2019 MSTCA Athlete Hall of Fame

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1 2019 MSTCA Athlete Hall of Fame

Darlene Beckford Pearson Cambridge Rindge & Latin 1979 Darlene is one of the best if not THE best Massachusetts High School middle distance/distance runners ever period.

Darlene is one of the best if not THE best Massachusetts middle distance/ distance runners ever period. These statements are extremely difficult to dispute.

over ½ mile. She along with the likes of Lynn Jennings, Judi St. Hilaire, and Lesley and Lisa Welch put Massachusetts on the world stage running map.

2 Darlene Beckford Pearson Cambridge Rindge & Latin 1979 Darlene is one of the best if not THE best Massachusetts High School middle distance/distance runners ever period. Darlene is one of the best if not THE best Massachusetts collegiate middle distance/distance runners ever period. Darlene is one of the best if not THE best Massachusetts middle distance/ distance runners ever period. These statements are extremely difficult to dispute. In addition to her phenomenal resume, she is also one of the pioneers of women s middle distance/distance running coming out of the 1970 s when women were just beginning to be allowed to run races over ½ mile. She along with the likes of Lynn Jennings, Judi St. Hilaire, and Lesley and Lisa Welch put Massachusetts on the world stage running map. While in high school her resume is quite impressive. She was the U.S. Junior Olympic Mile champion, the U.S. Junior 800m champ, U.S. Junior 1500m champion, the U.S. Olympic Committee Sports Festival 1500m champ and selected as the Most Outstanding Runner at the United States v. West Germany Junior Meet. She also competed in a meet in the old Soviet Union. Her PR s in high school were, 2: m, 4: m and 4:41.9 in the mile. At Harvard University she was the National Collegiate Champ indoors in the 800m, a National Collegiate Champ in the indoor mile, she set the National Collegiate mile record in She was the Ivy League Champion in both Cross and Track. She was a multiple All-American and never lost a meet on the famed Harvard indoor track. In 1998 Darlene was inducted into the Harvard Varsity Club Hall of Fame. Her PR s in college were 2:05.75 for 800m, 4:14.0 for 1500m and 4:32.30 in the mile. After college Darlene was the U.S. Indoor Mile Champion in 1983 and She was a Bronze medalist in the 1500m at the 1985 World University Games. She was a U.S. Olympic Trials finalist in 1984 which were held in Los Angeles. Her 4:07.42 was just 3 seconds off making the Olympic games that year. At the 1987 WORLD Indoor Championships, she finished 7th with a time of 4:13.57 also held in Indianapolis. Darlene ran 15:53 to set the US women s 5k road race record. Her final personal best performances are very compelling: 2:02.93 for 800m, 4:04.81 for 1500m, 4:30.12 in the mile and 15:53 in 5k.

MSTCA Athlete Hall of Fame Past Inductees Jim Blackburn Somerville High School 1956 Jim became the New England AAU Open 60-yard dash champion running a quick 6.

At the State Meet Jim s senior year he won and tied the state record in the 300-yard run with a time of 33.0 seconds.

3 MSTCA Athlete Hall of Fame Past Inductees Jim Blackburn Somerville High School 1956 Jim became the New England AAU Open 60-yard dash champion running a quick 6.6 seconds at the Fargo Building in Boston. For placing 1 st at that meet, he was awarded the Ed Sanders Memorial Trophy. At the State Meet Jim s senior year he won and tied the state record in the 300-yard run with a time of 33.0 seconds. In March of his senior year he led his Somerville High track squad to a team championship at the Bowdoin Interscholastic Track Meet. Jim won three events, in the 50-yard dash, the 300-yard dash and the broad jump. At the National Track and Field Championships held in Madison Square Garden, he would finish 5 th in the nation. By the time Jim graduated, he had become one of Somerville s most decorated athletes. His accomplishments included the Boston Athletic Associations 50-yard title, the indoor All-State 50-yard champ, the outdoor state champ in the 100-yard dash, the indoor New England champ in the 40-yard dash, a 3x Champion New England 100 yard champ, the New England and AAU 60-yard champion the Greater Boston 100 and 220 yard dash Champion. At Villanova University his main events were the 220 and 440. In one particular 4x220 relay it was said by a local newspaper that Excellent baton passing and blistering 220's by Blackburn and Collymore were the features. The highlight of that 1959 season came when Jim Blackburn along with Joe Manion, Charlie Stead, and Ed Collymore were crowned the Penn Relays Mile Relay Champions, running a blistering 3:11.80, which is still the Villanova school record. Not bad for a kid from Philly, two kids from Boston and the quiet kid from Somerville Mass.

Brian Kelley Bishop Feehan High School 1990 In Brian s high school career he would go on to win divisional, All-State, New England and National Championships. The range of events is spectacular.

3, to a 4:07 1500m to all of which led to a state record in the decathlon an AAU National Championship in the decathlon and of course his National record setting pentathlon Championship.

4 Brian Kelley Bishop Feehan High School 1990 In Brian s high school career he would go on to win divisional, All-State, New England and National Championships. The range of events is spectacular. From 55m hurdles in 7.85 to 600 yards in 1:12.3, high jump of 6 7, pole vault 13 6, 300m Int. Hurdles in 38.3, 800m in 1:55.3, to a 4: m to all of which led to a state record in the decathlon an AAU National Championship in the decathlon and of course his National record setting pentathlon Championship. The first event, as always, is the 55m hurdles. His winning time was 7.85 The next event was the long jump. His jump was a school. The next event was the shot put where his throw of was the top throw in the competition. The next event was the high jump, the leap of 6 7 was a school record. The last event of the day is the grueling 1000 meters and his winning time of 2:35.09 was another school record but more importantly, a National High School Record, becoming the first high school athlete to top 4000 points with That record stood for 13 years. In addition to this Brian still holds the National Pentathlon record when using a 16lb shot and the 42 hurdles. He competed at the men s open pentathlon at the Dartmouth relays and the only high school athlete and finished second with 3536 points. Brian earned a full scholarship to Penn State. He would make a big splash on the collegiate scene by scoring 7415 points in his first decathlon freshman year. He would go on to compete in and set a Penn State and Big Ten record in the pentathlon with a score of 4097 points. A record that Still stands to this day. As a decathlete at Penn State, he ranks atop the Penn State record books in the 400m (47.65) and is listed first on the depth charts at four events: The 800m (1:51.39), 110 High Hurdles (14.8), 400m In. Hurdles (50.76), the pentathlon 4097 and decathlon 7418 points. He competes in six others: The shot put 45 0, javelin 181 0, high jump and long jump , 1,500 meters 4:18 and the pole vault The MISSION STATEMENT of the MSTCA has been established and is a nonprofit membership organization incorporated as a 501(c)3 corporation as by CODE. Its purpose and principles are: A. To provide an organization that represents the interests of high school coaches of Cross- Country and Track & Field. B. To promote and foster Cross-Country and Track & Field as an integral part of education in the high school level. C. To develop and increase student-athlete participation in Cross-Country and Track & Field. D. To promote leadership and support for coaches and their programs through coaching education and certification. E. To promote, achieve, and maintain the highest standard of outstanding achievement of coaches, student-athletes and support personnel with sportsmanship. F. To recognize and award outstanding achievement of coaches, student- athletes and support personnel. G. To undertake good public relations and communication to publicize and promote MSTCA. H. To provide assistance to the body of people who make up the athletic community of Cross-Country and Track & Field. Board of Trustees: Charlie Butterfield, Dominic Finnelli, Bill Kane, Charlie O'Rourke, Lou Tozzi Executive Director: Frank Mooney Chief Operating Officer: Rick Kates President: Jim Hoar Vice President: Charlie Butterfield Secretary: Jayson Sylvain Treasurer: Ian Butterfield Director of Public Relations: Kent Taylor Director of Marketing: Tim Cimeno Book Keeper: Jayson Sylvain A special thank you goes out to the members of the Hall of Fame Committee: Tim Cimeno, Mike Glennon, Bob L Homme, Chuck Martin and Jayson Sylvain. Much appreciation goes out to Josh Seeherman a graduate of Newton North High School and the University of Pennsylvania for his nomination and bio presentation of M. Carl Shine. And for providing pictures for this event from the Penn Relays files.

M Carl Shine Newton High School 1955 Franklyn Sanchez Lynn Vocational Tech 1999 Pictures Courtesy of Penn Relays Pictures Courtesy of Penn Relays Carl was a part of an amazing era in the Newton High

Carl was the outdoor state champion in his junior year of 1954 and both the indoor and outdoor state champion his senior year of 1955.

Carl Shine arrived at the University of Pennsylvania in the fall of 1955.

He was only the second athlete in conference history to win all three indoor shot put titles.

5 M Carl Shine Newton High School 1955 Franklyn Sanchez Lynn Vocational Tech 1999 Pictures Courtesy of Penn Relays Pictures Courtesy of Penn Relays Carl was a part of an amazing era in the Newton High track program. Newton won seven Class A state championships in the 1950 s. Carl was the outdoor state champion in his junior year of 1954 and both the indoor and outdoor state champion his senior year of Carl was the captain of the state champion Newton High track team in 1955, graduating as a proud member of both the national honors society and the chemistry club. Carl Shine arrived at the University of Pennsylvania in the fall of Carl won nearly every local competition he entered, winning five out of six possible conference titles in the Heptagonal Association. He was only the second athlete in conference history to win all three indoor shot put titles. He won the Penn Relays shot put for the home team in both 1958 and 1959 with the second farthest throw in meet history, as well as both the indoor and outdoor IC4A titles in His 1959 season culminated in a school record of 58 9 ½, still the record today, the NCAA championship, and Penn s Class of 1915 award, given annually to the best student athlete at the university. After graduating from Penn, Carl would add advanced degrees in electrical engineering and go on to a successful career at Digital Computing. It was 20 years ago on February 20, 1999 that the greatest 2-mile race in Massachusetts (THE race) has become known as the Sanchez-Powell showdown. With that being said, the gun goes off. 440 s clicking off, 63, 2:08, 3:14, 4:21!!! With a half mile to go, Franklyn begins to fade off the torrid pace being set by Powell. With 440 yards to go and it doesn t look good. With 220 yards to go Sanchez is still 4-5 seconds behind Powell. With 100 yards to go, it s down to 2 seconds, with 2 yards to go, Franklyn pulls ahead to win in 8:49.60 to Powell s 8:50.28! As a freshman at Georgetown he would win the USA Junior National Cross Country Championship which earned him a spot on the World Championship team. At the World Cross Country Championship held in Portugal, he would be the first American over the finish line and 28 th overall. In his first college race he would finish 3 rd at the Big East Cross Championships, 5 th at the Mid Atlantic Regional Cross Championship, leading Georgetown to a team win. He would then go on to earn All-American honors with a 6 th place finish at the NCAA Division 1 Cross Championships and was the top freshman. Franklyn Sanchez broke the American junior record in the 5k running a breath-taking 13:38.39 at Stanford. What s really cool about this is the record he set broke the 31 year old record held by the legendary Steve Prefontaine.

Eric Scammons South Hadley High School 1992 Katie Sherman Johnson Dennis-Yarmouth High School 2005 As a junior at South Hadley he was the Western Mass, All-State and New England Champion.

He was allowed to compete at girl s dual meets in order to meet the qualifying standard needed to compete in regional and state meets.

Eric won the Western Mass long jump to qualify for the All- State meet. After finishing second at the state meet. It was off to the New England meet where Eric would have his epic jump of 24 10.

As a result of that incredible mark, Eric was selected as a Track and Field News and USA Today All- American. His mark was the 3 rd best in the country in 1992.

6 Eric Scammons South Hadley High School 1992 Katie Sherman Johnson Dennis-Yarmouth High School 2005 As a junior at South Hadley he was the Western Mass, All-State and New England Champion. After the school dropped the boys spring track team for a lack of participants Eric trained with the help of the girl s coach Andy Vecellio. He was allowed to compete at girl s dual meets in order to meet the qualifying standard needed to compete in regional and state meets. Andy stated that his accomplishment is even more impressive knowing that he never had any head to head competition until postseason meets. Eric won the Western Mass long jump to qualify for the All- State meet. After finishing second at the state meet. It was off to the New England meet where Eric would have his epic jump of His record would stand for 21 years, when another young man from Western Mass eclipsed Eric by only a.25 of an inch. As a result of that incredible mark, Eric was selected as a Track and Field News and USA Today All- American. His mark was the 3 rd best in the country in Eric still is listed in the Boston College long jump top 10. Katie was a 2005 graduate of Dennis-Yarmouth High School. Katie is perhaps the greatest all-around athlete to ever graduate from Dennis-Yarmouth High School and arguably one of the greatest female athletes to attend any high school in Massachusetts possibly even in the United States. As a freshman, Katie won the All-State and New England High Jump Championships at 5 8 and the 300m in As a sophomore, Katie was the indoor state high jump champion and then in the spring became the All-State and New England 100m hurdles champion. In her Junior year she achieved the double, double. She won both the All State and New England Championships in the 55m hurdles and the high jump and got the double in the spring by winning both the State and New England 100m hurdles and high jump crowns. She was a 4x high school All- American, 3 times in the pentathlon and 1x in the high jump. She still ranks in the top 10 nationally with a score of 3717 points, which at the time was the national junior record. She graduated high school with 8 individual All-State titles, 8 New England titles and 2 State pentathlon titles She is the Mass State record holder in 100m hurdles and a State Meet record holder in the 55m hurdles (8.11) In college (B.C. and Northeastern) she continued to show her versatility and would end her career with pr s of 5 8 in the high jump, 8.13 in the 55m hurdles, 8.79 in the 60m hurdles, in the 100m hurdles, and in the 400m hurdles.

Authored by Michael Reif

Authored by Michael Reif Media Release: January 26, 2008 Contact: Michael Reif (585-377-1041 or email coachmr@rochester.rr.com) For more information on GRTC Hall of Fame see: http://www.grtconline.org/ Induction took place on