Sports: For Immediate Release July 9, 2006

 

Our trustee board of Fisk Chapel AME Church Fair Haven, NJ with the support of the Fair Haven Track and Field Club is hosting a track and field weekend. On Friday July 14, we are holding a Track and Field Hall of Fame Induction at 6:00pm. We will be inducting 14 men and women who are outstanding role models to our youth. The group includes three former Olympic competitors, two Olympic coaches, two world record holders, and several athletes who qualified for the Olympic trials. The ceremonies are open to the public and we would welcome your support of all by your attendance and bringing family and friends to help celebrate. There will be a reception following in the parish hall.

 

On Saturday July 15th we will host a youth track and field meet at Count Basie Track in Red Bank.  For more information Call Jesse Harris (732) 747-1752, e-mail fiskchapelame@yahoo.com or visit www.fiskchapelame.org .

 

Fisk Chapel AME Track and Field Hall of Fame Inductees 7/14/06 6:00pm at Fisk Chapel AME Church Maple & Fisk Sts. Fair Haven, NJ 07704

 

Robert C. Belcher, Jr.  Arial , NJ

Haddon Heights HS, NJ (1976) University of Lowell (1981)

College: Qualified for NCAA Division III Championships three straight years.  NCAA Division II All-American High Jump (1981), High Jump Champion Eastern League and New England Collegiate Championships

 

Dawn Bowles Neptune, NJ

Neptune, NJ HS (1988) LSU (1992)

High School: (1986)HS All-American 100mH; (86/87/88) NJ State Champion 55mD & 55mH; (1988) Outdoor State Champion 100mH, 100mD, & 200mD, Eastern State Champion 100mH (13.5) best time of the year by a USA HS hurdler, Olympic Trials semi-finalist.

College: (1990) NCAA All-American outdoor 100mH; (1991) NCAA All-American indoor and outdoors, World Record shuttle hurdles(53.0) with LSU; (1992) NCAA All-American indoor & outdoor All-American, Olympic Trials finalist 4th 100mH

Professional (1993) World Championships (Stuttgart, Germany) 7th 100mH;

(1996) Olympic trials finalist 7th 100mH, Grand Prix Final (Milan Italy) 3rd 100mH, Ranked 7th in world 100mH.

 

John H Chambers,Jr. Neptune, NJ

Neptune HS, NJ (1974)  Seton Hall University (1978)

High School   (1973) Junior year won the NJ All Group Indoor 60yd dash in tying the state record (6.2), won the All State outdoor 100yd dash in 9.8sec. (1974 indoor season undefeated against HS athletes. Set state record in 60yd dash (6.1) Undefeated during outdoor season in local and state competition. Ran the second fastest 100yd in state history (9.4). In the National HS Prep meet John placed 4th (9.6) after leading for 75yd and pulling a hamstring. He earnes HS All-American status.

College Injury cut his career short but he graduated in 1978.

John has been a teacher and track coach in Neptune for 28 years

 

Joe Compagni West Long Branch, NJ

Compagni is a 1987 graduate of the University of Delaware where he lettered in both cross country and track and field and served as the Blue Hens’ captain as a senior. In his 11th season at the helm of the Monmouth University men’s and women’s cross country and track teams, Joe Compagni has established himself as one of the most distinguished names in the East. In his first ten seasons, Compagni has earned Northeast Conference Coach of the Year honors on an unprecedented 13 occasions.

 Compagni’s most recent success story came in 2004-2005, when he guided the indoor track and field squads to a sweep at the NEC Championships and followed that up by earning his second consecutive men’s outdoor title. In the last nine years, Monmouth athletes have set new indoor and outdoor track and field records on over 400 occasions.

 

Elliott Denman A resident of West Long Branch, NJ has been actively involved in track and field for over 54 years, as an athlete, coach, sports journalist, official, judge, and event organizer, director and promoter. He was captain of the New York University indoor track team in 1956, he went on to qualify for the 1956 USA Olympic team and placed 11th in the 50-kilometer (31.1-mile) racewalk at the Melbourne, Australia Olympics. Copeting for the New York Pioneer Club, he was the National AAU racewalking champion at 3,000 meters and 50 kilometers in 1959.

Elliott moved to New Jersey in late 1960 and helped launch the Takanassee Lake Races in 1964 and revive the Shore Athletic Club. A sports writer and columnist at the Asbury Park Press from 1964 to 1999 and now as a free-lance writer, Denman has covered 11 Olympic Games, and numerous national and international championship events, and won numerous sports journalism awards.

 

Curtis and Kimberly Jackman , Cambridge, MA are being inducted as a team because in every respect they are a team. If Curtis is running a meet or running a practice, you will find his wife Kimberly close by doing the important paperwork to make the event a success. They coach one of the finest youth track teams in the Northeast  the “Cambridge Jets”. They have trained numerous youth  track and field national champions and national record setters. Each year they host indoor, outdoor, and cross country youth meets. Curtis volunteers as the AAU New England Youth Athletics District Chairman. In June they hosted the AAU Region 1 Championships at Tufts University.

 

Larry James Pamona, NJ:  BS Villanova University and Masters in Public Policy from Rutgers the State University of New Jersey

Larry James has been the Dean of Recreational Programs and Services at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey since 1972. He was a double medallist at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, Mexico  He set a world record and won several NCAA titles during his track career at Villanova University. James won the silver medal in the 400 meters with his time of 43.97 seconds at the 1968 Olympics, bettering the old record but placing him second behind teammate Lee Evans (43.86). James added a gold medal by running the third leg on the USA 4x400m relay team, which set a world record of 2minutes 56.16 seconds.

 In December 2003, James was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. James served as Head Manager for the Men’s USA track and Field Team in 2003, 2004, and 2005. James Currently serves as Chairperson of the USATF Budget and Men’s Development committees. Larry James gets great joy in coaching and mentoring individuals and organizations. To this end he has established a global coaching network, which helps others discover “Diamonds in the Dark.”

 

John Moon Head Men’s and Women’s Cross Country and Track Coach Seton Hall University

John Moon, one of the most respected and successful track coaches in the nation, has orchestrated the rise of Seton Hall track from a perennial Eastern power to a nationally prominent program. The 2005-06 season marked his 34th at the University.

            Moon was a standout in both track and football at Linden, NJ HS. He was an All-State and All-American performer in high school, running the 100yd in 9.7 and the 220yd in 21.0. After excelling on the prep level, Moon moved on to Tennessee State where he earned All-American honors. Before graduating in 1961, he was one of the top sprinters in the school’s history. His time of 9.3 in the 100yd dash tied the world record.

            The strong tradition of Seton Hall track excellence that Moon has developed is accented by the individual achievements of both current and former Pirate athletes. His slate includes 71 All-Americans and seven NCAA Champions. Moon has tutored 19 Olympic athletes during his career.

            Moon served as a coach on five USA International Track teams including assistant coach at the Sydney Olympics (2000),  head coach at the Pan American Games (1995), and head  coach USA vs Great Britain (2001). In September 2005, Moon was nominated and unamously accepted to the Hall of Fame of the New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Association. Every year the NJSCA bestows the distinguished award on an outstanding New Jerseyan in the world of athletics.

 

Tony Naclerio Rocaway, NJ

            Naclerio is the throwing coach for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. He is one of America’s foremost coaches in the throwing events, and he served as the USA throwing coach et the Atlanta Olympics (1996). His most notable protégé, Mark Murro was a 1968 Olympian and the first American to throw over 300ft in the javelin event. Coach Naclerio was the USA throws coach at the 1991 World Championships (Tokyo, Japan) and the World  University Games in Japan (1995).

            Coach Naclerio has written a book entitled “Teaching Progressions of the Shot Put, Discus, and Javelin”

 

Harry Riley Allentown, PA

Rumson-Fair Haven HS, NJ (1974) and University of Lowell, MA (1978)

Riley was a football and track star in his hometown of Fair Haven, NJ. As a senior he was a state group champion in both the 100yd and 220yd dashes.

 In college he was an NCAA division 3 All-American in the 400m (1978) He held four indoor (50yd, 60yd, 440yd, and 600yd) and four outdoor records (100m, 200m, 400m, and sprint medley). Riley was the IC4A indoor co-champion in the 400m (1978) and was elected to “Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges (1978).

 

Michael Smart Newark, NJ

Michael Smart was named Head Men’s and Women’s Coach at Essex County College in October 1986. A native of Newark, NJ, Smart returned to the coll for which he had competed in 1973-75. Smart is the only coach at Essex County College who played for and coached a National Championship team in the college’s sports history. He was named All-American twice in the 1970’s. During the past 20 years, Smart was named National Junior College Coach of the Year and honored by the NJCAA Region XIX three times. Smart was named District/Regional Coach of the Year 13 times.

Smart developed 16 Olympians, 230 National Champions, 325 All-Americans, and over 300 All-Region picks. Smart’s Success is not only on the track. He has amassed an outstanding 95% student graduation rate at the college.

 

Mabel “Dolly Landry Staton Vorhees, NJ

Bachelor of Arts Depaul University (1954) Masters Degree Glasboro/Rowan Univ. (1987)

            Mrs Staton began running at age eleven. When she was sixteen, she joined the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) Girls Track Team in Chicago. This team won the National AAU Senior Championship title in women’s track and field in 1953, 1954, and 1955, beating the famous Tuskegee and Tennessee State girls track and field teams and many others.

            In her tenure, Mrs Staton held the American broad jump record and was co-colder of the American 50yd dash record. She placed 7th in the long jump at the Helsinki, Finland Olympics (1952)  She was a gold medallist in the 4x100m relay and bronze medallist in the 60m dash at the Pan American Games.

 

Clifford L. Still Lawnside, NJ

Camden County Voc. Tech Pennsauken, NJ (1975), University of Lowell (1981)

            In high school Mr. Still was M.V.P all four years, All-State, and All-NJ. In  college he Set many field house records, holds University of  MA Lowell record in the 110m hurdles, and qualified for the 1980 Olympic Trials. He was inducted into the University of MA Lowell Hall of Fame in 1986.