Jack on Jack:
A Look at Coaching Legend Jack Pyrah
BY JACK HEATH
Near the shadow of the Walt Whitman Bridge in Gloucester City, NJ resides one of the best track coaches in the country. Jack Pyrah, now 87 years old, spent 26 years as Villanova assistant track coach under legendary Villanova coach Jumbo Elliott and 26 years as Villanova’s head cross-country coach. Elliott, considered by many to be the best American distance coach of all time, coached at Villanova for 47 years before passing away in March of 1981.
Pictured- THE VICTORIOUS VILLANOVA 4 X ONE MILE RELAY TEAM
WEARING BLACK RIBBONS AT THE 1981 PENN RELAYS.
FROM LEFT: KEN LUCKS, MARCUS O’SULLIVAN (CURRENT
VILLANOVA COACH), JACK PYRAH, JOHN HUNTER, AND
SYDNEY MAREE.
Jack joined Villanova as Jumbo Elliott’s assistant track coach and head cross-country coach in the fall of 1966 after meeting Elliott in spring of 1965 on a plane on the way to a Knights of Columbus track meet in Cleveland. Jack retired from Villanova in 1991 and is now considered Villanova \”coach emeritus.\” Upon his retirement, Villanova presented Jack a unique gift–the offer to accompany the Villanova track or cross-country teams to any meet in the country. Jack was inducted into the Villanova Hall of Fame in 2001.
Jack didn’t know when his Uncle George took him to his first Penn Relays in 1934 at age 16, that he would attend 73 Penn Relays in a row, and that he would witness an incredible 54 Championship of America relay victories by Villanova at Penn. More importantly, that first trip to Penn started in motion a lifetime love affair with running and track and field, and a lifetime of friendships with some of the greatest track-and-field athletes of all time.read more
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