Into the Hall
Westfield State University to honor alum Tom Stewart
Long-time Holyoke Community College staff member Tom Stewart will be inducted into the Westfield State University Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday, Oct. 13.
Now HCC's director of Athletics and Student Engagement, the 1988 graduate of Westfield State will be one of five alumni honored during the university's 25th anniversary Hall of Fame induction ceremony on his alma mater's homecoming weekend.
As an undergraduate, Stewart was a four-year member of the WSU Owls cross country and track and field teams. An all-conference runner in 1985 and 1987 in cross country, he won the Westfield State Invitational and was an all-New England runner in steeplechase his sophomore year. The WSU cross country and track teams won conference titles all four years he was on the team.
"It's a humbling thing," Stewart said of his induction. "I ran there for four years, and there were better track runners than I was, and my teammates are already in. It was the glory years when we were there. It was our philosophy that we weren't gonna lose. We went to the national championship in cross country and we were 13 points away from winning the whole thing. There had been a snowstorm two days before. I was standing in ankle deep water at the starting line, and we were ready to go."
Stewart, who lives in Westfield, is also being recognized for his work in athletics after college. Since 1991, he has been the meet administrator for the Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association of America, the oldest and longest-running high-level collegiate track and field championship in the Unites States. He also owns IC4Atrack.com, a meet management and timing company. As a referee, starter or timer, he has signed off on 15 American, Canadian, New Zealand, European or world record performances, including Yomif Kejelcha's world-record setting indoor mile at Boston University in March 2023 (3:47:01).
He has also served in various roles with the National Junior College Athletic Association, the largest athletic association for two-year colleges in the United States.
Stewart started his career in higher education at Westfield State where he worked for seven years as student activities administrator and director of intramurals and coached cross country. He was hired at HCC in 1996 as student activities director and became assistant athletic director in 1999 and athletic director in 2007.
PHOTO: HCC athletic director Tom Stewart in the fitness room at the Bartley Center for Athletics and Recreation.
