Mager, Jack

Jack Mager – (2005)

 

When people discuss sports and athletes with strength and endurance, images of baseball players making leaping catches or the football player making great tackles usually come to mind. In the early and mid 1970’s Jack Mager of Lorain Southview High School changed that image and brought the sport of Track and Field to the forefront of local athletics.

A 1974 graduate of Southview High School, Mager set numerous school records along with becoming a State Champion. His records included the Long Jump (22′ 3½”), Triple Jump (45′ 6″) and the 180 yard low hurdles (20.4 seconds). He was also instrumental in setting relay team records in the Long Jump (64′ 4¾”), High Jump (17′ 6″) and the yard Shuttle Hurdle Relay (57.8 seconds). His accomplishments did not end there as he went on to set the Lorain County record in the Triple Jump Relay and Long Jump Relay. His senior season he captured the All Ohio State Indoor Championship with a triple jump of 45′ 1½” and the Ohio Classic Outdoor Championship for a triple jump at 45′ 6″.

After graduation Mager went on to become a four-year Track and Field standout for Ashland University. He broke the school Indoor Triple Jump record four times with his best mark being 46′ 10½”. Mager also rewrote the school’s outdoor triple jump record book six times in his career, which culminated to one of his greatest athletic accomplishments. In 1977 he set a school record with a triple jump mark of 50′ 2″. This mark not only set the school record but was the longest triple jump mark for a Division III athlete in the United States that year.

In addition to his Division III triple jump mark, he was a two-time All-American while at Ashland. He finished in the top ten each year in the triple jump at the NCAA Division III National Outdoor Track and Field Championships placing as high as third his freshman year. His junior year he also participated in the Long Jump event finishing twelfth.

As his competitive track career came to a close, Mager continued his legacy and love of the sport as a 13-year head track coach at Drexel University in Philadelphia. After his tenure at Drexel, he became the Assistant Track Coach to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Jack is currently on the track and field staff at the Newburgh Free Academy which is the third largest high school in New York.

*WELCOME, JACK MAGER, INTO THE LORAIN SPORTS HALL OF FAME*