Jim Hurt is in his 21st year as the head coach of the St. John's cross country and track & field teams, and his 28th season overall with the Red Storm. 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 19-consecutive NCAA Championships and 14 USA National Championships while winning 20 Metropolitan Conference titles. Under Hurt's leadership, Red Storm teams finished second at the 1996 IC4A Championships, second at the 1989 and 1996 ECAC Indoor Championships and second at the 1993 Cross Country ECAC Championship. The Red Storm has finished as the runner-up at three BIG EAST Championships. In the past few seasons, Hurt has assembled championship-caliber squads at St. John's. In 2008, the track & field team won their second consecutive Metropolitan Outdoor Championship, tallying 223 points and bringing home 10 individual titles: senior Phobay Kutu-Akoi (100 meter and 200 meter), junior Asia Davy (400-meter hurdles), sophomore Priscilla Frederick (high jump), freshman Chanel King (shot put and discus), and the 4x100-meter, 4x400-meter and 4x800-meter relay teams. Hurt's team finished second the Metropolitan Indoor Championship as Frederick (high jump and pentathlon), sophomore Bintou Dibba (long jump) and Kutu-Akoi (60-meter) all won individual championships. Frederick competed in the Indoor USA Championship where she placed sixth in the high jump, and the Indoor NCAA Championship, finishing in 14th place. Freshman Aryon Trujillo ran in the USA Jr. Cross Country Championship, placing 57th. In 2008, St. John's had 31 BIG EAST qualifiers, 18 ECAC qualifiers, seven All-BIG EAST athletes and 12 All-East athletes. Red Storm athletes set a total of four new school records on the season. In 2007-08, the track & field team earned the 2008 Metropolitan Outdoor Championship title, racking up 158 points and four individual titles: Frederick (high jump), Davy (400-meter hurdles), and the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relay teams. In the indoor competition, the team boasted three more Metropolitan individual titles from senior Dominique Eason (weight throw), Frederick (high jump), and Kutu-Akoi (60-meter). Frederick went on to compete in the NCAA National Finals in Oregon, where she placed in the top 12 and earned All-Region accolades. Senior Maxcine Foster raced to an Outdoor BIG EAST title in the 400-meter, St. John's third in four years. For the season, St. John's tallied 18 BIG EAST qualifiers, seven All-BIG EAST athletes, 16 ECAC qualifiers, five All-East athletes including junior Tyneka Greene, who earned All-East honors at the ECAC Cross Country Championships, two NCAA Regional finalists and one NCAA National finalist. Rookie Sarah Sudbury represented the Red Storm at the USA Cross Country Junior Nationals with a top-50 finish. Under Hurt's leadership, St. John's athletes have competed in nearly every major track & 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 and Argentina, 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 earned 15 NCAA All-American honorees and 16 individuals who have competed in the Olympic trials. During Hurt's 21-year tenure of coaching the middle and long distance runners, he has guided 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 became the youngest semifinalist at the 1996 USA Olympic Trials and placed sixth in the USA Indoor Nationals in the 800-meter run. Thirteen of Hurt's distance medley, 800-meter and 1,500-meter relay teams have ranked in the top 10 nationally, 68 distance runners have won All-East recognition. Hurt's athletes have also won BIG EAST titles in the 800-meters, the mile, the 3K steeplechase and the 10,000-meter. Since 1982, 48 school records have been established in the distance events under Hurt's guidance. 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. Hurt's student-athletes have excelled in the classroom as well as in the athletic arena. Distance runner and 3,000-meter NCAA All-American Fogarazzo won NCAA and BIG EAST postgraduate scholarships, while Georgina Bendana and Te-Mika Warner, who attended Harvard Law School, also won BIG EAST postgraduate scholarships in recent years. Most recently, 27 Red Storm track & field athletes were named to the BIG EAST Academic team in 2009, continuing the tradition of academic excellence in the BIG EAST, while both the track & field and cross country teams earned USTFCCCA All-American honors. Senior Venisa Clarke-Lee and grad student Arina Gerisimova both earned Academic All-American honors in 2009. Hurt was a prep All-American in 1972, clocking a 4:10 mile at Proviso West High School in Hillside, Ill. At the University of Notre Dame, he captained the cross country and track & field teams and established school records in the three mile run and the 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 & 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 & field coach. Currently, Hurt 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. That same year, Hurt and his staff were also named Staff of the Year in the BIG EAST Conference. In 1996, he was honored as 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. Hurt currently resides in Glen Cove, N.Y., with his wife Ann. He has two daughters, Kathleen Urtnowski and Cynthia, and son James. He is also the proud grandfather of Cassandra Anne Urtnowski, who was born on Sept. 16, 2007.
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