Five national champions, including two whose collegiate records have stood for decades, are among 10 athletes and coaches who have been elected to the Greater Capital Area Athletics, Field and Cross Country Hall of Fame. .
The class of 2022 will be honored at the annual induction banquet on Saturday, October 1 at the Albany Marriott in Colonie.
Inductees include Kevin Scheuer, Tim McCrossen, Dana Ostrander Bush, Felipe Reyes, Jennifer Fazioli, Marbry Gansle, Matt Jones, Aidan Tooker, John Gregg and Tedi DeMaria.
Scheuer, a Bishop Gibbons graduate, was a star middle distance at Union College in the late 1970s, leaving behind six individual records and three relay records that have not been bettered in more than 40 years. He won the NCAA Division III Indoor Championship in the 1,500 meters.
Likewise, Ballston Spa speedster McCrossen still holds four indoor and four outdoor scholastic records at St. Lawrence University, where he was a 12-time Division III All-American in the 1980s and won championships. of the NCAA in the outdoor 100 meters and the indoor 400 meters.
Ostrander Bush opted to skip the 1996 state meet his senior year at Shenendehowa to instead compete in the Keebler International Prep Invitational in Chicago, a precursor to current national meets, and won the two-mile.
She had already won four individual gold medals in state meets and three more in relays. during his career with the Plainsmen.
She was the No. 1 runner on the 1995 Shen cross-country team that was ranked No. 1 in the United States and swept state meet, Federation meet, and the Foot Locker Northeast Regionals.
Ostrander Bush was captain of the Providence College cross country and track and field teams.
Reyes of Christian Brothers Academy continues to hold the all-time Section II outdoor long jump record of 24-3.75 set in 2003 as well as the indoor mark of 24-5 set in 2004.
His accomplishments include a first place finish in the long jump at the Nike Indoor Nationals.
Reyes transferred after two seasons at LSU to UAlbany and broke the school record with a 24-6.5.
The fifth national champion is Fazioli, a three-time individual cross-country winner for Averill Park in the 1990s.
She then competed for the University of Colorado and was a member of the NCAA Division I cross country championship team in 2000.
Gansle developed the women’s cross-country program at Shaker High School and coached for 42 years, racking up an impressive 271-171 dual meet record, currently No. 12 on the state’s all-time list from New York.
The Northeast Chapter of the National Federation of High Schools named her Coach of the Year for Cross Country in 2017-2018, and in 2009 Gansle received the Pathfinder Award from the National Association of Girls and Women. in sport for his significant contributions.
She was the Section II Girls’ Cross Country Coordinator from 1978 to 2019 and served as the Girls’ National Coordinator from 1995 to present.
Jones coached a long list of athletes who won state and national championships during his tenure at Shenendehowa and enjoyed similar success as an assistant coach at the University of Albany.
His Shenendehowa men’s cross country teams have won five state and conference titles, and the 1998 team was ranked No. 2 in the United States.
Jones completed eight relays and two individuals in three events to win national titles.
At UAlbany, Jones was named the 2010 Northeast Region Division I Men’s Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year and the North American Conference Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year. is in 2011.
Tooker, of Saratoga Springs and Syracuse University, is one of only three runners in the Capital Region to complete the mile in four minutes.
He was a 13-time Section II Saratoga champion, a two-time state indoor champion, and a state federation cross-country champion.
Gregg was a state sprint champion with Colony in the 1950s whose retired records in yardage have never been broken.
He was a two-time 100-yard (9.6) and 220-yard (21.0) winner at the 1957 State Meet At the University of Michigan, Gregg cut his 100-yard time to 9.5, two tenths of a second off the world time record.
He clocked 6.1 in the 60-yard dash inside to tie the Big Ten record held by Jesse Owens.
Tedi DeMaria was a state pole vault winner for Bethlehem that ranks second on the all-time Section II lists, indoors and outdoors.
He was the 2015 state outdoor champion at 12-4 and finished fourth at the New Balance Indoor Nationals.
The October 1 Induction Banquet will begin with a reception at 4:30 p.m., followed by dinner and program at 6:00 p.m. Tickets, $60, are on sale now at www.runtrackhof.com. Youth tickets are $50.
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Categories: College Sports, High School Sports, Sports
