JAMES "TUPP" TUPPENY DIES

 

 
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April 18, 2001

H. Elliott Rogers, Jr., C'72, WG'75 has donated $1 million to the University of Pennsylvania Athletic Department to endow the Penn men's track and field coaching position in honor of his late coach, James "Tupp" Tuppeny.

"There is no better way to ensure the future vitality of an intercollegiate team than by an endowment gift," noted Steve Bilsky, University of Pennsylvania Director of Athletics. "Through his generosity, Elliott Rogers has not only benefited scores of Penn student-athletes, but has simultaneously memorialized his coach and mentor Jim Tuppeny."

Rogers, the managing director of the Palo Alto-based Credit Suisse First Boston Technology Group, noted that, "Tupp was a great coach and a wonderful person. It is a pleasure to be able to do something that enhances the Penn track and cross country programs in his name." Tuppeny spent 13 years as the head coach of men's track and field and cross country at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1966, Tuppeny was offered the head coaching position and within three years, Penn won its first Ivy League team title. During Coach Tuppeny's tenure, the Quakers won a total of 17 team titles.

In 1970, Tuppeny began serving in his most widely-known position - Director of the Penn Relays. Under his guidance, Penn's "track and field carnival," already a mainstay of the outdoor track season in America, became the robust and well-run event that it remains today. Tuppeny added many innovations to the schedule of events like the marathon, decathlon, heptathlon and the Thursday night distance program which attracted world-class athletes, looking to kick off their outdoor seasons. In 1978, he made his most famous decision when he created an entire day devoted to women's events.

Tuppeny retired from his Penn coaching position in 1979, but kept the title of Relays Director until 1987, when he retired from the post. Many other positions in the Philadelphia-area sports world kept Tuppeny busy for the next 13 years, until he passed away on November 29, 2000. Tuppeny was 75.

Rogers was a student of Tuppeny's track and field expertise for four years at Penn. A three-year letter winner in cross country and track in 1969-70, 1970-71 and 1971-72, Rogers set the school record in the 6-mile run (now known as the 10,000 meter) in 1972, which is now third all-time at Penn. He also finished fifth at the Penn Relays in school-record time of 28:49.9 in the 6-mile and placed ninth in the Heptagonal Cross Country Championships in 1971.

Rogers helped Tuppeny's teams win seven Ivy League, Heptagonal and IC4A team championships and a third-place finish at the 1971 NCAA Cross Country Championships. "It's a wonderful gift from one of the many athletes Tuppeny's tutelage touched," said Penn head coach of track and field Charlie Powell. "To basically guarantee that Tupp's name will be associated with Penn forever is a really special gift to the track and field program. It's an outstanding honor - to the man, to the program that he put back on the map, and to the University."

(reprinted from the University of Pennsylvania's Website)

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