Visitation, funeral services for Hudson County coaching great John Nagel set

John Nagel, St. Dominic Academy athletic director and longtime track and field and cross country coach, was honored with a plaque dedicating a portion of the running track at Lincoln Park in Jersey City in his honor on May 7, 2019. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)

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.

St. Dominic Academy's cross country coach John Nagel is seen talking to the team during a practice at Lincoln Park in 2011. (Pamela Suchy | The Jersey Journal) EJA
John Nagel is seen speaking at a ceremony at which a portion of the running track at Lincoln Park in Jersey City was named in his honor, May 7, 2019. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)
John Nagel, St. Dominic Academy athletic director and longtime track and field and cross country coach, was honored with a plaque dedicating a portion of the running track at Lincoln Park in Jersey City in his honor on May 7, 2019. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)
Athletic Director John Nagel is seen hosting the annual St. Dominic Academy Athletics Awards banquet at The Chandelier in Bayonne May 11, 2015. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)
Aida Meskel, St. Dominic Academy Class of 2001, helps John Nagel unveil the plaque, as Hudson County Freeholder Bill O'Dea looks May 7, 2019, when a portion of the running track was named in his honor. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)
St. Dominic Academy athletic director and cross country and track and field head coach John Nagel is seen Feb. 4, 2021. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)
John Nagel, right, St. Dominic Academy's athletic director, encourages Avery Sullivan as she competes in the girls varsity distance medley relay at the Hudson County Relay Championships at the Jersey City Armory Jan. 7, 2020. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)
Posing with a plaque honoring longtime St. Dominic Academy coach John Nagel, from left to right, are Aida Meskel, St. Dominic Academy Class of 2001, Hudson County Freeholder Bill O'Dea, Nagel and Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise. A portion of the running track at Lincoln Park in Jersey City was named in his honor May 7, 2019. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)
Members of the St. Dominic Academy track and field team pose for a group photo with the plaque, John Nagel, Aida Meskel, St. Dominic Academy Class of 2001, Hudson County Freeholder Bill O'Dea and Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise after the county named a portion of the running track at Lincoln Park in Jersey City in his honor May 7, 2019. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)
Aida Meskel, St. Dominic Academy Class of 2001, presents the plaque to John Nagel as members of the track team applaud during a May 7, 2019 ceremony. A portion of the running track at Lincoln Park in Jersey City was named in his honor. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)
John Nagel, St. Dominic Academy's athletic director, is honored with a plaque dedicating a portion of the running track at Lincoln Park in Jersey City in his honor on Tuesday, May 7, 2019. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal) Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal
Members of the St. Dominic Academy track team attend the unveiling and dedication ceremony.John Nagel, St. Dominic Academy's athletic director, is honored with a plaque dedicating a portion of the running track at Lincoln Park in Jersey City in his honor on Tuesday, May 7, 2019. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal) Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal

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