The Irish Pipeline
Holly Stratts

It started simply, really, but then many traditions begin that way. The "Irish Pipeline" began with a budding friendship among Irish and American athletes brought together by the 1948 Olympic Games in London.

The Games had been halted for 12 years by World War II and the ravaged city remained in a state of major disrepair. Rationing was still in effect so the home countries sent their athletes off with provisions. Male athletes were housed in barracks built for wartime American troops. No additional venues were constructed. But none of this dampened the competitive spirit nor the camaraderie.

U.S. Olympians George Guida ‘49 and Browning Ross ‘51 became friends with Irish quarter-miler Jimmy Reardon. Their friendship and Reardon’s athletic ability eventually led head coach Jumbo Elliott to offer Reardon a track scholarship. It is said that not only did Reardon become the first Irish runner to accept an American scholarship but he also was the first foreign athlete to accept a track and field scholarship in the United States.

From 1948 through 2001, 25 student athletes have passed through the "Irish Pipeline." Alumni of this group include such world renowned and accomplished track athletes as Ron Delaney ‘58, who won the gold medal in the 1500 meters at the 1956 Melbourne Games; Eamonn Coghlan ‘76, who competed in four Olympic Games and established the indoor mile world record in January 1983 which stood for approximately 13 years; Sonia O’Sullivan ‘91 won the silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Games in the 5000 meters, her third appearance at the Olympics; and Marcus O’Sullivan, Villanova’s current head men’s track and field coach, competed in the mile in four Olympic Games, was the world indoor champion in the 1500 meters in 1987, 1989 and 1993 and has run 9() sub-4:00 miles.

As reported in the March 1999 issue of SportsWrite, "Of the 25 Irish that passed through the various Villanova teams, 12 were Olympians and six of them broke world bests of some sort."

As a member of the Irish continuum, Marcus said, "I had heard stories about Ron Delaney winning the gold in 1956. Eamonn Coghlan ‘76 was a huge influence as well. But I was most directly influenced by Donal Walsh ‘72 who coached at the club I belonged to as a young teenager. All Ireland was influenced by Villanova track." All these successful athletes who came from all over Ireland had one thing in common - Villanova training and coaching. Word of mouth and the accomplishments of others were powerful tools that enticed Irish runners to go to a place they had never seen. "Kids from Ireland will leave home for a coach and they will come to be coached," he explained. "Jumbo Elliott was a huge magnet in track among the Irish. Every athlete that promoted the school in a good light led to another one coming. Jumbo’s strength was the understanding that the psychology was to pair very good athletes with very, very good athletes and that competition would make everyone better. But don’t kill them in the process with over training. Just bring them along nicely. Jumbo’s great attribute was to understand all that."

O’Sullivan’s beginning at Villanova were, self-admittedly, precarious. "An incoming scholarship athlete changed his mind about coming here and in the middle of August I got a call. I really came as an afterthought but Donal Walsh told me, ‘When Jumbo sees you he’ll know what I’m talking about. I earned Jumbo’s endorsement in about six months. Someone told me he thought I was good. And for him to say that, you had to be good. He complimented the work and the commitment and in my mind that could take me to the pinnacle."

For the rookie coach, coaching for coaching’s sake did not interest him. "Coaching at Villanova was the key. What we promote here is helping an individual to be self-sustaining in any environment. Look at what some of our athletes have done in life outside of athletics. We try to instill in them the importance of individualism. We try to prepare them so when they do leave they can stand on their own two feet. That is why so many, I think, make it internationally after college. They can look forward and not to the past because we have given them an athletic education. We try to build an athlete and a person."

It is evident that the legacy of Jumbo Elliott continues to breathe dedication and self development into the program he successfully ran for 46 years.