Head coach Jim Hurt enters his 26th season with the Red Storm and his 19th year as the head coach for the St. John's cross country and track and field teams. Since becoming head coach in 1988, Hurt's teams have made an impact at the national, regional and conference levels. His squads have appeared in 17-consecutive NCAA Championships and 12 USA National Championships while winning 18 Metropolitan Conference titles. Under Hurt's leadership, Red Storm teams finished second at the 1996 IC4A Championships, second at the 1996 and 1989 ECAC Indoor Championships and second at the 1993 Cross Country ECAC Championship. The Red Storm has finished runner-up at three BIG EAST Championships. Hurt's silver season with St. John's, 2006-07, was one of the most successful thus far. The track and field team was runner up at the Outdoor Metropolitan Championships and third at the Indoor Metropolitan Championships. Collectively, Hurt's cross country and track and field athletes earned five All-BIG EAST and two All-East honors, qualified nine athletes for the NCAA Regional Championships, had 31 BIG EAST qualifiers and 20 ECAC qualifiers. His cross country and outdoor track and field teams earned U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Academic All-American Honors, while senior Kellie Brown earned individual USTFCCCA accolades. Senior Maxcine Foster was the Metropolitan 400 meter Outdoor and 500 meter Indoor Champion and the ECAC 400 meter Outdoor Champion. She was ranked 21st on the NCAA National 400 meter list. Senior Tetee Kuyateh was the hammer champion at both the Indoor and Outdoor Metropolitan Championships. She was a third place competitor at the Indoor ECACs and represented the Red Storm at the historic Millrose Games. Hurt's 4x100 meter relay team and Thalene King also earned Championship medals at the Indoor and Outdoor Metropolitan Championships, respectively. Sophomore Fayanne Francis represented the Red Storm at the 2007 U.S. Track and Field Junior Nationals, where she placed 13th in the nation. Recent alumnus Grace Zollman earned a top-10 placement at the U.S. Track and Field Senior Nationals, while fellow alumnus DeWayne Barrett finished 13th in the 200 meter dash at the 2007 Jamaican National Championships. Under Hurt's leadership, St. John's athletes have competed in every major track and field competition in the world including: the Olympic Games in 2004 (Athens), 2000 (Sydney), 1996 (Atlanta), World Championships in Sweden, Japan, Ireland, Poland, Canada, and Spain; Pan American Games in Canada & Argentina and the World Student Games in Spain and the Caribbean Games in Barbados and Guatemala. Red Storm athletes have won 18 individual national titles since 1988, producing 12 USA Champions, two Irish National Champions, a Jamaican national champion, a Dominican Republic national champion and a Caribbean champion. Since 1991, Hurt's teams have had 15 NCAA All-American honorees and 14 individuals who have competed in the Olympic trials. In 1996, the men's cross country team placed 17th in the NCAA Championships. Hurt has kept St. John's committed to a total team philosophy that recruits and develops quality athletes in all event areas. He utilizes a national schedule that has Red Storm teams competing across the country at top venues that afford the highest levels of competition. Historic Van Cortlandt Park is the home for the cross country team, while the world class facility at the 168th Street Armory is home for indoor practice and competitions. The outdoor team uses DaSilva Memorial Field on the Queens Campus, which boasts a state-of-the art 400-meter oval. During Hurt's 20-year tenure of coaching the middle and long distance runners, he has produced 17 NCAA qualifying performers as well as NCAA All-American cross country runner Bob Reid, 3k All-American Chris Fogarazzo, and 5k and 10k All-Americans Chris Graff and John Honerkamp, the latter who was the youngest semifinalist at the 1996 USA Olympic Trials and placed sixth in the USA Indoor Nationals in the 800-meter. Thirteen of Hurt's distance medley, 4x800-meter and 4x1500-meter relay teams have ranked in the top 10 nationally, 66 of Hurt's distance runners have won All-East recognition. Hurt's athletes have also won BIG EAST titles in the 800-meters, the mile, the 3K steeple chase and the 10,000-meter. Since 1982, 44 school records have been established in the distance events under Hurt's guidance. Hurt's student-athletes have excelled in the classroom as well as in the athletic arena. Distance runner and 3,000-meter NCAA All-Americans Chris Fogarazzo won NCAA and BIG EAST postgraduate scholarships while Georgina Bendana and Te-Mika Warner (Harvard Law School) also won BIG EAST postgraduate scholarships in recent years. Most recently, 23 Red Storm track and field athletes were named to the BIG EAST Academic team in 2007, continuing the tradition of academic excellence in the BIG EAST, while both the Track and Field and Cross Country teams earned USTFCCCA All-American honors. Hurt was a prep All-American in 1972, clocking a 4:10 mile at Proviso West High School in Hillside, Illinois. At the University of Notre Dame, he captained the cross country and track and field teams and established school records in the three mile run and 4 x 1 mile relay. Following graduation in 1976, Hurt competed for the University of Chicago Track Club and the Oregon Track Club. After attending graduate school at the University of Oregon, Hurt served three years as head track and field coach at Jesuit High School in Portland, Ore. In 1982, Hurt moved to St. John's to become the cross country and assistant track and field coach. Hurt also serves as the secretary-treasurer of the IC4A Coaches Association and was once president of the BIG EAST Coaches Association. In 1995, he served as distance coach for the East team at the USOC Sports Festival in Colorado Springs, Colo. Hurt and his staff were also named Staff of the Year in the BIG EAST Conference. In 1996, he was named NCAA Region II Cross Country Coach of the Year. In 1989, Hurt earned his master's degree in government and politics from St. John's. He currently resides with his wife Ann, daughters Kathleen and Cynthia, and son James in Glen Cove, N.Y.
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