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December 29, 2020
USATF mourns loss of Rich Torrellas
Rich Torrellas, a respected member of numerous Team USATF staffs over the past 35 years, died Dec. 26 after a heart attack at a family home. He was 70. Torrellas played many roles in his years of service to USATF, including as head women's manager for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Born on Sept. 12, 1950, in New York City, Torrellas graduated from Christ the King High School in Middle Village, New York, in 1968. Twice a graduate from St. John's University, earning his bachelor's degree in 1972 and a master's degree in history in 1975, Torrellas was a hammer thrower for the Red Storm and was third in the AAU Junior Championships in 1970. He was the first athlete of Puerto Rican heritage to become a member of the New York Athletic Club, and placed fifth at the Central American & Caribbean Championships in 1975.
His first national team staff assignment came in 1986 when he was women's coach and manager for the Pan American Race Walk Cup, and he served on many race walk team staffs throughout his career. Torrellas was the chef de mission for the U.S. team at the 1991 IAAF Race Walk World Cup in San Jose, California.
At the 1995 IAAF World Championships in Sweden, Torrellas was the head manager, a position he also filled in 2006 at the IAAF World Indoor Championships and at the 2001 World University Games. He was an assistant manager for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
Torrellas was a coach and teacher at the college, high school and club levels, serving as an assistant at his alma mater from 1977-79 and at Yale from 1988-91. He started as a coach for the Abraxas Track Club in 1979 and guided several athletes to national titles.
In his administrative service to USATF, Torrellas was the secretary for the women's track and field committee and was a valued member of the women's race walk and development committees. He was the vice president of the Connecticut Association from 1984-88, and also served on the national heptathlon sub-committee. He was recognized with a President's Award at the TAC Convention in 1992.
Torrellas is survived by his four sons, Jason, Justin, Derek and Luke, granddaughter Io, sister Lillian and her husband Mikey, and his former wife, Maryanne Daniel. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, arrangements are pending.
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