St. Paul’s Tate To be Inducted Into NFHS Hall of Fame
INDIANAPOLIS — St. Paul’s Episcopal School track and field coach Jim Tate will be among 13 individuals inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame’s 31st class during the 94th annual National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Summer Meeting June 23-27 at the Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center in Denver.
The 2013 Summer Meeting will conclude with the Hall of Fame Induction ceremonies and banquet beginning at 6 p.m. (PDT).
The NFHS, a national leadership organization for high school athletics and performing arts activities, is composed of state high school associations in the 50 states plus the District of Columbia.
More than 800 individuals are expected to attend the Summer Meeting, including staff members and board members from the 51 member associations.
Tate will be one of five coaches being inducted into the Hall of Fame. The class also includes basketball star Chauncey Billups of Colorado, former New Jersey high school and National Football League (NFL) quarterback Joe Theismann, former Olympic gold-medalist and track standout Harrison Dillard from Ohio, and Missouri’s Kristin Folkl Kaburakis, a volleyball standout who won the Dial Award as the nation’s top female high school athlete in 1994.
Tate has led St. Paul’s to a total of 95 high school state championships and one junior high state title while coaching boys and girls outdoor track, indoor track and cross country for the last 35 years. In addition, St. Paul’s athletes have won eight girls’ individual AHSAA Heptathlon titles, including the last seven in a row. Two St. Paul’s student-athletes won junior high heptathlon championships, which has been discontinued.
The 96 total team state championships is a state record.
His teams also won state championships in 2012 and 2013 in girls’ indoor track and outdoor track. His boys won the 2012 indoor and outdoor titles as well. St. Paul’s holds the national record with 16 consecutive state championships in girls cross country from 1983-98. The boys have won three state cross country crowns in a row twice (1984-86 and 2005-07).
The Saints girls, who have won the last four indoor track championships (2006, 2007, 2012 and 2013), also won seven in a row from 1994-2000 and five in a row from 1985-1989. The boys team captured five consecutive indoor titles (1987-91) and another three in a row (1994-96).
The outdoor success has also been notable with 23 girls’ state championships and 15 boys’ high school titles and one junior high crown. The girls currently have won the last eight Class 5A state outdoor crowns and nine in a row from 1989-1997. The boys won five consecutive Class 3A outdoor championships from 1987-91 and three in a row from 1994-96.
Other high school coaches slated for induction include Ed Aston, who led the Cheshire (Connecticut) girls swimming team to a national record 281 consecutive dual-meet victories; Chuck Koeppen, who won 23 state championships — most in Indiana history — during his 37 years as a track and cross country coach at Carmel High School; Chuck Lenahan, the winningest football coach in New Hampshire history from Plymouth High School; and Mike Messere, who has more wins than any high school or college lacrosse coach during his 37 years at West Genesee High School in Camillus, NY.
Also set for induction are contest officials Jerry Kimmel of Kentucky and Haig Nighohossian of Illinois. The remaining class includes administrator Ronnie Carter, former executive director of the TSSAA (Tennessee) and Richard Floyd, a music director from Texas, in the fine arts category.
Tate is the ninth inductee from Alabama. Pat Sullivan became the second athlete from Alabama inducted in 2012 at Nashville and former AHSAA Executive Director Dan Washburn was inducted in 2011 at Philadelphia. Bart Starr was the first athlete inducted in 1989.
Others inducted have been former executive directors Cliff Harper (1987) and Herman L. “Bubba” Scott (1990); officials Dan Gaylord (1988) and Sam Short (2007); coaches Wallace “Mickey” O’Brien (1992) and Glenn Daniel (1999).