High School Athletics in northern New Jersey

Dwight Peck's personal website

Some press coverage of Brother Peck struggling to come of age in the stressful world of running in circles in tiny synthetic shorts and top

Pascack Valley Regional High School, 1959-1963

Frequently four-a-day training sessions, long after dark when necessary, miles-miles-miles and then some sprint work, compensating for basically anorectic musculature at that age, desperate to get invited to a university at the end of the day and to dominate other young peers in the meantime.

Under Coach Joe Talamo, at that time Sports Illustrated's winningest American football coach in the USA, Pascack Valley (founded in 1955 in Hillsdale, New Jersey, comprising the towns of Hillsdale, Woodcliff Lake, Montvale, and River Vale) was also delivering a 100+ dual meet winning streak in track and field, regular northern New Jersey league championships, and quite a few New Jersey state championships as well.

"Happy Indians"!

This was in 1862, a good year. No, it must have been in 1962. An even better year.

Where are they now?

Professor Peck was a "quarter-miler" in those days but was often stuck in the 100 and 220 yards to maximize the team points.

I'm sure that Coach Talamo, with his "What are you, a pussy?" Quantico-style coaching macho technique, helped generations of wayward young lads find themselves and get on with their lives. I suspect that his strategic advantage, as the USA's winningest football coach in the late 1950s, was to confront broken forearms with "Rub dirt on it. Get back in the game".

Coach Talamo certainly came along at the right time for me.

Peck and competitive running
Press photos, University of Kansas
Press photos, Pascack Valley high school