USTFCCCA Hall of Fame biography
Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame biography
HAVERFORD, Pa. – Haverford Athletics is mourning the passing of a track & field icon. Irv "Moon" Mondschein passed away on Friday. He was 91 years old. Mondschein served as an assistant coach for the Fords for six years, coaching as recently as the 2013 season.
"Irv Mondschein was one of the greatest coaches and greatest human beings in the history of American track & field," stated current Haverford men's track & field head coach Tom Donnelly. "Haverford was unbelievably fortunate to be able to share in his great coaching expertise, humor and humanity in the last years of his legendary coaching career."
Mondschein came to Haverford during the 2008 track & field season. His final chapter of coaching closed a Hall of Fame career that made stops with the United States and Israeli track & field teams. Mondschein also spent time as an assistant coach and later a head coach at the University of Pennsylvania. He also made coaching stops as the head coach and athletic director at Lincoln University, while also serving as an assistant with the Villanova, La Salle and Kutztown track & field teams.
In addition to his coaching expertise, Mondschein was a world class athlete. He won the 1944, 1946, and 1947 National Amateur Athletic Union Decathlon and was a runner-up to two-time Olympic Decathlon Champion Bob Mathias during in 1948 and 1949. Mondschein won the NCAA high jump championship for New York University in 1946 and tied for the national title a year later.
Mondschein entered the 1948 London Olympics as one of the favorite for the gold medal in the decathlon. He finished eighth overall in the decathlon which combines sprints, runs, hurdling, high jumping and broad jumping. The Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon is frequently considered "the world's greatest athlete."
A multi-sport athlete, Mondschein was an All-East selection for the New York University football team, playing on both the offensive and defensive lines. He also occasionally saw time at running back during his three years of collegiate football.
Mondschein was inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame in 2007. He has also earned induction into the NYU Hall of Fame, the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, the New York Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.