The St. Joseph-St. Thomas St. John Neumann team has competed in the Staten Island Catholic Charities Catholic Youth Organization (CYOSI) league continuously since 1995. The league and some parishes co-sponsor the spring outdoor track meets, which are held at high school/college track facilities. The meets are usually at St. Joseph by the Sea High School (Huguenot) or Msgr. Farrell High School (Oakwood Heights). The meets are operated under the National Federation of High School Track & Field rules with certain rules adapted, clarified, adjusted, nullified or emphasized depending on the necessity of the league and its growth. Since 2017, the Archdiocese of New York (CYONY) has sponsored indoor track & field meets at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Facility on Staten Island. The indoor meet(s) are in March and April and the outdoor meets are in April, May and June. Children in grades PK4-8 can qualify to compete in the Archdiocese of New York Track & Field Championships held in June at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island (Manhattan), which is the former location of Downing Stadium. They compete against student athletes from the other nine counties of the Archdiocese. Children qualifying for the meet are designated as the Archdiocesan team eligible to compete in the AAU Club Championship held in July at the ESPN Sports Complex in Disneyworld in Florida. CYO sends a team on a bi-annual basis to this meet. Children who perform very well at this meet maybe invited to the USA Junior Olympics, which are held alternately in Michigan, Iowa and Virginia.
In the
outdoor track meets, children usually compete in groups depending on their grade and gender. In the meets, there are individual running events, running relays and field events depending on their grade and the meet schedule and regulations. The usual events in the meets by grade divisions: PK4-K: 50/60 meter individual races only; 1&2 grades: 50, 100 and 200 meter individual races, 4 x 100 meter running relay, and the Standing Broad Jump or long jump. 3&4 grades: 100, 200 and 400 meter individual races, 4 x 100 meter running relay and a Sprint Medley Relay of four runners (200, 100, 100 and 400 meter distance), long jump, shot put and turbo javelin. 5&6 grades: 100, 200, 400 and 800 meter individual races, 4 x 100 and SMR relays, long jump, shot put and turbo javelin. 7&8 grades: 100, 200, 400, 800- and 1500/1600- meter individual races, 4 x 100 and SMR relays, long jump, shot put and turbo javelin. Children can run up to an older division, but cannot run down to a lower division. Children who finish in the first three positions in any event including relays will be awarded medals.
The team practices are held at the parish lawn on Poplar Street in Rossville next to St. Joseph’s Church or Wolfe’s Pond Park at the base of Cornelia St. and Hylan Blvd. in Huguenot. The practices are scheduled four nights a week with the expectation that each student athlete could make at least two practices per week. The practices are from March through June. All of the coaches have completed the VIRTUS-Safe Environment Program including background checks and are trained in first aid and CPR. Parents are encouraged to assist as coaches after they have completed the VIRTUS-Safe Environment Program and first aid/CPR training.
Individual athletes or relay teams who finish first, second or third in a meet earn medals. There are two meets in which there are team championships and in two meets, the children compete based on their year of birth.
Alumni of our track team have gone onto compete for Moore Catholic High School, Msgr. Farrell High School, St. Joseph by the Sea High School, St. John Villa Academy, Notre Dame Academy, St. Joseph Hill Academy, Xavier High School, Xaverian High School, Staten Island Tech (MSIT), Tottenville High School, New Dorp High School, CSI/McCown High School, First Baptist Academy (FL) and Kenneth High School (NH). In addition, some of them have gone onto run at the collegiate level earning full or partial scholarships at Virginia Commonwealth University, Marist College, Monmouth University, Oneonta State University, Lafayette College, Harvard University, LaSalle University, State University of New York at Oswego, Mt. St. Mary’s College (NY), Keystone College, Roberts Wesleyan University and the College of Staten Island.
If anyone is interested in joining the track and field team, they can contact Robert Smith at 718- 948-5026 or email him at [email protected]
CROSS COUNTRY PROGRAM The St. Joseph-St. Thomas St. John Neumann cross-country team had is inaugural season in the Fall of 2001. The team competes in the Staten Island Catholic Charities Catholic Youth Organization league (SICYO). The meets are held at Clove Lake Park (on the Royal Oak Road side) on early Saturday afternoons and Mt. Loretto on Hylan Blvd. on Sunday afternoon from late September through early November. Each child competes in a single distance race each week depending on their age grade group. One meet is designated as the Staten Island CYO Championship meet in which there are individual and team awards. All children qualify for the meet who have been in two meets during the regular season. In addition, all children can compete in the Archdiocese of New York Cross-Country Championship meet, which is held in the world-famous Van Cortlandt Park in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. If there are supporting numbers, arrangements are made to rent a bus for those who do not choose to drive there.
The practices are held at Wolfe’s Pond Park off of Hylan Boulevard at Cornelia Street. The team meets at the Parks Department building at the end of the parking lots.
The distances that each group runs each week are the following:
Grades PK4-K 1/8 mile Grades 1-2 ¼ mile Grades 3-4 ½ mile Grades 5-6 1 mile Grades 7-8 1.5 miles
Alumni of our cross-country team have gone onto compete for Moore Catholic High School, Msgr. Farrell High School, St. Joseph by the Sea High School, St. John Villa Academy, Notre Dame Academy, St. Joseph Hill Academy, Xavier High School, Xaverian High School, Staten Island Tech (MSIT), Tottenville High School, CSI/McCown High School and Kenneth High School (NH). In addition, some of them have gone onto run at the collegiate level earning full or partial scholarships at Virginia Commonwealth University, Oneonta State University, Lafayette College, Harvard University, LaSalle University, State University of New York at Oswego, Keystone College, Roberts Wesleyan University, Mt. St. Mary’s College (NY) and the College of Staten Island.
If anyone is interested in joining the track and field team and/or cross-country, they can contact
Robert Smith at 718-948-5026 or email him at [email protected] The results of the track & field and cross-country meets are posted at www.sicyo.org or www.sicyo.net and www.sirunning.com in the past seasons.