On this day 58 years ago, the cross country team secured it’s fourth consecutive Ivy League Championship and ninth overall in program history. The team’s string of titles would reach 15 before losing the crown in 1970.
Before the ’58 season, the visionary coach Marvin Goldberg split his squad into two teams which he called the “Challengers” and the “Defenders.” The Challengers raced against college teams and participated in large invitationals while the Defenders safeguarded our position in the Ivy League.
The Challengers finished 5-1 with victories over Huntington, Long Island Agricultural College, Columbia, Huntington (again), and Seton Hall. The only loss was perpetrated by the West Point Plebes. They also fared well in several distinguished invitationals, finishing 10th in the NYU Open, 5th in the St. John’s Open, and 5th in the Eastern States Championship where Lingle took 2nd overall.
Meanwhile, the Defenders did not allow the reputation of the Blue and White to tarnish despite losing the services of the best runners to the Challenger team. The Defenders finished 4-1 allowing only La Salle out of their grasp.
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Even though I was just a visitor to Stony Brook (OFTEN during Nurses' training,) I love reading all this history. Where do you find so many pictures, and so much info. Love, AJ
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Hi Wally,
Thanks for reading! Compiling these stories took an entire summer about 5 years ago and I continue to add to the list as I discover more of them. Right now I have a document about 100 pages long with stories and dates like these. Yearbooks and Bulletins are also a great resource for the pictures. I’m glad you enjoy these!
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