Chenango Forks Track and Field
Hall of Fame

Graduated:

Second in Mile
Second in 2 Mile

SUS Champion: 2 Mile (1978), Mile (1979)
State Meet: 2 Mile (1979)

Rich Halstrom was a workhorse.  The only Forks trackman to be All Conference in both the Mile and the Two Mile, Richie’s stamina was the stuff of legends.  Coach Bond would put Halstrom in the 880 Yard Run, the Mile, the Two Mile, and the Two Mile Relay at virtually every regular season meet, but that didn’t stop him from dominating those events.  Coach Bond also took advantage of Halstrom’s inability to tire in soccer season making him his starting midfielder every year on Varsity, and frequently putting Rich in the 200 Free, the 500 Free, the 100 Breaststroke, and a Relay virtually every Swim meet.  Even in the summer months off, Coach Bond was getting Halstrom to run… in August, between his junior and senior year, Rich did a competitive 10-mile road race in 63:34 (6:21 mile pace) finishing 22nd out of 97 runners, on the same day that Coach Bond ran 32:27 for the 5 Mile Race and placed 45th out of 171 finishers.  

That stamina was never more on display than on May 22, 1979 when Halstrom won the Two Mile at the Susquenango Western Zone Championships in 9:55.0, setting the Stadium Record at Chenango Forks, and then running a remarkable 4:30.2 in the Mile, also setting the Stadium Record.  With iconic Section IV distance runners like Whitney Point’s Tom Ellerson, Windsor’s Josh Stone, Chenango Valley’s Max Straneva, and Chenango Forks’s own Chip Boehm frequently running on our track, to own either Stadium Record was a remarkable achievement, but to set both on the same day within a hour of one another might be the greatest individual achievement on our home track.