Memorial services for Hudson County track and field and cross country coaching legend John Nagel will be held next week.
Nagel, 65, who died last Friday after falling ill a month earlier during a trip to Florida, guided the St. Dominic Academy cross country and track and field teams to nearly 250 Jersey City, Hudson County and state championships during a 46-year coaching career. Nagel also served as the director of athletics at the Jersey City school since 1991.
He is a member of the Hudson County Coaches Track and Field Hall of Fame, the New Jersey State Coaches Hall of Fame, the St. Peter’s University Hall of Fame and the Hudson County All Sports Hall of Fame.
Visitation is scheduled for Monday, April 29, from 3 to 8 p.m. at Greenville Memorial Home at 374 Danforth Ave, Jersey City. The funeral Mass is Tuesday, April 30, at 10 a.m., at Saint Paul the Apostle Roman Catholic Church at 14 Greenville Ave. He will be interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington.
In 2019, Hudson County dedicated the start of the running path for cross-country races at Lincoln Park in Jersey City as the “John E. Nagel Running Path.”
“He had an intense passion for coaching and was fiercely dedicated to his athletes and his sport,” longtime Secaucus High School track and field and cross country coach Stan Fryczynski, also a member of the Hudson County Sports Hall of Fame and the Hudson County Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame, told The Jersey Journal.
