Some of the biggest news in the track and field world did not stem from competition, but from honoring the ones who excelled during their time.
There was also a storyline that brought great shame to the sport. Here a few headlines from over the past week.
Class of 2016 Inducted Into USTFCCCA Hall Of Fame
Six coaches were recognized as they reached one of the highest honors in the sport as they were inducted into the USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame.
The six coaches were Terry Franson of Azusa Pacific, Pat Healy of UW-La Crosse and Southern Oregon State, Mike Holloway of Florida, Bob Kitchens of UTEP, Mississippi State, and West Texas A&M, Marty Stern of Villanova, and Bobby Thornton of Texas and TCU.
Terry Franson led Azusa Pacific to 11 titles, including seven in a row from 1983-1989. Pat Healy led UW-La Crosse to 21 top-four finished from 1992-2014 in NCAA Division III. Mike Holloway has brought six NCAA titles to Gainesville.
Bob Kitchens coached many NCAA champions and record holders. Marty Stern has led Villanova women’s cross country team to five consecutive NCAA titles. Bobby Thornton coached the 1989 TCU 4×100 team to a collegiate record of 38.23 seconds, a record that still stands today.
Villanova Enshrines Track & Field Star Into Varsity Club Hall of Fame
The Villanova Varsity Club announced the 2016 Hall of Fame Class, which includes nine former athletes and a special recognition award, the Jake Nevin Special Award.
Carrie Tollefson, Class of 2000, is a cross country/track & field star who is one of those nine athletes who has received the highest honor a Villanova athlete can achieve.
Tollefson was a 12-time All-American and the first woman to win NCAA titles in the 3000m and 5000m outdoors in the same year. When it was all said and done, she finished her career as a five-time NCAA champion, with at least one individual title in cross country, indoor, and outdoor track.
Tolleson “set the standard for the Villanova cross country and track & field teams during her career with the team,”
Amherst College Cross Country Team Apologizes For Comments
Amherst College’s men’s cross country team apologized this week for making sexual comments about female students. Members of the team were recently suspended when emails from team members were found that made racist, misogynistic, and homophobic comments, The messages came to light by The Indicator, a student publication, which reported on emails from 2013-2015.
Athletic Director Don Faulstick was disgusted by these actions saying, “They have no place on our sports team or anywhere at our College. They violate the ‘zero-tolerance’ standard toward bigotry of any kind that we explicitly set for our athletes.”
