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Frederick W. Best

  • Class
    1958
  • Induction
    1989
  • Sport(s)
    Track & Field, Cross Country
Captain ... Set and reset Rensselaer records in the mile, 2-mile and cross country course at RPI ... Finished first in the New York State Collegiate Cross Country Championships and went on to finish 49th in the NCAA Championship meet as senior ... Team finished sixth ... Won five of six dual meets ... Finished fifth at NYS Championship as junior ... Selected to Who's Who among American Colleges and Universities ... Dan Cunha, Siena's cross country coach: "the greatest representative of the sport he'd ever seen" ... 

Phalanx ... Bachelors Of Rensselaer ... President of Alpha Chi Rho ... Student council ... R Club President ... AICHE President ... Went on to compete in 1964 Olympic Trials (steeplechase) ... Set national road records for 15k (49:43) and 20k (1:09:06) in over-40 category ... Broke national junior record for the steeplechase in 1962 ... Finished third in steeplechase at the National Championships in 1964 and 1965 ... Ran Boston Marathon 15 times between 1967 and 1983 ... Finished 15th in the 1971 Boston Marathon with a time of 2:28:10 ... Placed 54th in the 1975 Boston Marathon at the age of 39 (2:24:38) ... Chemical Engineering major ... North Plainfield, New Jersey ... North Plainfield High School.
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