PHILADELPHIA – Seamus McElligott '91has been announced as one of the individual inductees into the 2019 Belmont Plateau Cross Country Hall of Fame. McElligott has also inducted into the USTFCCCA Division III Hall of Fame in 2013 and Haverford College's Hall of Achievement in 2014. With his latest Hall of Fame induction, McElligott joins head coach Tom Donnelly in the Belmont Plateau Hall of Fame as Donnelly was inducted as a part of the inaugural class in 2017.
The 2019 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held on Saturday, August 24 at Belmont Plateau. The ceremony is scheduled to take place at approximately 9:40 a.m. that day. It will be held immediately following the Hall of Fame 5k Race at 9 a.m.
Inducted as a local athlete into the Belmont Plateau Cross Country Hall of Fame, McElligott is still to this day one of the most decorated cross country and track athletes in Haverford history. A six-time national champion, McElligott holds the distinction of being the last Division III student-athlete to also earn D-I All-America status (cross country 1990, outdoor track 1991). He captured the D-III cross country title in 1990 and then went on to win both the 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs in 1990 and 1991, at the outdoor D-III meet. McElligott also won the 5,000 at the 1990 indoor championship.
McElligott earned 14 All-America certificates while running for Haverford and set school records that continue to stand in the indoor 3,000 (8 minutes, 10.6 seconds) and 5,000 (14:07.69) and the outdoor 10,000 (29:14.34). Four of McElligott's performances still rank in the top 10 all-time in D-III history.
A Varsity Cup honoree, McElligott was the MVP of the track team in 1989, 1990 and 1991, and the cross country MVP all four of his years at Haverford during which the Fords captured the Middle Atlantic Conference's cross country title each season.
In his post-collegiate career McElligott qualified for the finals in the 10,000 at the 1992 Olympic Trials and represented the U.S. at the 1996 World Cross Country Championship in Capetown, South Africa.
Many others point to McElligott as a source of inspiration for runners and non-runners alike. He did not miss the opportunity to congratulate a teammate for a new personal best and endeavored to go above and beyond when the team's success was on the line.
Haverford began hosting the Seamus McElligott (indoor track) Invitational in 1999 and continues to host the meet where an award is presented annually to the Haverford athlete with the top performance at the Invite.
More information about the Belmont Plateau Hall of Fame can be found on the association's official website.