We take considerable pride in welcoming to the SJR Athletic Hall of Fame the 1969 Track & Field Team.
In the early years of our school, this team, under the leadership of Coach Bob Murphy and Assistant Coach Noel Bing, received County, State, and National recognition.
At the County level, the 1969 team was named the “Track & Field Team of the Century” by
The Record newspaper at the end of the 20th Century – literally the very best track & field team in the history of Bergen County.
At the State level, Ed Grant, the editor of the New Jersey Track & Field Annuals – and the definitive authority of the sport in New Jersey – declared that the 1969 SJR team was one of the greatest track & field teams ever assembled in the state.
At the National level, the high school column of Track & Field News – which is known as the Bible of The Sport – noted the achievements of the 1969 SJR team and gave it accolades.
Why was the 1969 SJR team so great? Two reasons in particular:
First, while many excellent teams are great in certain events, the SJR team was strong across the board.
In the sprints, Bob Hauk '69 was the top sprinter in the state running the 100-yard dash in 9.5 seconds and qualifying for the Golden West Invitational – a national meet for high school seniors at which he placed 5th.
In the hurdles, John Bykowsky '69 was the top hurdler in the state with a time of 13.9, also qualifying for the Golden West Invitational at which he placed 5th in the nation.
Meanwhile, in the throws, a trio of juniors Steve Adams '70, Bob Brady '70 and John Long '70, set a national shot-put relay record.
And in the jumps, SJR had a 13-foot pole vaulter (Ed McKeever with an old-fashioned pole), 6-foot high jumpers, and several 20-foot+ long jumpers (Wally Bambrick. Kenny Bald, and Bob Cortiglia)
The second reason that the 1969 SJR track & field team was so special was its depth. An example of this is in the middle-distance events. Most high school track & field teams would be pleased to have just one runner who can break two minutes in the half mile. SJR had no fewer than six who did it in 1969: Chris Weigl, Warren Clark, Chris Zoller, Billy Reinhart, Rich McDonnell, and Mike Kirschmer. And Bob Auray, Ken Bender, Terry Fitzpatrick and Robert Donoghue made the squad deeper in the mile and 2-mile as well.
The depth was a very good thing because the 1969 rules were more restrictive about running multiple events than the present-day rules allow. But Bob Murphy could even rely on sophomores such as Ed Koch, Steve Loh, Dennis Reilly and Bob Higgins to run any additional relay legs that SJR needed to fill.
