Barbuti, Buerkle, Paige, Moore
Inducted in Niagara Hall of Fame
Published September 11, 2000 in The Post-Standard.By Dr Kamal Jabbour, Contributing Writer
The Niagara Association of USA Track and Field recently announced the selection of four athletes for induction in its Hall of Fame as the Class of 2000: Raymond Barbuti, a former Syracuse University athlete, Dick Buerkle and Don Paige, former Villanova University athletes, and Charles Moore, a former Cornell University athlete.
USA Track and Field, the national governing body for track and field, road racing and race walking, consists of 57 regional associations. The Niagara Association extends from Central New York to Western New York, and includes Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo. The Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame was founded in August 1997, and its first group of inductees was the Class of 1998. The induction ceremony for the Inaugral Class was held on September 13, 1998 in Rochester.
Raymond Barbuti was born on June 12, 1905. He attended Syracuse University where he won the IC4A championship at 400 meters in 1928 in a time of 48.8. In the same year, he won the US National Championsip in the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.4.
Barbuti capped 1928 by winning two gold medals at the Olympic Games in Amsterdam in the 400 meter dash with a time of 47.8 and as anchor on the US 4x400 meter relay which won in a World Record time of 3:14.2. Barbuti died in July 1988
Richard T. "Dick" Buerkle was born on September 3, 1947, in Rochester, NY. He graduated from Aquinas Institute in Rochester in 1966, and Villanova University in 1970. He broke four minutes for the mile on 6 occasions, including a personal record of 3:54.93 on January 13, 1978, which was a world indoor record at the time.
Buerkle was ranked first in the US in the 5,000 meters in 1974 and 1976, and he won the 1976 US Olympic Trials at that distance in 13:26.5. Buerkle currently lives in Atlanta, GA where he is a Spanish teacher and Cross Country Coach at Dunwoody High School.
Charlie Moore was born on August 12, 1929 in Coatesville, PA. He graduated from Mercersburg Academy in 1947 and Cornell University in 1951. He won the gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki with an Olympic Record of 50.8. He also won an Olympic Silver medal on the US 4x400 relay team.
Moore was inducted to the Penn Relays Wall of Fame in 1996 and the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978. He was selected as a member of the 100 Golden Olympians, to honor 100 of America's greatest living gold-medal Olympians at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Moore is currently a private sector member of the U.S. Olympic Committee Board of Directors.
Donald J. Paige was born October 13, 1956 in Baldwinsville. He graduated of Baker High School in 1976 and Villanova University in 1980. He won the 1,500-meters at the Pan American games in 1979, and set an American record of 2:20.3 for 1,000 meters. He was a member of Villanova's world record indoor four-mile relay 16:19.0 at Dartmouth on January 18, 1976, running a split of 4:01.6.
Paige eventually ran under 4:00 minutes for the mile on 10 occasions, and set three world records at 1,000 yards. He received the Sullivan Award as the nation's top amateur athlete in 1980. He was inducted into the Villanova University Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.
In addition to these four athletes, John Paul Jones, formerly of Cornell University, and Myer Prinstein, formerly of Syracuse University, who were members of the Class of 1999, will be inducted along with the Class of 2000 on October 22, 2000 in Rochester.
Kamal Jabbour runs and writes on the hills of Pompey, New York. His RUNNING Column appears in The Post-Standard on Mondays. Dr.J. created TrackMeets.com, webcasting live Every Lap of Every Race. He receives email at jabbour@syr.edu.