On this day 59 years ago, the track team finally vanquished Poly Prep in the Ivy League Championship meet after five years as the runner-up.

Poly had won the previous ten Ivy titles, but was finally toppled by the Blue and White, 43.5 to 40.5. The victory would usher in an era of dominance for the Brook as they would claim the next eleven titles, stretching all the way until 1967.

The Brookers had five individual winners on the day as Bob Knecht won the 880 yard run (2:02.6) and the mile (4:37.2), Stuart Dow claimed crowns in the 220 yard low hurdles (25.7) and the 120 yard high hurdles (16.0), and Richard Wolf took the broad jump with a leap of 20′ 0.75″. Dow’s times also set new school records in both hurdle events.

Team Results

1.	Stony Brook	43.5
2.	Poly Prep	40.5
3.	Riverdale	26.5
4.	Horace Mann	24
5.	Hackley	10
6.	St. Paul’s	6.5
7.	Trinity	3

The 1956 Stony Brook track team will be considered outstanding in the school’s athletic history. Although cold and snowy weather delayed the season’s opening, the trackmen were victory-bound from the start. Six of the leading scorers were Stuart Dow with 88.5 points, Robert Knecht with 51 , Gordon MacDonald with 34.5, James Gross 22.5, Richard Wolf with 19, and James Boice with 18.5.

~ July 1956 Stony Brook Bulletin

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