John Gregorio (2024) - CU Athletic Hall of Fame - University of Colorado Athletics

John Gregorio

Induction:
2024
Class:
1975

One of the first standout distance runners in CU history, he lettered across the board in cross county, indoor and outdoor track under coach Don Meyers from 1971 through 1973 … A three-time All-American during the 1972-73 school year, the first CU athlete to accomplish the honor in one athletic year (20th in cross country in 29:15; anchored the distance medley runner-up finish in 9:48.7, five seconds behind an indoor world-record time by Kansas State; and third in the outdoor 3-mile; in the latter, he ran 13:10.6 and was five seconds behind the legendary Steve Prefontaine who set an NCAA record) … In two seasons at CU after transferring from junior college, he recorded over 40 podium (top three finishes) in distance events … Among his many impressive wins were titles in the 6-mile run in the prestigious Kansas and Drake relays and in the 3-mile at the Texas Relays … At the time of his graduation, he had set CU records in the mile (4:02.7), 3-mile (13:10.6), and the distance and 4x100 relays … A third place finish in CU’s Cross Country Invitational as a sophomore in ’71 started the Buffs’ long since climb to dominate the state in the sport, as CU upset heavily favored Adams State in the meet (he ran the four-mile course in 20:40) … Spectacular ’72 indoor season included a win in the 2-mile run (9:26.8) and a runner-up in the mile (4:18.1) at Air Force’s Indoor … Selected as the most outstanding athlete in the ’72 CU Outdoor Invitational, when he won the two mile (9:00.4) and anchored the distance medley relay team … Placed third in the 3-mile at the Big Eight Outdoor Championships both as a junior (14:14.4) and senior (14:11.6) … Placed fourth in the ’72 Big Eight Cross Country meet (24:44) … Opened the ’73 indoor campaign by winning the 3-mile run in Idaho State’s Invitational in 13:43.3, shaving 10 seconds off his personal best … Set the CU Fieldhouse/Indoor record for the mile (4:10.3) in his last indoor event at home … Cruised to a 10-plus second win in the 2-mile in the Potts Invitational (9:04.7) … In the Big Eight Indoor, he finished third in the mile (4:06.0) and 2-mile (8:56.4), both on the same day … With teammates Mike Peterson, Brown Windle and Ted Castaneda, they set the world record in the Distance Medley for Type D track … A member of the U.S. team that competed in the Pan Pacific Conference Games in Toronto … Led the Colorado Track Club to the team title in the 1975 National Cross Country Championships, finishing as the runner-up in the 10,000-meters in a 28:58 time (one second off the lead); he was also on the Colorado TC team that claimed the 1974 title … Won the 6-mile run in the 1975 Kansas Relays in a 29:36.6 clocking … Also in 1975, was a member of the Pan American Team for the USA, and in 1976, he was an Olympic Trials Qualifier in the10K and 5K … He eventually went into coaching locally, as the head cross country and track high school coach for 27 years (1986-2013), first at George Washington and then Denver South … He won two Colorado state high school championships in track … His most proud accomplishment in the business world is setting up a Nike bonus structures for athletes competing nationally when he was the company’s national promotion director … Employed for several years in Frontier Airlines’ Sports Charter Division, at present he works in the ticket office for the Colorado Rockies Baseball Club …He was inducted into the Colorado Running Hall of Fame in 2015 … He was born January 9, 1951 in Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduated from Ganesa High School (Diamond Bar, Calif.) … Lettered two years in cross country and track at Mt. San Antonio College (Calif.), where he excelled and was the state champion in the mile … Transferred to CU for his junior and senior years … He graduated in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree from CU in Physical Education … Married to the former Nancy Hook, the couple has two grown children: daughter Jori (Hayes) and son Jared.