Newark Athletics

New Brunswick Athletics

Joe Puleo

Joe Puleo is ready for his third season as the Rutgers-Camden head track coach after a 2005 season in which the Scarlet Raptors produced their second straight All-American, finished third in the New Jersey Athletic Conference women's meet and earned 11 All-NJAC honors. The third-place finish earned Puleo recognition as the NJAC Women's Co-Coach of the Year and Tameka Jackson captured the NJAC Outstanding Female Track Athlete honor on the way to her second consecutive All-American finish in the 100-meter dash.

The Scarlet Raptors continued their success in the classroom as well, earning four NJAC All-Academic honors. All of that success was the springboard for a new level of competition as Rutgers-Camden fielded its first varsity indoor track program this winter.

The Scarlet Raptors' track success started with the history-making 2004 spring season when Jackson became the program's first female track All-American. She finished eighth in the 100-meter dash at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships May 29, 2004 at Millikin University. She also joined five other Lady Raptors - Tina DiGiovanni, Tiffany Logan, Nicole Parkinson, Nafeesa Yusuff and Donna-Marie Kirk - as All-NJAC Honorable Mention performers in women's track.

Jackson and Yusuff also were cited for their work in the classroom as they each earned NJAC All-Academic Honorable Mention.

Puleo completed his third year as the Scarlet Raptors' cross country coach last fall, producing an All-NJAC Second Team runner in Joelle Diener, who also was the overall champion while earning All-New Jersey Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (NJAIAW) honors. Diener and Rachel McCormick also were members of the inaugural Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Women's Cross Country Team.

During Puleo's second year as the Scarlet Raptors' cross country coach in 2004, four Lady Raptors earned All-NJAIAW honors, including Diener, McCormick, Erin Rajauski and Sarah Roberts. Diener also captured All-NJAC Second Team honors.

In Puleo's first year with the cross country program, he saw DiGiovanni become the only First Team All-New Jersey Athletic Conference cross country runner in Rutgers-Camden history. That honor came after Puleo helped revive a women's program that was absent in 2002 due to a lack of numbers.

While DiGiovanni's success was the highlight of the Lady Raptors' rejuvenated program, the men also saw a measure of success. Led by sophomore Chris McGowan, the men were able to field a complete team in all six of their races, only the second time the Raptors had a complete team in all their races since restarting the men's cross country program in 1992.

During his first year with the track program in 2004, the Raptors broke 18 school records, raising the bar repeatedly in several categories. They eventually established five new Rutgers-Camden school records for both the men and the women.

Puleo, who has coached at Paul VI High School in Haddon Township and has worked with many post-collegiate runners, is a 1984 graduate of Phoenixville Area (PA) High School. He was a member of the scholastic wrestling program at Phoenixville.

Puleo continued his education at the College of William and Mary before transferring to Elizabethtown College. He earned five varsity letters for the Blue Jays B three in cross country and two in swimming B and was named the cross country team MVP during his senior year. He graduated cum laude from Elizabethtown College in 1989 with a B.A. in English Literature.

Since that time, Puleo has built a strong reputation among running circles. He has been the owner and operator of the Haddonfield Running Company, a retail specialty store, for the past nine years.

Puleo has coached numerous post-collegiate runners, including Cassy Byrne of Pottstown, PA, whose debut marathon time of 2:40.28 was the 12th-best time for U.S. women in 2002. He also has worked with Sean Mick (Pitman, NJ/Delsea High School), a 4:04 miler, and Abby Dean (Philadelphia, PA), who finished fifth among all female runners in the Broad Street 10-mile Run in Philadelphia in May. Dean served as Puleo=s assistant cross country coach in 2004.

Puleo was the boys= head cross country coach at Paul VI from 2000-02, where he led his team to a trio of Olympic National Division championships and the overall Olympic Conference title in 2001. His team extended the school=s amazing consecutive dual meet winning streak, which started in 1980, to 216 straight victories. The Eagles, who went 17-0 in dual meets under Puleo, finished fourth, third and fifth in the state meet during his three seasons.

A resident of Phoenixville, PA, Puleo and his wife Lyndi have two children.