The Friends of Section IX Track & Field Hall of Fame will be inducting its ninth class on Sunday, Oct. 25.
The induction ceremony will be at 1 p.m., following by a 2 p.m. banquet at the Town of Wallkill Golf Club in Middletown.
The class will include official Tom McTaggart; coaches Mike Smith and George Cline; athletes Lisa Hennings, Gwen McCrae, Jessica Dunnigan, Miguel Castillo, Larry Armstead and Wayne Beam; relay entry Kim Koeller, Audra Thompson, Moutique Jones and Alayne Newton from the 1985 Warwick 3,200 relay squad; and, special honoree late sportswriter Chuck Hahn.
McTaggart was a student and later taught and coached cross country and track at Suffern High School when it was a member of Section 9. He has been an official since 1970; he helped consolidate the Southern Catskill Track & Field Officials Association. He officiated at two Olympics, eight World Championships, six U.S. Trials and numerous USA and NCAA championships.
Brooklyn-born and Long Island-bred, Smith taught 35 years in the Marlboro district and coached cross country and track for 40 years, winning multiple MHAL and Section 9 titles. He retired in 2007.
A Middletown grad, Cline was a shot put state qualifier as a junior and senior. He returned to the school as a teacher and cross country and track coach, leading multiple champions.
Hennings ran indoor and outdoor track for Pine Bush, graduating in 1995 and winning multiple Orange County league and sectional crowns, medaling at states and nationals. She later competed for Butler and served in the U.S. Coast Guard.
McCrae captured 25 indoor and outdoor sectional gold medals while sprinting and jumping for Monticello from 1981-85. She collected 11 medals at state meets, with two championships. She later competed for the University of Houston.
Dunnigan, a 2011 graduate of Liberty, still holds multiple school records as a sprinter, relay runner and jumper. She won a pair of 200-meter state crowns in 2010 and 2011. A sportsmanship award winner, Dunnigan later competed for Northeastern.
Castillo was versatile, from the 300 meters to 3 miles in cross country, running for Monticello from 1982-85, still holding a handful of school records. He competed at the Empire State Games and in numerous local road races and was named the Sullivan County athlete of the year in 1985. He later competed for Penn State.
Armstead was a multiple Orange County league and sectional champ for Monticello from 1986-90, winning and indoor triple jump title in 1988. He won two ACC triple titles at Clemson (1990-94), holding the school record for 14 years.
Competing for Middletown, Beam was a successful cross country, plus mid- to-long-distance runner, setting school marks from 800 meters to 2 miles. An elite state runner, he later competed for Wagner College and became an exceptional road runner. He later coached at Middletown.
The Warwick "2-mile" relay won the 1985 outdoor state title in 9:16.06 and went on to win the 4-mile relay and 3,200 relay at Eastern States.
Hahn boxed while enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and developed his career as a journalist. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was a sportswriter, including many years with the Times Herald-Record, where he covered all sports, including favorites track and field and auto racing.
The 2025 inductees list included official Bill Rule; coaches Carol Okoren and Al Schmidt; athletes Amber Passalaqua, Emily Waligurski, Grace Weisbecker, Mike White, Adam Mires and Matt Diglio; 2011 Middletown relay squad of Web Pierre, Adam Abdur-Rahman, Shakoy Burton, Darin Brown Jr., Mel Moseley and Manny Moseley; and, honoree Rob Dickover.
kmcmillan@th-record.com
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This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Friends of Section IX Track & Field Hall of Fame 2026 class set