Pierce elected to Northeastern Hall of Fame
Pierce started his running career as a walk-on and 46 years later is a United States record holder. At Beverly High School, he was a three-year competitor on the cross country and indoor and outdoor track teams. Though voted outdoor MVP in 1962, he was not recruited and took several years off to go to California.
In 1964, he was a walk-on at Northeastern and tried out for the freshman track team. His position was solidified when he won the Greater Boston Collegiate freshman indoor dash.
Pierce was a valued team member over the course of his varsity career, 1966-68, scoring points in the dash, long jump and relays. In his sophomore season, NU went 10-0 indoors and 6-1 outdoors.
In his junior season, Pierce continued to pour on the points and the Huskies went 9-1 indoors and 5-0 outdoors.
In his senior year, he was elected captain of both the indoor and outdoor teams, and the Huskies finished at 7-2 and 6-0, respectively. That year, he also won the Greater Boston indoor dash and the outdoor 100-yard dash.
Pierce was voted the Northeastern Trackman of the Year and won the Parsons Award as the outstanding indoor competitor. He graduated holding the Husky 50-yard indoor dash record at 5.4 seconds and was a member of the 4x400 relay team that set both the NU indoor and outdoor record. During Pierce’s career, Northeastern had a 43-4 regular season record.
At the age of 45 he set the world indoor record at 23.4 seconds in the 200. In 2001, at 56, he went to the World Championships in Brisbane, Australia, where he won the 400-meter, placed fourth in the 200 and was a member of the U.S. teams that won the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. Pierce won gold at the World Championship in 2003, ’05 and ’07.
Pierce has won 29 U.S. National Championships and he has set 10 American age-group records. In World Championship competition, he has set eight records and has won gold 10 times.
He and his wife, Fran, live in Essex, Mass., and have three children. They are a folk song duo called Tamarack and are popular on the North Shore. They also founded a coffee shop named One World, which is enjoying its 15th anniversary.
Joining Pierce in NU’s Hall of Fame Class of 2008 will be Vincent Barletta (rowing), Anders Hoeyem (soccer) Harry Mews (ice hockey), Nikiya Reid (women’s track & field), Brooke Whitney (women’s ice hockey) and Kelly Wilk (field hockey).
Tickets to the induction ceremony can be purchased by calling George Makris at (617) 373-4821.
March 31, 2008
Boston, MARoger Pierce, a native of Beverly, Mass., has been elected to the Northeastern University Hall of Fame for excellence in the sport of track. Pierce, Class of 1971, will be inducted along with six others in formal cermonies at Lombardo’s Restaurant in Randolph, Mass., on April 18.
