Irving Mondschein Explained

Irving "Moon" Mondschein (February 7, 1924 – June 5, 2015) was an American track and field athlete and football player.[1] [2]

Personal life

Mondschein, who was Jewish, was born in Brooklyn, New York.[1] [3] [4] He attended Boys High School, where he ran track.[5] He also ran for the New York Pioneer Club.[1] [6] He entered the US Army in 1943.[7] He became a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternal organization while attending New York University[8] His son, Brian, was a world-class decathlete in the 1980s.[7] His grandson, also named Brian, was an All-American pole vaulter at Virginia Tech.

Decathlon, high jump, and football career

He was AAU decathlon champion in 1944, and in 1946 and 1947.[1] [9] He won the 1944 Olympic Trials and would have been the top American representative had the Olympic Games been held that year.[10] He was NCAA high jump champion in both 1947 and 1948, competing for New York University.[1] [4] [9] As of 2015, he still held NYU's record in the outdoor high jump—6 feet, 7¾ inches. He also played football as an end for NYU in 1946, earning All-East honors.[7] [9] [11] He competed in the 1948 Olympics for the United States in decathlon, coming in eighth, as teammate Bob Mathias won the gold medal.[1] In his career, he was ranked third in the world in outdoor high jump and tenth in the decathlon in 1947; sixth in the indoor high jump and eighth in the decathlon in 1948; and third in the outdoor high jump and sixth in the decathlon in 1949.[12]

Coaching career

He later coached track, basketball, and football at Lincoln University in Oxford, Pennsylvania, starting in 1949.[1] [13] He coached the US track and field team at the 1950 Maccabiah Games, which included Olympian Henry Laskau (national champion and world record holder) who won a gold medal in racewalking, and was also an advisor to the Israeli Ministry of Education, helping for two years to prepare the country's athletes for the 1952 Olympics.[14] [1] [7] Irv was also athletic coach (Track) at Lawrence High School, Cedarhurst, NY (Nassau County) from 1956-65. He was then a coach at the University of Pennsylvania; first the assistant track coach (1965–79) and then the head coach (1979–87).[7] He was also an assistant coach on the 1988 U.S. Olympic team.[11] He was previously an assistant coach at Kutztown University,[7] and also volunteered as an assistant coach at Haverford College. He also served as an assistant coach at La Salle University in Philadelphia.[15]

Honors

He is a member of the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, the New York Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[11] [16] [17] He is also a member of the NYU Athletics Hall of Fame, and the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame.[18] [19]

Head coaching record

Football

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Irving Mondschein Biography and Olympic Results . Sports-reference.com . February 7, 1924 . August 12, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120128001909/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/mo/irving-mondschein-1.html . January 28, 2012 .
  2. Web site: Penn Athletics Mourns Passing of Irv Mondschein . 2015-06-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303170133/http://www.pennathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=1700&ATCLID=210134187 . 2016-03-03 . dead .
  3. Book: Encyclopedia of Jews in sports . registration . Irving Mondschein. . Bloch Publishing Company . Bernard Postal . Jesse Silver . Roy Silver . 1965 . August 12, 2011.
  4. Book: Day by day in Jewish sports history . Bob Wechsler . 2008 . KTAV Publishing House . 9780881259698 . August 12, 2011.
  5. News: Eighty Years Old and Coaching Yet Another Generation . NYT. Frank Litzky . March 5, 2004 . August 12, 2011.
  6. Book: The American Marathon . Pamela Cooper . 1999. Syracuse University Press . 9780815605737 . August 12, 2011.
  7. News: Eighty Years Old and Coaching Yet Another Generation . . March 5, 2004 . August 12, 2011 . Frank . Litsky.
  8. 2011 Pi Lambda Phi Membership Directory
  9. Book: Day by day in Jewish sports history . 9780881259698 . August 12, 2011. Wechsler . Bob . 2008 . KTAV Publishing House .
  10. Web site: History of the Decathlon at U.S. Olympic Trials. Zarnowski. Frank. 8. https://web.archive.org/web/20230527143356/https://decathlonusa.typepad.com/deca/files/history_of_the_us_olympic_trials_repaired.pdf. May 27, 2023. July 30, 2024.
  11. Web site: Irv Mondschein, USTFCCCA Class of 2007 . U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association . August 12, 2011.
  12. Web site: Inductions | Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame . Phillyjewishsports.com . August 12, 2011.
  13. News: Eighty Years Old and Coaching Yet Another Generation . March 5, 2004 . August 12, 2011 . The New York Times . Frank . Litsky.
  14. News: MONDSCHEIN IS NAMED; Will Coach U.S. Track Team for Maccabiah Games in Israel. The New York Times .
  15. News: Goldstein. Irving. Irving Mondschein, Decathlete, Coach and Track Patriarch, Dies at 91. 10 July 2015. The New York Times. June 6, 2015.
  16. Web site: Mondschein, Irv "Moon" . Jews In Sports @ Virtual Museum . August 12, 2011.
  17. Web site: Jewish Sports Hall of Fame . Jewishsports.org . March 29, 1998 . August 12, 2011.
  18. Web site: moon_hall . Pennalumnitrack.com . August 12, 2011.
  19. Web site: New York University – Hall of Fame . Gonyuathletics.com . August 12, 2011.