Temple's men's and women's cross country teams with All-American alum Travis Mahoney (back right)
All-American Cross Country Alum Honored at Belmont Plateau Hall of Fame Classic
8.30.15 | Men's Cross Country
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PHILADELPHIA - Travis Mahoney, a 2013 Temple graduate, was honored Sunday at the Belmont Plateau Hall of Fame Classic in Fairmount Park. Mahoney, a 2012 All-American in cross country in addition to being a First Team All-American in track & field, holds the all-time record at the course.
Mahoney closed out his Temple career with NCAA All-American honors at the 2012 NCAA Cross Country Championships, placing 37th overall with a time of 29:58.6. He was just the second Temple cross country runner to ever earn All-America, and had already earned two All-America honors as a member of the track & field team. Belmont Plateau served as the site of the 2012 Atlantic 10 Championships, which Mahoney won with a Belmont Plateau-record time of 25:10.5.Freshman David Fitzgerald and Assistant Coach Steve Fuelling with 1988 Olympic marathoner Gary Fanelli.
The event on Sunday honored 50 years of racing at Belmont Plateau as the Fairmount Park Conservancy and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation joined a group of local track coaches in unveiling the newly restored cross country trails on the site. There was both a 5K race and a 1-mile run/walk open to all ages and featuring some of the region's past and present track stars, including 2008 Olympic distance runner Erin Donahue and 1984 Olympic marathoner Gary Fanelli.
"It was great to be back at Belmont where we spent so much time training during my time as an Owl," said Mahoney. "It's great to see the improvements they've made to the course. Adding the course signage and mile markers is definitely a nice touch but it doesn't take away from the fact that this is one of the hardest cross country courses around."
Temple's men's and women's cross country teams volunteered at the races. Belmont Plateau serves as the Owls' home course, and they will race there on Friday, Sept. 11 for the annual Big 5 Invitational.