Hall of Fame Class of 2016

Bill is not just one of the greatest coaches in Shore Conference history, but one of the very best in state history.

In his 24 years as the girls cross-country coach at Brick Township, he built the Dragons??  into a perennial state  powerhouse program.

During his career, he led Brick to 2 Meet of Champions titles in 1977 and 1988,

  4 Group 4 Championships

– 3 Group 3 Championships

– 5 South Jersey Group 4 Championships

– 3 South Jersey Group 3 Championships

– 9 Ocean County Championships

– 7 Shore Conference Championships

– 11 Class A South Dual Meet Championships, and he compiled a Dual Meet Record of 131-13

He was named either Ocean County or Shore Conference Coach of the Year 13 times, was named the state coach of the Year by The Star Ledger in 1977 and 1988, was inducted into the New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1998, and was inducted into the Brick Township Wall of Fame in 2013.

An absolute hammer on the track and on the trails, this stud from Asbury Park showed at an early age that he was destined for greatness when he finished second in the 1,600 as a freshman in 4:16.6 at the 1988 outdoor Meet of Championships.

Under the guidance of head coach Tony Giordano, he went on to become the only boy in state history to win 3 straight indoor Meet of Champions titles in the 1,600 from 1989 to 1991, became the 2nd boy to ever win two straight Meet of Champions titles in cross-country in 1989 and 1990, won the 1989 outdoor Meet of Champions 1600 title to finish his spectacular career with a total of 6 Meet of Champions titles, and he finished 25th in 16:05.2 at Kinney Nationals Cross-Country Championships in 1990.

He finished his high school career with personal bests of  4:11.15 in the mile and 15:56 at Holmdel Park, and he led Asbury Park to numerous state titles in track and cross-country.

After graduating from Asbury Park in 1991, this Hall of Famer went on to have a record breaking career at Seton Hall University.  He helped lead the Pirates to the 1993 Big East title, was named the Most Outstanding Athlete at the 1994 Big East Outdoor Championships after wining the 5K and 10K, he won 8 Big East titles, won the college Mile at the Millrose Games, anchored an NCAA runner-up DMR team, broke 5 school records, was a multiple All-American, and ran 4:05.18 in the mile, 8:00.03 in the 3,000, and 14:11.33 in the 5,000.

After college, he  finished ninth in the 1999 USATF 12-K cross-country championship, was ranked the No. 3 road racer in the country in 2000, and in 2000 he ran 13:42 in the 5,000 to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials, where he placed ninth.

He now works as a realtor in Hoboken and is the proud father of a son named Cole.

Jay was a basketball player and All-State football player at Keyport in the late 1940s, who developed a never ending passion and devotion for track and field and cross-country over 40 years ago.

After graduating from Keyport in 1949, he attended Potomac College for 2 years, served in the United States Air Force from 1951-1955, attaining a rank of Sergeant.

He graduated from Panzer College in 1958 with a degree in Physical  Education and Heath, and earned a Masters degree from Seton Hall in administration in 1963.

He  spent his next 43 years in Education, teaching at Keyport for 7 years and then Monmouth Regional  for 5 years where he was a Vice Principal. Then he spent the following 31 years as the Athletic Director at Holmdel High School, and he has served as a track and field official for 35 years, and has been the meet director for the Central Jersey, Groups 2-3 meet for several years.

In addition to his teaching, officiating, and meet director duties, he was also chairman of the Keyport Recreation for 20 years and has served as Homdel’s Recreation Director for 5 years.

In 2013 he was inducted into the NJ Athletic Director’s Hall of Fame.

Tom was one of the state’s most dominant distance runners n the early 1980’s earning All-American status on the track and on the cross-country trails.

After placing 7th as a sophomore in 1979 and 2nd as a junior in 1980 at the cross-country Meet of Champions, this Hall of Famer ran a then Holmdel Park course record of 15:41 in the fall of 1981 and ran 16:01 to capture the cross-country Meet of Champions title as a senior at Manalapan.

He followed up his Meet of Champions victory by placing fourth at the Kinney Northeast Regional and then finished 24th at the Kinney National Championships in 15:36.6.

On the track, he was just dominant winning multiple state Group titles, capturing the Meet of Champions outdoor title in 1981 in the 3,000 in 8:30.2, and running a high school personal best of 4:11.6 in the 1,600.

He went on to attend Auburn University for one year where he ran a 4:08 mile indoors and earned All-Southeast Conference honors before transferring to Monmouth.

After a long layoff from running, he returned to the track in the late 1990’s and set a Shore Area record in the 1,500 in his age group.

He now lives with his wife in the North Carolina area and is a full time minister.

Adam was always at his best when he was in the air.

He started winning medals on the rings and parallel bars at state gymnastic meets from the time he was 5, and when he was 12 he could bounce off a trampoline on his back 19 feet into the air and touch the ceiling.

Since it seemed like he was born to be off the ground, it was only natural that when he got to Ocean Township high school as a freshman in 2001, he decided to try pole vaulting.

His first big breakthrough in the pole vault came when he cleared a then big PR of 14-6 to place third at the Meet of Champions a junior at 2003.

After that, he just kept raising the bar higher and higher as a senior, taking the pole vault to heights never before seen in state history.

During the indoor season in 2004, he cleared 16-3 1/4 to break the facility record at the 168th Street Armory in New York, then outdoors he made 16-4 3/4 at the Florida Relays, and cleared 14-6 to win the Ocean County title

Then came one of the greatest moments in state track and field history.

On May 15, 2004, he did something magical at the Shore Conference Championships at Brick Township High School when he soared over the bar at 17-4 1/2, the No. 1 vault in the country that year, to smash the state record by 10 and half inches!

He followed that up by winning the pole vault at the state Group 3 meet and Meet of Champions, made 16-10 to win the Golden West title, and then capped off the greatest pole vault season in state history by winning the Adidas National title by making 16-0 3/4.

After graduating from Ocean Township in 2004, he made a personal best of 17-6 1/2 as a sophomore at Georgia, where he was a 6-time All-SEC performer and a multiple NCAA All-American.