Chenango Forks Track and Field
Hall of Fame

Graduated: 
School Record in 440 Yard Dash
Second in the 100 Yard Dash
Third in the 220 Yard Dash

SUS Champion: 440 Yard Sprint (1956, 1958) 
Divisional Team Champion: 1957

Joe Everling’s high school career was as All-American as America could get.  He was the Prom King, Class President, and star of the school play… and he also lettered in football, basketball, wrestling, baseball, and track.  On the gridiron, he led Chenango Forks to our first ever undefeated season his senior year, and in Track, he was our very first true speedster, earning victories in the 100 Yard Dash, 220 Yard Dash, 440 Yard Dash, and 880 Yard Run (not to mention the Long Jump as well).  But the 440 was his specialty…   

At 5’8, 150 pounds and blessed with fiery competitiveness and tenacity, Joe was almost perfectly sculpted for running the 440.  Technically the race is called a “dash,” but because it is just too long to be sprinting, it takes a certain level of stubbornness, courage, and a willingness to accept pain to be elite at the event.  Everling had all those characteristics and more.  He became the first ever runner in school history (in any event) to earn All Conference in the 440 Yard Dash in 1956, and then he did it again in 1958.  In doing so, he became the first Blue Devil to be named All Conference twice, an achievement only six other runners have accomplished (and none since Jim Cannon did it in the 220 Yard Run in 1977).