April 26, 2005

VILLANOVA, Pa. - A former Villanova track standout and a Wildcat relay team are part of the 2005 Penn Relay Carnival Wall of Fame class. Former Villanova standout Ken Schappert and the 1974 Villanova 4-mile relay team will be inducted during next week's Penn Relay Carnival that will take place from April 28-30. Including this year's honorees, there are 67 individuals and 57 relay teams that make-up the Wall of Fame. A dinner honoring this year's induction class will be held on Friday, April 29 at the Philadelphia Sheraton Hotel.

Schappert is one of four individuals in this years class, joining Allen Woodring (Mercersburg Academy/ '18, Syracuse '23), Ralph Rose (Michigan '04) and Lynda Tolbert (Ballou HS `85/ Arizona State '90). Three other relay teams will also be inducted including the 1936 Evander Childs (New York) High School 440-yard relay, the 1972 North Carolina Central 880-yard relay and the 1979 William Penn (Philadelphia) High School 4x800 meter relay.

A 1975 Villanova graduate, Schappert was part of eight Wildcat Penn Relay teams that won eight Relay titles. His eight championships rank as the third most in Villanova school history. Mark Belger owns the Wildcat school record for Penn Relay titles with 10. Schappert ran the leadoff leg on the 1975 DMR team that set a world record in a time of 9:28.2. As a high school senior, Schappert recorded the second-fastest DMR mile split at that time.

The 1974 team set a Penn Relay Carnival record with a time of 16:10.6. This record was not surpassed until a 4x1500 team ran an intrinsically superior time in 1984. The team consisted of Tom Gregan running the leadoff leg, Brian McElroy second, Eamonn Coghlan the third leg and John Hartnett the anchor. McElroy, Coghlan and Hartnett were also a part of the 1974 DMR team that captured first place honors.

McElroy, who currently resides in Wyomissing, Pa., was a member of five Championship of America relay teams during his time at Villanova. Prior to his collegiate career, he was also the first high school runner to win the Invitational Boys Mile twice (1968 and 1969). His daughter Kelly will be competing in the Penn Relays this Thursday, when she runs in the 4x100 meter and 4x400 meter relays. She is a junior at Holy Name HS in Reading.

For more information on the Wall of Fame dinner, please call 610-519-7205.