Born June 11, 1911 in South Manchester, CT.

A Fordham graduate, Joseph "Joe" McCluskey rates near the top of U.S. distance running history. During his remarkable career he won 27 national titles in various distance events. He captured the steeplechase title nine times in a 13-year period. At the 1932 Olympics, he won the bronze medal in the steeplechase that could have been a silver. One of the officials, a substitute lap counter, failed to hold up the number of the laps remaining the first time the runners went past, and the athletes wound up running an extra lap. McCluskey was second at the end of the regular race but dropped back to third during the extra lap. McCluskey was also a 1936 Olympian and coached the New York Athletic Club for a decade.