STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Going into St. Peter’s Boys High School in the mid 1960s, Carmine Ragucci had no interest whatsoever in running/track & field.
“I wanted to get on the baseball team,” said Ragucci.
“But I was already hanging around kids I shouldn’t have been with.”
That association and the accompanying delinquency led to Ragucci getting caught by a plain clothes staffer who also happened to be the school’s freshman track coach.
It was through this incident that Ragucci would meet head coach John Tobin.
“One of the greatest men I’ve ever known.”
Two-time cross country world champion Craig Virgin, right, is joined by the late John Tobin, left, and Bill Welsh at The 2019 “Run For Your Coach” 5K At Clove Lakes Park.
Now Ragucci will be cemented alongside his late coach’s legacy.
“My family and I are proud to be awarding Carmine Ragucci with the annual John Tobin Memorial Service Award,” said Tobin’s widow, Alice.
“Carmine has passed through different stages of athletics and careers which John no doubt was proud of.”
St. Peter’s Boys High School’s vaunted 1967 4X400 relay team consisting of top row Ken Brown and Bill Bates and bottom row, Carmine Ragucci and Greg Werner. Courtesy of Denise Boccia
Ragucci, along with other honorees in the local community, will be honored at the Staten Island Running Association’s annual “Marathon Week Legends/Youth Gala” on Wednesday evening, Oct. at Li Greci’s Staaten.
For Ragucci, that lifetime relationship with the Staten Island Sports Hall of Famer transformed him both on and off the track.
“Carmine improved so much that he ran varsity relays as a sophomore and then varsity XC his junior and senior year where he placed in top five both years, including winning several championship meets with his teammates at Van Cortlandt Park as well as the CBA Christian Brothers championship and the Island Champs at Clove Lakes,” said teammate and friend Billy Bates, who was honored in 2024 with the inaugural Tobin award.
Carmine Ragucci (left) in Cross-Country season with teammate and friend Billy Bates.Courtesy of Denise Boccia
Bates also recalls Ragucci’s finest high school performance, where he anchored his undefeated 1-mile relay team, running a scintillating 49.5 second 440 yards split on the old cinder track, coming from behind to take the victory from New Dorp High School.
Former Eagles teammate Kenny Brown also recalled Ragucci as a great college competitor, starting first at Ohio and then going over to Temple University.
“At Ohio, Carmine won with his team at the Drake Relays,” recalled Brown.
After college, Ragucci returned to Peter’s as a teacher and then joined Ed Gorman in the late 1970s in coaching the XC/Track Team.
St. Peter’s head track coach Ed Gorman with assistant Carmine Ragucci.Courtesy of Denise Boccia
“We wanted to bring things back to when Tobin was there,” said Ragucci, and they sure did, producing top athletes like Steve Mahoney, Rich Oetting, Darren Dotson, Joe Napoli and Sal Della Croce, who were all part of the school’s first-ever Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA) outdoor track championship team, which barely beat out Bishop Loughlin by the slimmest of margins.
It’s not only because of Ragucci’s successes that he’s being recognized, but also his devotion to those young athletes and to the sport.
“As a St. Peter’s track product myself who came after Carmine Ragucci’s coaching days, one couldn’t help but be in awe of his athletic accomplishments as well as his teaching and coaching and where he was known for quite a few times covering the track kids out of his own his own funds,” said SIRA President Michael De Vito Jr.
Coach Carmine Ragucci with his track charges at St. Peter’s Boys High School.Courtesy of Denise Boccia
“As an athlete, educator and coach his service to the school and the sport has closely mirrored that of Coach Tobin!” continued DeVito Jr.
Ragucci still feels, like many Eagle tracksters, a great debt to the coach who molded and shaped them.
“I am very humbled and honored to receive this in honor of Coach John Tobin,” said Ragucci.
Spoken like a true honoree!
***
Bell Lap: To register online for the 10/29 gala, go to: MarathonLegends2025.eventbrite.com … For further info, contact Benjamin at 917-692-8922.
The 2025 Staten Island Running Association’s “Marathon Week Legends and Youth” gala will be taking place on Wednesday evening, October 29th, at LiGreci’s Staaten.Staten Island Running Association
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.