HAVERFORD, Pa. – Over 200 guests, including alumni, teammates, and coaches were in attendance to help celebrate Tom Donnelly's 45th year of coaching at Haverford. The celebration took place following the Keogh Invitational this past Saturday, February 22.
Alumni attendees at the event ranged from the Class of 1967 up until the most recently graduated Class of 2019. Many of those individuals wore their team jackets from their time as student-athletes, providing a strong visual sense of Tom Donnelly's lasting legacy at Haverford.
Haverford College President Wendy Raymond provided some brief remarks at the start, noting Donnelly's place as a fixture on the Haverford campus. Her comments were met with raucous applause from the enthusiastic crowd.
Remarks were additionally offered by Gerry Lederer '80, Anjan Chatterjee '80, Doug Mason '81, Kevin Foley '83, and Rob Wingate '91, as well as by Marcus O'Sullivan, head coach of men's cross country and track & field at Villanova University, who was coached by Donnelly and represented Ireland at the Olympic Games in 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1996.
Even after the ceremony concluded, many of those in attendance proceeded to the Dining Center for further reminiscences.
Since taking over as head coach of the Fords in the fall of 1975, the Haverford College men's cross country, track & field teams have been among the greatest in Division III. During his coaching career, Donnelly has mentored 172 All-Americans since 1980, including 29 individual champions and an NCAA championship relay. The 2010 cross country team accounted for five of those All-American performances on its way to the NCAA Division III Team Championship, Haverford's first NCAA Team Championship.
Individually, Donnelly was a 2014 inductee into the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame. His teams have won 76 Middle Atlantic and Centennial Conference team championships. The celebration was also a recognition of Haverford's championship teams. Haverford won its first conference titles under Donnelly's tutelage in 1979 (cross country) and 1980 (indoor track & field), helping this event to also serve as the 40th anniversary of those championship teams.
Among Haverford's multitude of standout student-athletes, three of Donnelly's former student-athletes have been enshrined in the Division III Hall of Fame: Kevin Foley '83, Karl Paranya '97, Seamus McElligott '91.
A standout athlete in his own right, Donnelly was an All-American in cross country and track at Villanova University. A top college distance runner from 1966-69, he helped lead the Wildcats to three consecutive NCAA cross country championships and one NCAA track title.