An old friend on the track

Despite the bummer of an outcome out here on the track, again it is a good thing to put the Marist name out here on a national stage.

As we walked into Hayward Field, donning our Marist gear, the security guy smiled and said, “Are the RED FOXES ready to run today, or what?” Pretty cool.

And then, as the guys were getting ready to check in, another coach called out to say hi. It was a major blast from the past to see Mario Wilson, a former Marist football star who ran track for us briefly before his graduation in 1998.

Since leaving Marist, Mario has forged quite a collegiate coaching career – with stops at St. Francis (Pa.), Bucknell, New Mexico and now Clemson. Check out his bio here to see the impressive credentials he has racked up during the past decade as a coach.

In addition, while he was at the PA schools, Mario taught himself how to pole vault, and vaulted his way over 16 feet! Very impressive.