Northeast Catholic High School - Athletics

Athletics

North Catholic participated in the Philadelphia Catholic League (PCL) since 1926 as well as the PIAA since 2008 in the following sports: baseball, basketball, bowling, crew, cross country, football, indoor track, golf, lacrosse, outdoor track, soccer, and wrestling. Swimming & Tennis also had teams which were discontinued before the school closed. North also skated an Ice Hockey Club Team & a Rugby Club Team. Even though the school was closed, the hockey team played for one final season with both a varsity and a junior varsity teams . Among those coaching the team were Timothy McCrane, class of 82, Art Myers, class of 80 and Michael Gorey, class of 78. Michael also played for Norths first hockey team in 77-78 and had a part in starting that first team. There was also an archery club team in 77-78.

• North played Frankford High School every year in the "Turkey Bowl" on Thanksgiving Day at 9:45 AM, making it the earliest high-school football game in the country on Thanksgiving.
• From 1926 until its closing in 2010, North Catholic won more Philadelphia Catholic League Championships, in soccer (22), bowling (16), wrestling (13) and baseball (11), than any other Philadelphia Catholic High school. They also had 8 titles each in football, basketball and swimming.
• Frank Thomas Nordell of Northeast Catholic HS won the National Interscholastic Cross Country Championship on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1929. He ran the 2.7 mile Branch Brook Park Course in Newark, NJ, in 13:43, winning by 13 seconds. This was the fourth National Championship Meet, hosted by Newark Prep, and drew 20 teams from Maine to Virginia. Curtis HS of Staten Island (then part of Brooklyn) won the team championship. North did not enter a team, Frank ran as an individual. His photo appeared on the front page of the Newark Star Eagle and NY Times Sports Pages in his N C singlet on 11/29/1929.
• In 1956 North won the PCL championship in soccer, football, basketball & baseball. They also won the City Title in 3 out of the 4 sports, losing only in soccer.
• The North Catholic soccer team did not lose a single PCL contest in 116 straight games stretching from 1956 to 1968. Their most recent PCL Titles were in 2001, 2002 & 2008. In March 2008, the soccer program inducted 12 of its greatest players to the newly established "NC Soccer Hall of Fame."
• From 1991 until its closing in 2010, the NC wrestling team won 13 PCL team titles.
• The bowling team won three consecutive PCL titles in 2005, 2006, and 2007.
• In the 2007 - 2008 year NC teams qualified for the playoffs in Football, Soccer, Bowling, Basketball & Wrestling.
• In 2008, the basketball team, wrestling team & soccer team were all PCL champions in their sport.

The "NC Soccer Hall of Fame" can be found by visiting the website dedicated to their sport: www.northcatholicsoccer.com

LIST OF NORTH CATHOLIC FALCONS PHILADELPHIA CATHOLIC LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

• Football - 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1956
• Soccer - 1929, 1933, 1944, 1952, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1990, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2008 (Soccer Champs before 1957 were part of a city league format not PCL)
• Basketball - 1929, 1932, 1935, 1956, 1957, 1967, 1987, 2008
• Wrestling - 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008
• Baseball - 1934, 1945, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1956, 1977, 1981, 1986, 1995
• Track - 1935, 1945, 1946, 1966
• Cross Country - 1944, 1945
• Bowling - 1939, 1940, 1941, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1993, 2005, 2006, 2007
• Swimming - 1937, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1953
• Crew - 1944, 1945