Jim Hurt

				Hometown: Glen Cove, N.Y. Last College: Notre Dame Position: Head Coach Season: 24th

Jim Hurt is in his 24th year as the head coach of the St. John's cross country and track & field teams, and his 31st season overall with the Red Storm.

Since becoming head coach in 1988, Hurt's teams have made an impact at the national, regional and conference levels. His squads have appeared in 21-consecutive NCAA Championships and 15 USA National Championships while winning 22 Metropolitan Conference titles. Under Hurt's leadership, Red Storm teams finished second at the 1996 IC4A Championships, second at the 1989 and 1996 ECAC Indoor Championships and second at the 1993 Cross Country ECAC Championship. The Red Storm has finished as the runner-up at three BIG EAST Championships.

Coach Hurt oversaw a St. John's track & field program that achieved success on many levels during the 2011-12 season. The cross country team improved from an eighth place finish at the 2010 Metropolitan Championships to a third place finish in 2011. The indoor track season was highlighted by an eighth place finish at the ECAC Championships, the highest Red Storm finish since capturing fourth in 2006, as eight different St. John's competitors earned All-EAST Honors. In the outdoor edition of the ECAC Championships, all eleven St. John's participants left Princeton University with All-East honors as the team registered a 21st place finish. Red Storm standout Priscilla Frederick concluded her career with outstanding performances at both the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships and the U.S. Olympic Trials. Frederick tied for seventh in the high jump at the Olympic Trials; narrowly missing the qualifying mark for the 2012 Summer Games.

Coach Hurt and the rest of the St. John's track & field community were able to enjoy the presence of 2009 graduate Phobay Kutu-Akoi at the Olympic Games in London. Kutu-Akoi represented her home country of Liberia and was even given the honor of bearing the nation's flag during the Opening Ceremonies. The St. John's and Liberian 100-meter dash record-holder, Kutu-Akoi qualified for the 100-meter dash at the 2012 Summer Games. She would go on to place sixth in her heat running an 11.52 second time, less than .4 seconds behind the final qualifying spot. Since becoming head coach in 1988, Hurt's teams have made an impact at the national, regional and conference levels. His squads have appeared in 20-consecutive NCAA Championships and 15 USA National Championships while winning 21 Metropolitan Conference titles. Under Hurt's leadership, Red Storm teams finished second at the 1996 IC4A Championships, second at the 1989 and 1996 ECAC Indoor Championships and second at the 1993 Cross Country ECAC Championship. The Red Storm has finished as the runner-up at three BIG EAST Championships.

In the past few seasons, Hurt has assembled championship-caliber squads at St. John's. In 2009-10, the team won its third straight Metropolitan Outdoor Championship, totaling 170 points and six event wins. The team came in fourth place at the Metropolitan Indoor Championships. Junior Priscilla Frederick had a benchmark season, earning All-American status twice at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, finishing 8th and 6th respectively. Frederick also competed at the USA Outdoor Championships and won the ECAC Championships with a school record-breaking high jump. Along with competing in the high jump, Frederick was an All-BIG EAST honoree in the pentathlon (indoor) and heptathlon (outdoor). The 4x800-meter relay team of junior Kim Piard, junior Sarah Sudbury, senior Pamela Petruski and freshman Alexis Bean set a new school record time at the Indoor BIG EAST Championships.

In 2008-09, the track & field team won its second consecutive Metropolitan Outdoor Championship, tallying 223 points and bringing home 10 individual titles: senior Phobay Kutu-Akoi (100 meter and 200 meter), junior Asia Davy (400-meter hurdles), sophomore Priscilla Frederick (high jump), freshman Chanel King (shot put and discus), and the 4x100-meter, 4x400-meter and 4x800-meter relay teams. Hurt's team finished second the Metropolitan Indoor Championship as Frederick (high jump and pentathlon), sophomore Bintou Dibba (long jump) and Kutu-Akoi (60-meter) all won individual championships. Frederick competed in the Indoor USA Championship where she placed sixth in the high jump, and the Indoor NCAA Championship, finishing in 14th place. Freshman Aryon Trujillo ran in the USA Jr. Cross Country Championship, placing 57th. In 2008, St. John's had 31 BIG EAST qualifiers, 18 ECAC qualifiers, seven All-BIG EAST athletes and 12 All-East athletes. Red Storm athletes set a total of four new school records on the season.

Under Hurt's leadership, St. John's athletes have competed in nearly every major track & field competition in the world including the Olympic Games in 2004 (Athens), 2000 (Sydney), 1996 (Atlanta), World Championships in Sweden, Japan, Ireland, Poland, Canada, and Spain, Pan American Games in Canada and Argentina, the World Student Games in Spain, and the Caribbean Games in Barbados and Guatemala. Red Storm athletes have won 18 individual national titles since 1988, producing 12 USA champions, two Irish national champions, a Jamaican national champion, a Dominican Republic national champion and a Caribbean champion. Since 1991, Hurt's teams have earned 15 NCAA All-American honorees and 16 individuals who have competed in the Olympic trials.

During Hurt's 21-year tenure of coaching the middle and long distance runners, he has guided 17 NCAA qualifying performers as well as NCAA All-American cross country runner Bob Reid, 3k All-American Chris Fogarazzo, and 5k and 10k All-Americans Chris Graff and John Honerkamp, the latter who became the youngest semifinalist at the 1996 USA Olympic Trials and placed sixth in the USA Indoor Nationals in the 800-meter run. Thirteen of Hurt's distance medley, 800-meter and 1,500-meter relay teams have ranked in the top 10 nationally, 68 distance runners have won All-East recognition. Hurt's athletes have also won BIG EAST titles in the 800-meters, the mile, the 3K steeplechase and the 10,000-meter. Since 1982, 48 school records have been established in the distance events under Hurt's guidance. In 1996, the men's cross country team placed 17th in the NCAA Championships.

Hurt has kept St. John's committed to a total team philosophy that recruits and develops quality athletes in all event areas. He utilizes a national schedule that has Red Storm teams competing across the country at top venues that afford the highest levels of competition. Historic Van Cortlandt Park is the home for the cross country team, while the world class facility at the 168th Street Armory is home for indoor practice and competitions. The outdoor team uses DaSilva Memorial Field on the Queens Campus, which boasts a state-of-the art 400-meter oval.

Hurt's student-athletes have excelled in the classroom as well as in the athletic arena. Distance runner and 3,000-meter NCAA All-American Fogarazzo won NCAA and BIG EAST postgraduate scholarships, while Georgina Bendana and Te-Mika Warner, who attended Harvard Law School, also won BIG EAST postgraduate scholarships in recent years. Most recently, 27 Red Storm track & field athletes were named to the BIG EAST Academic team in 2009, continuing the tradition of academic excellence in the BIG EAST, while the cross country team earned USTFCCCA All-American honors.

Hurt was a prep All-American in 1972, clocking a 4:10 mile at Proviso West High School in Hillside, Ill. At the University of Notre Dame, he captained the cross country and track & field teams and established school records in the three mile run and the mile relay. Following graduation in 1976, Hurt competed for the University of Chicago Track Club and the Oregon Track Club. After attending graduate school at the University of Oregon, Hurt served three years as head track & field coach at Jesuit High School in Portland, Ore. In 1982, Hurt moved to St. John's to become the cross country and assistant track & field coach.

Currently, Hurt serves as the secretary-treasurer of the IC4A Coaches Association and was once president of the BIG EAST Coaches Association. In 1995, he served as distance coach for the East team at the USOC Sports Festival in Colorado Springs, Colo. That same year, Hurt and his staff were also named Staff of the Year in the BIG EAST Conference. In 1996, he was honored as NCAA Region II Cross Country Coach of the Year.

In 1989, Hurt earned his master's degree in government and politics from St. John's.

Hurt currently resides in Glen Cove, N.Y., with his wife Ann. He has two daughters, Kathleen Urtnowski and Cynthia, and son James. He is also the proud grandfather of Cassandra Anne Urtnowski.