Rockland's Athletic Legends to Receive Honors

Listening to Gene Martin and Shulton Whitley—just to name two—it’s no wonder an overflow crowd will pack the Pearl River Elks Club in Nanuet on the night of April 30.

Martin, who was Rockland’s first state cross country champion, and Whitley, the county’s all-time premier high hurdler, will join a select group of inductees when the Rockland County Sports Hall of Fame opens its doors for the 38th time.

The honored group includes Jeff Becker and Dan Keeley of North Rockland, Kristen Conklin-Sullivan of Suffern, and Wilbur “Web” Wanamaker of Nyack, who is being inducted posthumously.

Martin, Tappan Zee Class of 1955, later starred at Manhattan College, and vividly recalls a dramatic loss to Olympic champion Ron Delaney at the old Madison Square Garden.

Martin led Tappan Zee High School to the state cross country title in 1954—a feat that went unmatched by the Dutchmen until the 2003 team matched the accomplishment.

This will be Martin’s third enshrinement, if you will, having already been inducted into the Rockland County Track and Field Hall of Fame, and the Tappan Zee Hall of Fame.

But the third time around is the charm.

“I’m thrilled, I am,” Martin said. “This is not just track and field, but all sports. We have professional athletes in there, so I’m pretty excited about it.”

Marilyn Martin, his wife of nearly 53 years (Aug. 23), is equally excited.

“It’s all been exciting, oh yeah,” Marilyn said. “He’s done so much for track, and coaching at Valley Central, and also at Highland Falls.”

Martin, who retired in 1991, will be presented by former Tappan Zee teammate Joe Dinnocenzo, and his supporters will include daughters Sue and Lyn, and Sue’s daughter Emily. Younger brother Dennis, who was also on the Dutchmen’s state championship team, is living in Hudson, Fl, and is unable to attend.           

Martin well remembers Tappan Zee’s state championship in 1954 when the Dutchmen, a small Class C-D school, upended Class B power Garden City, 92-104.

“The next year we won the county and section in outdoor track,” said Martin, who was also joined on the state title team by Dinnocenzo, Harry McGillicuddy, Hugh Sullivan, Bill Clarke, and Rich Hennessey.

That special group of runners was coached by Hugh Short, a Georgetown University student who set a long-standing world record in the 600-yard run at the 1943 Millrose Games. The mark (1:10.2) was eventually broken by Olympic champion Mal Whitfield, a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen.

Whitley, Nyack Class of 1977, has been a special education teacher in physical education at the Summit School in Upper Nyack for 28 years. He was a member of the inaugural class of the Rockland County Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2004.

“This is a big one,” said Whitley. “I’m always laid-back, but when it comes upon me I’m excited, I grasp the hype.”

Whitley, when asked about some of his major high school meets, recalls competing against Paul Lankford of Long Island in the 110 high hurdles at the prestigious Loucks Games in White Plains. “He went to Penn State, and played defensive back with the (Miami) Dolphins (1982-91). Another friend of mine, Art Monk, he was also a track and field standout, and is in the NFL Hall of Fame (Class of 2008).”

Asked about going head-to-head with Lankford, Whitley rolled back the clock as easily as he cleared the barriers.

“I remember him like yesterday,” Whitley said. “We came out head-to-head in the first hurdles; he hit the hurdle and I went ahead, he nipped the eighth and tried to come back on me again, but I got him at the wire. In the trials the day before, he did 13-flat, a national mark. I had a hard time sleeping that night.”

Whitley, a Spring Valley resident, still ranks fourth in the state in his specialty (13.6 seconds), and earned all-America status at Rutgers. He qualified for the 1984 U.S. Olympic trials, and set the still-standing record of 13.5 in the 110-meter hurdles at the Empire State Games.

Whitley’s family will be on hand for the festivities, led by his mom, Mary Winfry, coming up from Virginia along with his sisters Joyce and Essense. Also on hand will be his son Jordan, an electronic systems technician who played golf at Ramapo. Another son, Ryan, an all-American in track and field at Ramapo, and the team’s quarterback as a senior when they beat North Rockland, is attending Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN, and cannot make the trip.

Martin’s race against Irish champion Delaney of Villanova, who won the 1,500 at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 when he upended local favorite John Lundy, came at the IC4A championships.

“I can tell you the one (race) that I lost,” remembers Martin. “It was a two-miler at the old (Madison Square) Garden, smoke-filled. I was ahead of him with two laps to go, and he caught me at the finish. That was my most dramatic race, and when I won the state meet in the mile (1955)--the guy (Art Dunn of Long Island) had won the year before, and we were both undefeated. It was in Rome, NY, on a cold, rainy day, on a soft cinder track. If we were at West Point, I would have broken the (state) record.”

Martin, however, held the county record in the mile for 16 years, and is the only Rockland runner to win the Eastern States championship race.

Other inductees:

Becker, North Rockland Class of 1994: Quarterbacked the 1993 North Rockland football team to the inaugural Class A state title, and was state player of the year. He also led North Rockland to two state titles in baseball, batting close to .500 in his senior year. A two-time all-ACC third baseman at Duke, Becker played professionally in the Cleveland Indians organization.

Conklin-Sullivan, Suffern Class of 1986: A two-time all-county softball pitcher who had three no-hitters for the Mounties, she also was a two-time all-county selection in soccer. At St. Thomas Aquinas College she was a four-time all-CACC pitcher, and holds the program record for no-hitters with seven, including the only perfect game.

Keeley, North Rockland Class of 1972: The athletic director at Rockland Community College since 1997, he coached the RCC baseball team to seven Region XV and eight Mid-Hudson titles, compiling a 289-182 record, and was Northeast and National Junior College coach of the year in 1993. He was inducted into the NJCAA Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.

Wanamaker, Nyack Class of 1942: The Rutgers and Columbia Teachers College graduate taught and coached in the North Rockland schools for more than 25 years. As one of Nyack’s most versatile athletes, he was a first-time all-county football halfback, and baseball left fielder. As a swimmer, he set a record in the 40-yard freestyle (21 seconds) at the Nyack YMCA, where he was a dedicated volunteer and instructor for many years.