Albertus Magnus 1974 Cross Country Team
The Long Red Line, the Albertus Magnus 1974 cross country team, coached by Dick Weis, was known for its blood-red uniforms and unbroken trail of front-runners. The Line was undefeated and unchallenged throughout the season, overwhelming opponents like no Rockland team had before or has since, and establishing itself as one of the most dominant cross country teams in New York State history.
The Falcons went to the starting line 13 times and prevailed convincingly each time. They won the Rockland County, Section 9 Class B, New York State Class B and Eastern States championships, with record scores and victory margins in the County and State meets. They also won two high-powered invitationals at Van Cortlandt Park in NYC, which attracted premier teams from the Northeast, easily captured invitationals at Bear Mountain and upstate Cobleskill, and swept through the dual-meet schedule with nary a blemish.
At the end of the season, the team took part in a 2-mile track race at Iona Prep to determine their national ranking. [At that time there was no national championship race for scholastic cross country runners, as there is today.] Albertus’s aggregate five-man clocking of 47:47.6 and average time of 9:33.5 ranked No. 2 in the United States behind perennial Illinois champion York High School.
In 1985, The Journal-News conducted a poll of 50 Rockland sports observers to choose the top five high school teams during the 25-year period from 1960 to 1985. The Long Red Line was selected as one of those five distinguished teams, and was the only cross country squad to make the elite list.
The Falcon harriers under Coach Weis, assisted by Jim Moran and Ralph Coleman, were in the midst of a sparkling three-year run during which they won three straight Rockland County and Section 9 titles and two consecutive New York State crowns, but without question the 1974 edition of Albertus cross country was the torch bearer. The seven varsity team members all went on to excel at NCAA Division 1 colleges: Michael Colangelo (Princeton), Pat Chambers (Rutgers), Kevin Leonard (SUNY Plattsburgh), Jamie Kempton (Bucknell), Brian Kelly (SUNY Plattsburgh), John McNiff (Fordham) and George Buckheit (Bucknell). Coach Weis went on to coach at Oklahoma State University for more than 25 years, 22 as head cross country coach. His teams made 12 NCAA championship appearances, including nine straight in the 1990s, with top finishes of third in 1995 and fourth in 1996.
In his preseason letter to the '74 Albertus team, Weis let it be known that the previous year's accomplishments – County and Section 9 titles and a fourth-place finish in the Intersectionals – were only steppingstones to much loftier goals. “There is no doubt,” he wrote, “our 1974 team has the potential to become the greatest cross country team in the history of the United States.” Weis set his standards high and asked his runners to follow the path to greatness. His blueprint was a combination of rigorous training and heaping doses of motivation. Team members were asked to run 1,000 miles from June 1 to September 1. They averaged 100 miles a week for the first five weeks of the season, then “cut back” to 85 miles. They enduring punishing runs up Clausland Mountain, 14- to 16-mile runs in Harriman State Park, and high-volume interval workouts such as 25 repeat quarter-miles with only a 110-yard jog in between.
Weis subscribed to Norman Vincent Peale's precepts on the power of positive thinking and was known around the halls of Albertus for his signature expression, “PMA – All the Way,” with PMA standing for Positive Mental Attitude. Each member of The Line received a handbook that Weis put together, blending training, motivational advice, inspirational Bible verses (“If God be for us, who can be against us?”) and other character-building literature. When they went to the starting line, the Albertus runners believed that no team was as well-prepared as they were.
“We learned that if you're willing to do the work and you have a positive attitude, you can do anything,” team member John McNiff said in a 1983 Journal-News article looking back at the Line's historic 1974 season. “Our times proved that we were one of the best teams ever and we were very disappointed that we weren't national champs. It was a great experience.”
Highlights of the 1974 Albertus Magnus “Long Red Line” Cross Country Team
The Long Red Line, the Albertus Magnus 1974 cross country team, coached by Dick Weis, was known for its blood-red uniforms and unbroken trail of front-runners. The Line was undefeated and unchallenged throughout the season, overwhelming opponents like no Rockland team had before or has since, and establishing itself as one of the most dominant cross country teams in New York State history.
The Falcons went to the starting line 13 times and prevailed convincingly each time. They won the Rockland County, Section 9 Class B, New York State Class B and Eastern States championships, with record scores and victory margins in the County and State meets. They also won two high-powered invitationals at Van Cortlandt Park in NYC, which attracted premier teams from the Northeast, easily captured invitationals at Bear Mountain and upstate Cobleskill, and swept through the dual-meet schedule with nary a blemish.
At the end of the season, the team took part in a 2-mile track race at Iona Prep to determine their national ranking. [At that time there was no national championship race for scholastic cross country runners, as there is today.] Albertus’s aggregate five-man clocking of 47:47.6 and average time of 9:33.5 ranked No. 2 in the United States behind perennial Illinois champion York High School.
In 1985, The Journal-News conducted a poll of 50 Rockland sports observers to choose the top five high school teams during the 25-year period from 1960 to 1985. The Long Red Line was selected as one of those five distinguished teams, and was the only cross country squad to make the elite list.
The Falcon harriers under Coach Weis, assisted by Jim Moran and Ralph Coleman, were in the midst of a sparkling three-year run during which they won three straight Rockland County and Section 9 titles and two consecutive New York State crowns, but without question the 1974 edition of Albertus cross country was the torch bearer. The seven varsity team members all went on to excel at NCAA Division 1 colleges: Michael Colangelo (Princeton), Pat Chambers (Rutgers), Kevin Leonard (SUNY Plattsburgh), Jamie Kempton (Bucknell), Brian Kelly (SUNY Plattsburgh), John McNiff (Fordham) and George Buckheit (Bucknell). Coach Weis went on to coach at Oklahoma State University for more than 25 years, 22 as head cross country coach. His teams made 12 NCAA championship appearances, including nine straight in the 1990s, with top finishes of third in 1995 and fourth in 1996.
In his preseason letter to the '74 Albertus team, Weis let it be known that the previous year's accomplishments – County and Section 9 titles and a fourth-place finish in the Intersectionals – were only steppingstones to much loftier goals. “There is no doubt,” he wrote, “our 1974 team has the potential to become the greatest cross country team in the history of the United States.” Weis set his standards high and asked his runners to follow the path to greatness. His blueprint was a combination of rigorous training and heaping doses of motivation. Team members were asked to run 1,000 miles from June 1 to September 1. They averaged 100 miles a week for the first five weeks of the season, then “cut back” to 85 miles. They enduring punishing runs up Clausland Mountain, 14- to 16-mile runs in Harriman State Park, and high-volume interval workouts such as 25 repeat quarter-miles with only a 110-yard jog in between.
Weis subscribed to Norman Vincent Peale's precepts on the power of positive thinking and was known around the halls of Albertus for his signature expression, “PMA – All the Way,” with PMA standing for Positive Mental Attitude. Each member of The Line received a handbook that Weis put together, blending training, motivational advice, inspirational Bible verses (“If God be for us, who can be against us?”) and other character-building literature. When they went to the starting line, the Albertus runners believed that no team was as well-prepared as they were.
“We learned that if you're willing to do the work and you have a positive attitude, you can do anything,” team member John McNiff said in a 1983 Journal-News article looking back at the Line's historic 1974 season. “Our times proved that we were one of the best teams ever and we were very disappointed that we weren't national champs. It was a great experience.”
Highlights of the 1974 Albertus Magnus “Long Red Line” Cross Country Team
- Won New York State Class B title with 27 points, the lowest score in meet history. The second-place team was distantly behind with 103 points. Michael Colangelo, Albertus’s top runner, won the individual crown with the fastest time of the day at Sunken Meadow State Park on Long Island.
- Won Rockland County championship with 22 points, lowest in meet history. Runner-up Nanuet trailed far behind with 77 points. Colangelo was individual champion, and 5 of the top 9 finishers were Albertus runners.
- Won Eastern States championship at Van Cortlandt Park with 96 points. The runner-up, St. Joseph’s of Buffalo, was 75 points behind with 171. The meet invited the top 25 eligible teams from the Northeast.
- Won the Section 9 Class B championship emphatically with all seven Falcon runners finishing among the top 12 individuals.
- Outdistanced a field of 35 teams to win its division at the Manhattan College Invitational at Van Cortlandt with 45 points. Runner-up Bergen Catholic of New Jersey was far behind with 124.
- Trounced a field of 40 teams to win its division of the St. John’s University Invitational at Van Cortlandt with 49 points, again far ahead of second place.
- Won its division of the Cobleskill Invitational with a low score of 22 points. All seven Falcon harriers finished among the top 10 individuals.
- Won its division of the Albertus Magnus Invitational at Bear Mountain with 25 points. Six of its seven runners finished among the top 10.
- In dual meets, the Long Red Line went a perfect 8-0 with four of those victories by shutout, 15-50. The No. 2-ranked team in New York State, Nanuet, fell to Albertus by a near-shutout score of 18-45 in their dual meet at Hook Mountain, Albertus’s tough home course.
- In the post-season, Albertus earned a No. 2 national ranking by time, trailing only York H.S. of Elmhurst, Ill.