Thursday, October 27, 2011

Preview of Big East at Louisville October 29

On Saturday the Big East Championship will take place in Louisville. You can visit the Big East Championship Site for the most up-to-date information. We've finished 14th the last 2 years and are looking forward to picking up a few spots this year based on early season form. The meet is loaded, with Villanova the NCAA champions of the past 2 seasons leading the way.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Oct 21, 1961: A Better Week

50 years ago this week St John's went head to head with Navy and NYU at Van Cortlandt Park. The team is starting to show dramatic improvement over the past , since the beginning of the season.

Fall Festival Alumni Reception Oct 2011

On Sunday Oct 16, St John's hosted it's annual Fall Festival alumni reception. Joe Lang (class of 63) was guest speaker. I could spend a long time listing Joe's accomplishments, but prefer to focus on his speech.

Joe was introduced by hammer throwing alums John McCree (class of 75) and Rich Torrellas (class of 72). Both men asked to introduce Joe as he played such a substantial roll in their careers in track and field as athletes, coaches and officials. Joe has inculcated in them a love for both their sport and giving back to the generations that have followed them.

Joe chose to focus on the 1961 Metropolitan Championship of 50 years ago. 1961 was the year when St John's broke the stranglehold of Manhattan College in the Metropolitan area. He described how the team had progressed from being crushed by Manhattan College on Oct 14 to turning the tables at the Mets on Nov 7. In just 3 weeks through good coaching and team spirit.

50 years have passed but the memory is still vivid and special. To exceed expectations collectively on the day, when it counts most, results in a proud memory that never fades and fuels the desire to sense that pride again by helping others attain similar goals.

Joe encouraged all that attended to give back and to enable others to achieve their moment of greatness. For those that benefited from their Experience on St John's Track Team, Joe suggested a contribution to the Tom Farrell fund - see Coach Hurt for details via email: hurtj@stjohns.edu

Joe Lang with the heavies: Rich Torrellas and John McCree


Rich Torellas, Coach Jim Hurt and St John's alumna Connie Stoll a member of 2 Olympic Teams: Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956:





Thursday, October 13, 2011

Celebrate 50 Years ago at the Fall Festival


50 years ago on October 7th St John's most successful Track and Field athlete made his debut for the STJ cross country team. Back then the Freshmen competed in a race separate from the varsity.

So how did Tom Farrell make out on his debut? Are there other members on the team that can give color on the race?

Tom Farrell's Cross Country Debut

The varsity team also raced that day and were led home by Joe Lang a future coach at St John's and Athletic Director at Georgetown. The race also included a future winner of the NYC Marathon who is probably better known for his contribution to NYC Track & Field. Any ideas?

Van Cortlandt Varsity race October 7th

A week later the varsity team was again in action at VCP against Army and Manhattan with Joe leading the way again:

October 14th STJ vs Manhattan vs Army

This Sunday St John's will be hosting the Annual Fall Festival Cross Country meet. Details:


The day begins at Cunningham Park with our 9:30am mile run/walk to raise money for breast cancer research. The women's 4000m races goes off at 10:00am followed by the Men's 5k at 10:30am.

Mass at St. Thomas Moore Church on Campus is at 11:00am followed by a receptioninMontgoris Dining Hall at 12:00pm.

We are honoring the 1961, 1976, and 1996 teams on their 50th, 35th, and 15th anniversaries.
  
The great Joe Lang will be quest speaker so tell your friends and teammates to come on out on Sunday the 16th for a great day of celebrating St. John's Cross Country

Saturday, January 23, 2010

How many times in a row

Two Track and Field athletes have won the same event consecutively in 4 Olympic games. Who are they and what games did they win their medals in. Year and location required

Track and Field Trivia

Track and Field is notorius for it's stat freaks. Which readers of the blog can get to the answer quickest? Post your answer to the question in the comments section of the blog

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Randalls Island: Reebok Grand Prix - Get Your Tickets Now

The Reebok Grand Prix will be held at Randall's Island on Saturday May 30th at 3 PM. This is the one world class outdoor track meet held in New York every year.

Last year 9 friends of St John's Track and Field were treated to a world record by Usain Bolt. Details on who is scheduled to compete can be found at: A Melting Pot of Medalists Sign On For 2009 Reebok Grand Prix

I plan on buying tickets at around the 50 meter mark in the green section 104 or 204 of the stadium. Tickets will be $40.

Deadline:
If you plan on attending, please email me at nuttym@stjohns.edu before I place a ticket order on May 16. Let me know how many tickets you'll need.

Who Will Be Attending
I'll be updating the list below so you'll know who'll be attending:
  1. Martin Nutty
  2. Tom Celandine
  3. Joe Carpenter
  4. Bill Boyle
  5. Les Agard-Jones
  6. Glen Shane
  7. Alex Long + 2

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Outdoor Meet Reports

It's that time of the year:

The Mets are done and the championships is in the bag: STJ Mets report. Records tumble

Catch up on the season action with meet reports on the Red Storm Site website:
  1. Opening Meet at Coastal Carolina
  2. Some go to Texas some to Monmouth
  3. A visit to Princeton
  4. Monday night under the lights
  5. A relay record goes down at the Penn Relays
  6. Big East: Another relay record goes

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Some Sad News: Artie Campbell

Bill Bakewicz (Class of 1978) notified me that Artie Campbell (Class of 76) had passed away. Artie ran the Hurdles at St John's.

I never met Artie, so it would be nice if some of his fellow alums could share some memories by adding comments to this post.

Friends and Alumni Reception Feb 21, 2009

On Feb 21 Friends and Alumni of St John's track gathered at the Armory during the first day of the Indoor Big East Championships. More then 30 alums and friends of the program attended.

A class member from each decade was respresented from the 1950's to the 2000's.

Some pictures of the event can be found at: STJ Big East Reception.

The group was joined by STJ team and staff. Our current team members were pleasantly surprised by the timespan represented by the alums and enjoyed mixing with the different generations.