Tom Heath, one of the most accomplished high school school cross country coaches in the United States, is retiring from his coaching post at Christian Brothers Academy in Linford, New Jersey after forty-six years. The news was first reported by NJ.com's Jim Lambert.
In Heath's nearly five decades at the helm, CBA won 343 straight dual meets, twenty-one New Jersey Meets of Champions, and the 2011 NXN title. This year's CBA squad won the NJ Meet of Champions by six points and later qualified for NXN, where they took twentieth place.
Heath leaves with the dual meet streak intact. The CBA boys haven't lost a dual since 1974, when Heath was twenty-six years old, and he says that that is his biggest point of pride. He told Lambert that "the streak is what connects just about everyone who ever ran at CBA together, so that will always mean a lot to me."
It's been a lifetime at the Lasallian school for Heath, who graduated from CBA in 1965 and took over as head cross country coach in 1970. He'll stay on as a math teacher; Sean McCafferty will take over his duties coaching the distance runners on the track & field team. Per NJ MileSplit editor Robert Kellert, the head cross country position is still open.
Flotrack was on site with Heath and CBA in 2014: