The St. Joseph-St. Thomas St. John Neumann team has competed in the Staten Island Catholic
Charities Catholic Youth Organization (CYOSI) league continuously since 1995. The league and
some parishes co-sponsor the spring outdoor track meets, which are held at high school/college
track facilities. The meets are usually at St. Joseph by the Sea High School (Huguenot) or Msgr.
Farrell High School (Oakwood Heights). The meets are operated under the National Federation
of High School Track & Field rules with certain rules adapted, clarified, adjusted, nullified or
emphasized depending on the necessity of the league and its growth. Since 2017, the
Archdiocese of New York (CYONY) has sponsored indoor track & field meets at the Ocean
Breeze Athletic Facility on Staten Island. The indoor meet(s) are in March and April and the
outdoor meets are in April, May and June. Children in grades PK4-8 can qualify to compete in
the Archdiocese of New York Track & Field Championships held in June at Icahn Stadium on
Randall’s Island (Manhattan), which is the former location of Downing Stadium. They compete
against student athletes from the other nine counties of the Archdiocese. Children qualifying for
the meet are designated as the Archdiocesan team eligible to compete in the AAU Club
Championship held in July at the ESPN Sports Complex in Disneyworld in Florida. CYO sends a
team on a bi-annual basis to this meet. Children who perform very well at this meet maybe
invited to the USA Junior Olympics, which are held alternately in Michigan, Iowa and Virginia.
In the outdoor track meets, children usually compete in groups depending on their grade and
gender. In the meets, there are individual running events, running relays and field events
depending on their grade and the meet schedule and regulations. The usual events in the meets
by grade divisions: PK4-K: 50/60 meter individual races only; 1&2 grades: 50, 100 and 200
meter individual races, 4 x 100 meter running relay, and the Standing Broad Jump or long jump.
3&4 grades: 100, 200 and 400 meter individual races, 4 x 100 meter running relay and a Sprint
Medley Relay of four runners (200, 100, 100 and 400 meter distance), long jump, shot put and
turbo javelin. 5&6 grades: 100, 200, 400 and 800 meter individual races, 4 x 100 and SMR
relays, long jump, shot put and turbo javelin. 7&8 grades: 100, 200, 400, 800- and 1500/1600-
meter individual races, 4 x 100 and SMR relays, long jump, shot put and turbo javelin. Children
can run up to an older division, but cannot run down to a lower division. Children who finish in
the first three positions in any event including relays will be awarded medals.
The team practices are held at the parish lawn on Poplar Street in Rossville next to St. Joseph’s
Church or Wolfe’s Pond Park at the base of Cornelia St. and Hylan Blvd. in Huguenot. The
practices are scheduled four nights a week with the expectation that each student athlete could
make at least two practices per week. The practices are from March through June. All of the
coaches have completed the VIRTUS-Safe Environment Program including background checks
and are trained in first aid and CPR. Parents are encouraged to assist as coaches after they have
completed the VIRTUS-Safe Environment Program and first aid/CPR training.
Individual athletes or relay teams who finish first, second or third in a meet earn medals. There
are two meets in which there are team championships and in two meets, the children compete
based on their year of birth.
Alumni of our track team have gone onto compete for Moore Catholic High School, Msgr.
Farrell High School, St. Joseph by the Sea High School, St. John Villa Academy, Notre Dame
Academy, St. Joseph Hill Academy, Xavier High School, Xaverian High School, Staten Island
Tech (MSIT), Tottenville High School, New Dorp High School, CSI/McCown High School,
First Baptist Academy (FL) and Kenneth High School (NH). In addition, some of them have
gone onto run at the collegiate level earning full or partial scholarships at Virginia
Commonwealth University, Marist College, Monmouth University, Oneonta State University,
Lafayette College, Harvard University, LaSalle University, State University of New York at
Oswego, Mt. St. Mary’s College (NY), Keystone College, Roberts Wesleyan University, College
of Staten Island, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Alvernia University,
Wagner College and DeSales University.
If anyone is interested in joining the track and field team, they can contact Robert Smith at 718-
948-5026 or email him at terrier72@aol.com. The sports registration site is
http://www.sjstsjnsports,com. The parish web site is www.sjstsjn.org.
