Bronx, N.Y. – (August 19, 2024) – Former Fordham All-American and longstanding footwear executive Gene McCarthy, New Jersey High School Coach Tom Heath, and distinguished runner and long-time sport contributor Nnenna Lynch will be inducted into the Van Cortlandt Park Cross Country Hall of Fame.
The induction ceremony will take place on Sunday, October 13
th, at the finish line of the famed Van Cortlandt Park Cross Country course as part of the 52
nd Manhattan College Cross Invitational (MCXCI) presented by HOKA.
The Van Cortlandt Park Cross Country Hall of Fame honors individual runners, teams, coaches, administrators and media members who have contributed to the sport of cross country at New York City's Van Cortlandt Park, one of the nation's most acclaimed cross country courses.
Past inductees include cross country journalist Marc Bloom, MCXCI founder and longtime meet director Ed Bowes, two-time USA Olympian Matt Centrowitz, Long Island and Stanford running prodigy Christine Curtin, NYC & University of Penn star Denis Cochran-Fikes, Oregon and Saratoga High School distance standout Nicole (Blood) Freitag, USA middle distance ace Marty Liquori and scholastic cross country writer Walt Murphy.
The MCXCI – the nation's largest, single-day, high school cross country event - features 42 boys' and girls' varsity, junior varsity, sophomore, freshman, intermediate, youth and coaches' races. The 2024 induction ceremony will be live-streamed by MileSplit along with all the MCXCI races.
Known as "The Godfather of Athletic Footwear," having held senior executive positions at Nike, Jordan, ASICS, Under Armour, and Reebok, as well as at Timberland and Merrell, McCarthy got his start as an All-New York City cross country star at All Hallows High School in the Bronx.
In 1973, at the inaugural MCXCI at Van Cortlandt Park, it was McCarthy who captured the first individual title in the event's first ever, varsity race. That season, McCarthy won all seven major races at Van Cortlandt, including the Eastern States and New York City Catholic Schools Championships. His best time was 12:23.8, which at the time was third fastest.
As a collegian, McCarthy burst onto the Fordham track scene in 1974 and quickly established himself as the Rams' premier distance runner.
In cross country as a freshman, McCarthy finished 50th out of 250 runners at the IC4A Championship, helping the Rams qualify for the NCAA Championship. He was equally successful in track, running on the two-mile relay team that ran the third-fastest time in the world, clocking in with a time of 7:27.2 at the IC4A Championship, earning home All-America honors. At the Penn Relays, McCarthy ran a 4:08 leg on the four-mile relay team, helping Fordham to a school record time of 16:24.3. He also set the school record for the mile, posting a time of 4:05.
At the Penn Relays in 1976, McCarthy helped Fordham to a bronze finish in the 4x1500-meter relay with a school record of 15:12.2, while during the 1977 indoor season, he was a part of the distance medley relay school record .
In 1977, McCarty led the cross country team to a 9-4 record and a sixth place finish at the IC4A's, where he ran his best time of the season, finishing eighth out of 175 competitors. At NCAA's, he helped Fordham place 24th in the nation.
At the 1978 Block "F" Awards Banquet, McCarthy was awarded the Terrence J. O'Donnell Memorial Award and later was inducted into the Fordham Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992.
Post college, McCarthy moved to Gainesville, Florida to train with Marty Liquori. In 1980, Gene ran 3:42 in the 1,500 meters at the Manley Games in Jamaica finishing third behind world record holders Steve Ovett of Great Britain and Filbert Bayi of Tanzania.
McCarthy spent the first 21 years of his footwear career at Nike, where he became the Global Director of Sales and Retail Marketing for Nike's Jordan Brand. His professional career climaxed as the president and CEO of ASICS Americas. McCarthy recently wrote a book called "CHASING FOUR: A Personal History of Work and Play" which chronicles his journey from the Bronx to the boardroom.
