Tom Heath is the architect of the greatest streak in New Jersey high school sports history and arguably the most remarkable run of all-time in U.S. high school sports.
So it couldn't be more fitting for Heath, the coaching mastermind behind the national record dual meet winning streak that the Christian Brothers Academy (Lincroft, N.J.) cross-country squad began 50 years ago, to have the XC course at CBA dedicated to him on Wednesday when CBA seeks to extend their mind-boggling streak to 400 straight dual meet victories when the N.J. No. 1 and U.S. No. 2 Colts host Point Pleasant Boro and Southern Regional. Race time is 4 p.m. at CBA's campus 5K course.
Heath never ran cross-country, but was a sprinter on the track team at Christian Brothers and is a 1965 graduate of the school, which he attended for one year after moving to Leonardo from the Bronx at age 16.
After graduating from Montclair State, he returned to his alma mater in 1970 to accept a job as a math teacher. But when Heath interviewed for the job, he discovered an opening for an assistant coach for the track and cross-country teams. "I ran track, so I figured I'd give coaching a try," Heath said. "Besides, they gave me 800 bucks to do it.''
After one year working under head coach Dave Hyland, Heath was elevated to head coach in track and cross-country and went on one helluva run that lasted nearly half a century!
For 45 years and 135 running seasons, Heath put together a legendary career at the helm of the best program in N.J. XC history. He guided the CBA cross-country teams to 26 state championships and 21 Meet of Champions titles, 15 Eastern States Championships, and a Nike National Championship in 2011. He added three prestigious Penn Relays Championship of America DMR titles as track and field coach.
And of course, there is "The Streak", which Heath has always maintained as his proudest accomplishment because it created a common bond between every runner who has pulled on the CBA singlet since then.
In the final dual meet of 1973, CBA lost to Raritan, 15-49. CBA hasn't lost a dual since then! It began with a victory that occurred 50 years ago this Thursday when CBA defeated Marist, 15-50 on September 19, 1974.
On September 28, 2004, CBA broke the national record with its 266th straight win. When Heath retired from coaching after the 2015 cross country season, "The Streak" had reached 343 in a row.
Heath's legacy of greatness at CBA is carried on through the annual Tom Heath Freshman Run, a 1.3-mile race around the campus at the start of each school year, a tradition every freshman has participated in since the founding of the school in 1959.
For all his accomplishments, Heath, an icon in N.J. coaching, has been inducted into the CBA Hall of Fame, the Manhattan XC Invitational Hall of Fame, the Armory Track Coaches Hall of Fame, the New Jersey State Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and the N.J. SIAA Hall of Fame.
The 1974 CBA team that began the national record dual meet winning streak.
THE STREAK
Let's take a much deeper look into "The Streak'' as we rewind the cross-country clock.
Here's an excerpt from a story I wrote in 2004 that looks into the anatomy of CBA's streak.
Phil Shaheen had those typical prerace knots in his stomach.
It was Sept. 19, 1974, and Shaheen, a senior at the time, and his teammates at Christian Brothers Academy were preparing to open their cross-country season against Marist on a damp afternoon in Lincroft.
"We graduated a lot of good runners the year before, and I didn't know what to expect," said Shaheen back in 2004. "I was nervous because I was a captain and you want to get the season off to a good start. You don't want to start 0-1."
Turns out Shaheen had no reason to worry. Christian Brothers swept the first eight places and scored a perfect 15-50 victory.
CBA has remained perfect since.
It has been a half-century since Shaheen, Al Campanella, Rich Desmond, Chris O'Brien, Sean Higgins, Pete McDonough, Jim Ansell, and Jack Surgent crossed the finish line that day. The rest is history!
When CBA defeated Middletown North, 15-50 on Sept. 30, 2004, it broke the national record with its 266th victory in a row. Blackstone-Millville of Massachusetts, who held the record for 12 years.
Shaheen was there to see CBA make history.
"I had followed the streak in the papers, and when I saw they got to 200 a few years ago I knew they had a great shot at breaking it," said Shaheen, whose nephew, Theo Shaheen, ran for CBA in 2003. "Seeing the record broken brings everything full circle. No one knew back then that a streak like this could happen. But at the same time, I'm not surprised by anything that a team coached by Tom Heath does. He took an average runner like myself and made me into something.''
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The 2004 CBA team that broke the national record for most consecutive dual meet victories.
DAY OF HEROES
The streak was expected to end on Oct. 20, 1981. That was the day state powerhouse St. John Vianney came to Lincroft as a heavy favorite to end CBA's run at 93. It was the first of four meetings - but the only dual meet - scheduled that season between CBA and St. John Vianney, coached by current Colts Neck coach Jim Schlentz.
Thanks to the heroics of Ken Kolb and the late John Vickers, CBA prevailed in the greatest dual meet in CBA - and perhaps state - history.
After each team had its first five runners across, the score was tied, 28-28, meaning the outcome would be decided by a sixth-runner tiebreaker. Vickers was CBA's sixth man and finished in 15:40, 16 seconds ahead of St. John Vianney's sixth, Frank Rainsford, giving CBA a dramatic, streak-saving victory.
Kolb, who finished sixth overall and third for CBA, severely sprained his ankle when he stepped in a hole as he neared the finish line. After he crossed the line, an ambulance took him to the hospital.
"They had the better team on paper," Kolb said. "They had faster times and more talented runners. But we were pumped to keep the streak going. I beat runners that, on paper, I shouldn't have and ran my fastest race."
"There's no way we should have won," Heath said. "They killed us every other time that season (Vianney beat CBA at the Monmouth County Championships, the Parochial A meet, and the Eastern Championships) but Ken Kolb and John Vickers emerged as the heroes of the streak. Kolb went above and beyond his abilities for us to win. And without Vickers, we couldn't have won. Kolb and Vickers are legendary and will forever be linked in CBA history."
Heath said he was thinking about the national record well before the St. John Vianney showdown, especially with CBA preparing for a switch into a less competitive division.
"Twelve months before the race, I knew if we beat them we'd get the record," Heath said. "That was our only tough race in '81, and after that season we were going into A North Division of the Shore Conference."
THE HEATH FACTOR
Every runner who has come through the CBA program lists the same reason for its success.
"It's Coach Heath," said Brian Kerwin, CBA's only Meet of Champions individual winner, in 1999. "He's established a system that everyone believes in. There's no second-guessing someone who has done what Mr. Heath has. He's so determined, intense, and passionate in what he does because he wants to make every team the best they can be. As long as he's the coach, CBA's legacy of greatness will continue."
Over the years, Heath has coached his son, Tom Jr., who graduated in 1991, his stepson, Keith Hanson, and several brother combinations who have been instrumental during the streak.
The family that has worn the most CBA uniforms is the DiChiaras, who live near the school in Lincroft. First, it was Tommy, whose last cross-country season was in 1996, then Joe ('97), Jeff (2000), and the most recent Nick (2005).
"I was just eight years old in 1995 when I watched my brother, Tommy, run in the 200th straight win to break the state record," said Nick. "I remember Mr. Heath telling me that I'd be on the team that broke the national record. It was on my mind ever since.''
LINK OF GREATNESS
With everything CBA has accomplished in Heath's years as head coach, the streak sits at the top of his list.
"Winning state titles, Easterns, and everything else has already been done," Heath said. "But what we've done has never been done. How can you top that?"
Kerwin said it's easy to pinpoint why the streak is so important to the tradition of cross-country running at CBA.
"Winning Parochial state titles and Meet of Champions titles are things that one single team was responsible for," Kerwin said. "The streak is something that every runner that put on a CBA uniform contributed toward. It ties everyone who has run for CBA together forever and that's what separates this from anything else we've done.
"Everyone who has ever run at CBA knows about the streak,' said Kerwin. It's been the responsibility of every team to keep it going. The fact that we've kept it going for 50 years is truly amazing."
INSIDE THE STREAK
- Oct. 20, 1973 - CBA lost to Raritan, which was led by longtime Shore Regional coach Mel Ullmeyer, 15-49. It hasn't lost since.
- Sept. 19, 1974 - CBA's streak begins with a 15-50 victory.
- Sept. 19, 1974 - CBA's streak begins with a 15-50 victory over Marist.
- Oct. 20, 1981 - CBA wins thrilling sixth-runner tiebreaker over St. John Vianney (coached by current Colts Neck coach Jim Schlentz) to extend the streak to 94.
- Sept. 28, 2004 - CBA defeats Marlboro, 20-43, to tie Blackstone-Millville of Massachusetts for the national record for consecutive dual meet wins with 265.
- Sept. 30, 2004 - CBA scores a 15-50 win over Middletown North to break the national record with its 266th victory in a row. Blackstone-Millville set the record in 1992.
- Oct. 3, 2006 - CBA overcomes a 1-2 finish by Colts Neck (featuring All-American Craig Forys) to win its 281st in a row, 25-36.
- Sept. 21, 2009 - CBA defeated Colts Neck, 20-43, and Manalapan, 15-50 to make it 300 in a row.
- December of 2015: CBA coach Tom Heath retires from coaching after a 45-year career. CBA won 343 straight dual meets during's Heath legendary career.
- Sept. 13, 2016, CBA, under first-year head coach Sean McCafferty, edged Colts Neck, 27-32, and defeated Manalapan 15-50 while averaging a course record 14:50.6 in Lincroft to extend its national record to 345 in a row.
- Oct. 13, 2016 - CBA concludes its season with a 23-34 victory over Howell at the Manasquan Reservoir to raise its winning streak to 350 straight.
- Sept.. 18, 2024 - CBA aims for its 400th straight dual meet victory vs. Point Pleasant Boro and Southern Regional at CBA