking ahead to the fall and these uncertain times, what message can you impart to incoming freshmen and current athletes who are facing a very uncertain athletic future in the short-term?

This is a really strange time, but it also allows opportunity. Your new teammates are going to look to the upperclassmen for leadership. Make Marist feel like a family. You will race again.  The best thing you can do is have one another's back and be welcoming.  

For the incoming freshmen, be patient and know you're in good hands with Pete and your teammates. You're going to form some of your best friendships and memories. I have zero regrets about my time at Marist, I know you will love it there. 

Anything else you'd like to add ...

Thanks for having me on here, it's awesome seeing how everyone is doing and I hope everyone stays safe. And if anyone is curious about games whether career wise or other, give me a shout (gregory.masto2@gmail.com)! Always happy to help if people need portfolio reviews. 

Go Red Foxes, Go Dolphins.