Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame
Relive It All Again
Art Hall, a road-racing pioneer, won the 1975 Penn Relays Marathon, ran a 2:22.12 personal best at the Boston Marathon, and posted four top-six finishes in the early days of the New York City Marathon.
Hall, who mentored generations of runners through his North Shore Track Club, still holds Staten Island records at a variety of distances from six miles to 30 kilometers.
Frank Menechino, played six different position – even appearing in two games as a pitcher – in seven big-league seasons with the Oakland A’s and Toronto Blue Jays, before becoming a minor-league coach, and batting coach for the Marlins.
Menechino, a 150-pound catcher at Susan Wagner High School, led his Alabama college team in hitting, triples and stolen bases. He hit 12 home runs and drove in 60 runs for the 2001 A’s.
Kevin Coyle, an undersized defensive back at Monsignor Farrell High School and the University of Massachusetts, coached at every level of football, including two decades in the National Football League.
Coyle spent college stops at Cincinnati, Arkansas, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Holy Cross, Syracuse, Maryland and Fresno State, before becoming the Cincinnati Bengals secondary coach and Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator.
John Wolyniec rewrote the soccer record book at Monsignor Farrell High School and at Fordham University, where he led the country in goals, scoring 75 in 77 games, and was an All-American and Atlantic 10 Player of the Year.
Wolyniec led the MLS MetroStars with 10 goals in 2004, two seasons after winning the championship game MVP in the A-League, and played in two matches for the U.S. national team.
John Tobin built or rebuilt championship track programs at three Staten Island high schools, and was instrumental in establishing the Empire State Games and Big Apple Games.
Tobin’s St. Peter’s teams won Archdiocesan titles in track and cross country, and were unbeaten on Staten Island for five straight years. His teams won a cross-country title at Port Richmond and an outdoor championship – with the highest point total on record –at Tottenville.